About this activity
Eight messages a teenager needs to say for themselves as parent proxy ends: My stomach hurts. I've had a headache since this morning. I need my medication. It hurts here — my right shoulder. I feel dizzy when I stand up. I'm allergic to peanuts. Please call my mom. Health reporting is where the loss of a parent speaking for you has the sharpest consequences, and it is rarely on a device before it is needed.
How to use it in a session
Rehearse specificity. My stomach hurts is a start, but It hurts here — my right shoulder is the message that changes what happens next, so spend the time on location and duration rather than on the fact of pain. Role-play with someone in the role of a nurse who asks follow-up questions, because a single phrase is never the whole exchange. Then make sure the phrases are pre-stored and reachable within a screen or two — a health message the student has to build is a message that arrives late.
What to listen for
Watch for unprompted reporting. Most students in this position have learned to wait for an adult to notice, and the shift worth recording is a message initiated before anyone asked. Notice whether duration language survives — since this morning is a harder and more useful piece of information than the pain itself.
Carrying it home
Ask the family to stop answering the doctor's questions. When a clinician asks how long it has hurt, the teenager should answer, even though it is slower. Practising in the waiting room beforehand makes that pause bearable for everyone.
Questions
- Why is this written for high school?
- Because it maps onto transition planning: medical self-advocacy is part of aging out of parent proxy, and it needs to exist on the device before the first appointment where it matters.
- Is the board free?
- Yes, no account and no card. Signing in adds goal tracking and assignment.
- Should these be stored or built?
- Stored. In an urgent moment nobody has time to navigate, and a health message that takes a minute to build often does not get sent at all.