When you were very sick in hospital, all of your teachers and classmates would have been told about it. Everyone would have been very worried about you and they probably found the whole thing very upsetting.

Now that you are out of hospital and on your way back to school, all of you classmates and teachers haven’t seen you for a long time. Everyone will be so pleased to see you and they will all have lots of questions.

All this attention can make you feel like a celebrity! Everyone knows your name and everyone wants to talk about you and talk to you!

When you first start back this ‘celebrity attention’ can be both good and bad.

 On the good side:

• It is nice getting lots of attention
• It can make you feel popular and well liked
• It can make you feel very happy to be back at school.

On the bad side:

• Lots of people talking to you can be very tiring
• After you have been back for a while, people might not give you so much attention. This can make you feel lonely because you can feel that they don’t like you anymore
• If your ABI has caused your personality to change, some of your classmates might find it difficult and may not want to talk to you.

It can be great being the centre of attention but it can leave you feeling pretty tired and even sad when people start loosing interest. Your classmates don't usually behave like this to hurt you, they are just very curious to begin with and have lots of questions. Once you’ve answered their questions they may not have anymore. Try and concentrate on your real friendships with your old friends. 

Talk about how you feel with your close friends, teacher or parents. It may help you to feel a bit better.