Messages of hope come to life with

Destiny's Purpose

As seen in the Arnprior EMC
Posted May 5, 2011 By Kathryn Glynn

EMC News - Shannon Cassidy-Rouleau has transformed her experience with an illness into a strategy to address bullying.

The special education resource teacher at McNab Public School was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata four years ago. The autoimmune disease causes hair loss and affects about 1.7 per cent of the population. While it is not physically painful it can be emotionally traumatic and there is no cure.

"It was slow at first. I spent the first year chasing any possible cure - everything from a regime of expensive supplements to painful cortisone injections in my scalp. It was like a runaway roller coaster," she recalled.

In 2010, Cassidy-Rouleau shaved her head and bought a wig. But, her experiences became the inspiration for an inspirational story.

Her book, Destiny's Purpose, tells the story of a young alpaca whose promise of great things in the show ring is cut short when his beautiful thick fleece begins to fall out and the other alpacas shun him. The story is heartwarming, as Destiny finds his purpose. The book is beautifully illustrated by Dennis Auth.

The idea for a book dawned on Cassidy-Rouleau one fall day in 2008, while she sat in her home solarium watching the alpacas grazing on her farm.

"I was contemplating what it would be like to face the world as a woman without hair. How ironic, being a bald woman raising animals that produce one of the most luxurious types of fleece known to the world," she said. "I realized if facing this disease as a grown woman was traumatic, facing it as a child must be devastating. It was hard to imagine facing the world as noticeably different at a time when the reaction of peers can so strongly affect a child's self-image." Writing the book, Cassidy-Rouleau knew children would recognize the bullying behaviours of Destiny's herd-mates and the sadness that being different caused Destiny.

"Children living with Alopecia are living with a condition school communities and the public know very little about," she said.

Her goal is to see the book widely used in schools, libraries and in homes to "breed an understanding and acceptance" of this condition.

"Every opportunity a child has to build empathy, by relating to characters like Destiny, is an opportunity to build tolerance," she added. "In my first couple of years with the disease it was difficult to find support. I had wished that my doctor or dermatologist would have connected me with resources and people. The truth was, they just didn't know about them. Now I know there are thousands of people like me. There are websites and support groups and people who know exactly what it is like to face the world without hair. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and so...I wrote the book." Cassidy-Rouleau's background in education comes through clearly with the literary offering.

"I am a teacher through and through, so I always look for the learning behind every experience. Alopecia wasn't any different. Children need to learn lessons of empathy, acceptance and resiliency that experiences like mine can teach them. They want to learn these lessons," she stated.

She is teaching these lessons through the Character Bound Plus Program at McNab Public School. For the past month grade six students have been, "shining the light on optimism." Working through a variety of texts, videos, stories and non-fiction material, students are learning what it means to have Alopecia. Inspired by the stories of people living with the condition, students wanted to share their messages of hope and the Campaign of Hope was born.

Students created a DVD recording of what they found inspiring from the material they studied and how they were connected to what they learned. Many felt compelled to share their personal and family experiences faced during adversity. The students created buttons bearing their message of hope, which they attached to a therapeutic doll, used to help children dealing with medical hair loss.

This June the DVD, doll and messages will travel to Hollywood, California for the 26th National Alopecia Areata Foundation's International Conference. The annual four-day event provides approximately 700 children with an opportunity to come together to have fun and support each other. The doll will be a special gift for a newly diagnosed child with alopecia and the child can share the removable buttons with messages of hope with new friends at the conference.

As the students' package arrives in Hollywood, Cassidy-Rouleau will be picking up the 2011 Public Education Award for her book Destiny's Purpose in Edmonton, Alberta.

The most recent acknowledgement is from the Canadian Dermatology Association.

The book has been well received in the publishing world winning rave reviews including Publishers Weekly Select, Reader's Choice, and Kirkus Discovery Reviews.

It's pilot use within other schools within Renfrew County District School Board has received equally positive reviews.

Cassidy-Rouleau holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Psychology, a Bachelor of Education, and a Specialist in Special Education and is currently completing a Master's in Education.

She resides at Ballintotas Farm in Braeside with her husband Chris and their two children Traleena 14 and Kieran 11.

Destiny's Purpose is available through www.bigtentbooks.com and the Arnprior Book Shop.

For a free teacher's guide and resources for grades one through eight visit www.ballintotasalpacas.com A portion of sales from the book supports the National Alopecia Areata Foundation to fund hair prosthetics for children in need and to bring child sufferers together at national conferences.

View original article at EMC Arnprior via the following link.

http://www.emcarnprior.ca/20110505/news/Messages+of+hope+come+to+
life+with+Destiny's+Purpose

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