First Shots

The good news is that kids get a lot of the shots they need by age 2. So if you're old enough to read this article, you've already had most of your shots! After that, a kid doesn't need many more.

There are a few shots given when kids are between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The next set of shots isn't usually until kids are about 11 or 12 years old.

Most kids should have a

First Shots

The good news is that kids get a lot of the shots they need by age 2. So if you're old enough to read this article, you've already had most of your shots! After that, a kid doesn't need many more.

There are a few shots given when kids are between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The next set of shots isn't usually until kids are about 11 or 12 years old.

Most kids should have a each year. Some kids will get it as a shot, and some will get it with a spray in the nose.

Why Do Kids Need Shots?

Shots are great for individual kids because it means that they won't get those serious diseases. But shots are great for the health of the country and world, too. How? When almost all kids have received these shots, it means that these illnesses don't have much of a chance to make anyone sick.

Because most kids in the United States get all their shots, you rarely meet anyone who has had diseases like measles or mumps. Your mom or dad has probably had to show your school that you've had all your shots. Schools and camps do this because they don't want the kids spreading or catching serious illnesses.

My Aching Arm!

OK, it's true. Getting a shot can a little. But the pain usually comes and goes pretty quickly. If you cry, don't worry about it. Lots of kids do.

To make shots easier to take, try bringing your favorite teddy bear or asking your mom or dad to hold your hand while you're getting a shot. Afterward, you may even get a little treat if you're brave! Maybe your doctor gives out stickers or your mom and dad will take you to the playground.

It's OK if you don't like shots, but remember that they are your best shot at staying healthy!

each year. Some kids will get it as a shot, and some will get it with a spray in the nose.

Why Do Kids Need Shots?

Shots are great for individual kids because it means that they won't get those serious diseases. But shots are great for the health of the country and world, too. How? When almost all kids have received these shots, it means that these illnesses don't have much of a chance to make anyone sick.

Because most kids in the United States get all their shots, you rarely meet anyone who has had diseases like measles or mumps. Your mom or dad has probably had to show your school that you've had all your shots. Schools and camps do this because they don't want the kids spreading or catching serious illnesses.

My Aching Arm!

OK, it's true. Getting a shot can a little. But the pain usually comes and goes pretty quickly. If you cry, don't worry about it. Lots of kids do.

To make shots easier to take, try bringing your favorite teddy bear or asking your mom or dad to hold your hand while you're getting a shot. Afterward, you may even get a little treat if you're brave! Maybe your doctor gives out stickers or your mom and dad will take you to the playground.

Sometimes after a shot, your arm will hurt, look red, or have a small bump where the needle went in. You also could have a fever. Your mom or dad can talk to the doctor about any problems you have. Usually, the pain goes away quickly or after you take some, like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

It's OK if you don't like shots, but remember that they are your best shot at staying healthy!

Nobody likes getting a shot. They can hurt, and it's weird knowing that the nurse is about to jab you with that needle.

But shots called vaccinations keep you from getting some serious diseases. These diseases could make you very sick. The pinch of a shot isn't nearly as bad as those illnesses.

Making Antibodies

Shots protect you by giving you only a tiny piece of a disease-causing or by giving you a version of the germ that is dead or very weak. Giving a whole germ that's alive would give you a disease (like measles or

But giving only this tiny, weakened, or dead part of the germ does not give you the disease. Instead, just the opposite happens. Your body responds to the vaccine by making antibodies. These antibodies are part of your immune system, and they can fight the disease if you ever come in contact with that nasty germ.

When your body is protected from a disease in this way, it's called being immune to an illness. It can't get you. In most cases, it means you won't get the illness at all. But sometimes, you can still get a mild case of the illness. This can happen with chickenpox. Even kids who get the shot to prevent chickenpox can still get a case of it. The good news is that they usually don't get a very bad case of it. Milder cases mean fewer spots and less itching.

Shots are given by injection with a needle. A syringe (say: suh-rinj) holds the liquid vaccine, and the needle has a hole in it for the liquid to squirt through. Shots are usually given in your arm or sometimes your thigh.

What You Can Do About Learning Disabilities

Finding out you have a learning disability can be upsetting. You might feel different from everyone else. But the truth is that learning disabilities are pretty common. And if your learning specialist or psychologist has figured out which one you're facing, you're on the right track. Now, you can start getting the help you need to do better in school.

But for this special help to really work, you'll need to practice the new skills you're learning. It may take a lot of effort every day. That can be a challenge, but you can do it. Soon, you'll enjoy the results of all your hard work: more fun and success at school!

It worked for Paige. Read what she had to say:

How Do I Know if I Have a Learning Disability?

It's very hard for a kid to know if he or she has a learning disability. But kids don't have to figure all this out on their own. What a kid needs to do is tell someone. Start with your teacher and your mom or dad.

Even if you feel a little shy about it, tell them what kinds of problems you're having in school. Maybe you read a chapter for homework and then can't remember anything you read. Or in class, maybe everyone else seems to follow along easily, but you get stuck and don't know what page everyone is on. You might open your book to do an assignment and have no idea where to start.

Kids with a learning disability might also answer "yes" to many of these questions:

• Do you struggle in school?
• Do you think you should be doing better than you are in school?
• Is reading harder for you than it should be?
• Does your head think one thing but your hand writes something else?
• Is writing slow and really hard for you?
• Do you make spelling and other errors when you write?
• Are you having difficulty with math?
• Is it hard for you to keep your notebooks and papers organized? Do you end up losing or forgetting them?

But even if you say "yes" to some of these questions, you won't know for sure until you visit a school or a learning specialist. They can give you some tests to spot any learning problems you might have. They'll also be able to identify what your strengths are — in other words, what you're good at! Once a psychologist or learning specialist figures out what your learning problem is, you both can start working on solutions.

A kid might work with a tutor or specialist or even go to a special class. But often, kids with learning disabilities can continue in their regular classrooms and there's no reason they can't do normal stuff, like participate in school activities and sports.

Though some kids might feel shy about having a learning disability, it can be a relief to finally know what the problem is. Then, the kid doesn't have to feel as worried and upset about school — because he or she is learning how to learn in new ways. The psychologist or learning specialist might even give you a learning plan — then you can see what the strategy is for helping you learn. They can even offer help with If you're not organized, it's hard to get any schoolwork done.

Having a learning disability doesn't mean you can't learn. But you'll need some help and you'll need to work extra hard. If you have a learning disability, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia (serious trouble with math), remember that you are not slow or dumb.

Learning disabilities happen because of the way a person's brain takes in and processes information. As a result, people learn differently. The trick will be figuring out how you learn best.

There are people who know how to do just that. Your parents and teachers can help you and they can find you a learning specialist or a school psychologist. These professionals can help figure out what a kid's learning problem is — and come up with ideas for how to make it better.

What Are Learning Disabilities?

Learning disabilities aren't contagious, but they can be That means they can be passed down in families through the genes, like many other traits we get from our parents and grandparents. Someone with a learning disability probably has other family members who have had some learning troubles, too.

Kids with learning problems are sometimes surprised to find out that one of their parents had similar troubles when he or she was in school. But kids today have an advantage over their parents. Learning experts now know a lot more about the and how learning works — and it's easier for kids to get the help they need.

Dyslexia (say: dis-lek-see-uh) is a learning disability that means a kid has a lot of trouble reading and writing. Kids who have trouble with math may have dyscalculia (say: dis-kal-kyoo-lee-uh). And people who have trouble forming letters when they write may have dysgraphia (say: dis-graf-ee-uh). Other kids may have language disorders, meaning they have trouble understanding language and understanding what they read.

It can be confusing, though. What qualifies as "trouble" enough to be diagnosed as a learning disability? Reading, doing math, and writing letters may be tough for lots of kids at first. But when those early troubles don't fade away, and it's really difficult to make any progress, it's possible the kid has a learning disability.

is sometimes thought of as a learning disability but it's not usually considered one. Why? Because most kids with ADHD can learn in school without special assistance, even though they may be easily distracted or have trouble sitting still in class. Although ADHD itself isn't a learning disability, researchers believe kids with ADHD may be more likely to have learning disabilities.

If the Doctor Says It's ADHD

When parents and teachers suspect that a kid has ADHD, the first step is to visit the doctor, who might then refer the kid to a specialist like a psychologist, psychiatrist, or neurologist who knows about kids who have ADHD and other kinds of behavior problems. Part of the doctor's job is to check for other illnesses that look like ADHD but need different kinds of treatment.

Once the doctor determines that a kid has ADHD, then the doctor, parents, and teachers begin to work together to find out the best way to help. Often this means starting one of the used to treat ADHD, deciding how much medicine is needed, and when to give it. Kids with ADHD usually only have to take their medicine once before school, but some might have to go to the nurse in the middle of the schoolday for medicine.

But kids who have ADHD need more than just medicine. They also need help learning how to change the way they act. Some can learn to do this by using relaxation therapy or .

In relaxation therapy, counselors teach kids how to relax and stay calm by doing deep-breathing exercises and relaxing different muscle groups. Behavioral therapy teaches kids to set goals for themselves and uses rewards to help them reach those goals. Teachers can give a kid with ADHD a reward for sitting still in class, for example. And parents can do the same thing at home (like rewarding a kid for paying attention, completing chores, or keeping track of things).

Kids with ADHD might need extra help learning how to do things other kids find easy, and some can become depressed or anxious.

For many kids with ADHD, the key to success is not only following the treatment plan from the doctor, but working to build good friendships with other kids. And many find that their symptoms get better as they get older. Adults with ADHD can have happy lives, and can be very successful in whatever they decide to do

"You're not paying attention." "Don't you know where you put your lunch money?" "Stop fidgeting!" "Don't interrupt."

Can you imagine what it would be like to hear people talk to you this way every single day? If you can imagine it, or if it sounds just like what you're used to hearing, then you know what it's like to have ADHD. Those letters stand for a condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Kids who have ADHD are not bad, lazy, or stupid. They have a disorder that means they might have problems paying attention or sitting still in their seats. They can also act on impulse — this means doing things without thinking about them first. Kids with ADHD may spend a lot of time in the principal's office. Sometimes they do things that cause them to get hurt. They might change their friends a lot.

Who Gets ADHD?

About 9% of kids have ADHD. That means out of 100 kids, about 9 may have ADHD. So if your school has 300 kids, 24 to 30 of them might have ADHD. Kids who have ADHD usually start having problems in preschool. Boys have ADHD more often than girls. In fact, three times as many boys have ADHD, but no one knows why.

A kid might have a greater chance of developing ADHD if one of his or her relatives already has ADHD or another type of behavior problem. But no one is sure why anyone has ADHD, although scientists and doctors think that it probably has to do with differences in the way people's brains work.

No one gets ADHD on purpose, so it isn't ever anyone's fault. And ADHD isn't contagious — you can't catch it from someone like the flu.

What Are the Signs of ADHD?

ADHD can cause kids to act in different ways, depending on who has it. Most kids with ADHD have problems concentrating and paying attention. Some kids with ADHD also might have trouble sitting still in class and waiting for their turn. They might yell out the answers before other kids have a chance to raise their hands.

Sometimes they can be disorganized, distracted, or forgetful. They might lose things and have trouble finishing assignments. They may wiggle around in their seats, move around a lot, talk too much, or interrupt other people's conversations.

It's important to remember that everybody does these things once in a while. It doesn't mean you have ADHD.