Talking Allergies

I hear what you're saying too. We've all tried to eliminate those food celebrations, but experience shows that it's a losing battle. And if you win there will surely be ignorant outsiders who will try to make your life miserable. And there will STILL be those Moms that bring fancy cupcakes in. They really can't help themselves. You will have to be prepared to meet them somewhere in the middle, like maybe suggesting only fresh fruit trays with yogurt dip (unless there's a dairy allergic child ... but I never outlawed that, just came in to monitor) if you want to keep things harmonious. And while some allergic kids do have special accomodations made, as I pointed out, mine does not - other than the early years of eating at his own desk. Which was not horrible at all. It was pulled a few feet away so that milk / yogurt / cheese wouldn't drip onto his desk, and he was still close enough to chat with his friends, laugh, have fun, but not close enough so they'd be tempted to share food. It really wasn't ridiculous, it kept him safe.

There are a large group of people out there who absolutely refuse to make ANY accomodations for an allergic child, they feel very strongly that they should not have to make any sacrifices since it's not their problem. They feel we should all homeschool. I am afraid of those people, and what they are teaching their children. I always pretended that I had to face a roomful of them each year so I could be certain there wouldn't be any retaliations or threats made against my ds.

You might be lucky and not have to face any of this ... I hope not!

What is "HARD" is to change the way people see things, the way teachers and other parents have done things for years! Food in the classroom has been done for years - to change that over night for "one" child, for many may seem as overkill. Perhaps instead of "no food", change it to "fruit and veggie" celebration, or depending on the time of year of the kid's birthdays, petition the parents (include the teacher) to bring in things that would be useful for the kids and the classroom - ie, new/gently used toys to use, new/gently used books, outside toys, playground chalk, skipping ropes, balls. Just saying NO will get other peoples knickers in a twist. Giving them positive options will go a lot farther. For what it's worth, for the past lord knows how many years (1 kid gr 6, 1 gr 2), I've brought in balls, skipping ropes, new sidewalk chalk, etc for the class as a gift on my kid's birthdays instead of cupcakes or goodies.

As an aside, many teachers (at least in my town here in ontario) purchase many of their classroom "extras" with their own money. So, anything a parent brings in and donates is VERY WELCOME indeed!

I feel your pain. Many do not understand CD or it's repercussions (It runs in my family, plus MIL is gluten sensitive - not CD, so I've learnt to deal), but most that I've seen do not outright ask for it banned, they've looked for other smaller accomodations plus teachings, mostly because unlike anaphylactic allergies it does not carry the immediate life threatening risk to it.

Good luck.

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Dawne - Ana to all pitted fruits, POTATOES, strawberries, kiwis, pumpkin, apple, pear; + asthma, hayfever, migraines, fragrance sensitive
dh -nil
DD (1999) - asthma, hayfever, latex/red dye sensitive
DD (2003)- ana to mosquitos (risk all stinigng insects)

Maybe starting from the position that:
You want your child's first years of school life to be positive.
That you want her to be healthy and included in all aspects of school life.
That you recognize CD does bring some challenges but it isn't impossible to keep her safe.

Educate a bit about how reactions might not be life htreatening but they are very serious (painful symptoms, malabsorption leads to malnutrition and can impact development. etc

Discuss needs of small children (supervision of snacks/ no sharing policy; gluten free craft supplies, celebrations etc.)

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Thanks Susan, suggestions like yours are what I was looking for. I know it is a big battle to get others to realize what we face. It starts somewhere right? For what it's worth I am not a new parent at this school, I have an older daughter. I am also our parent council vice chair. I am not intending to ban celebrations and I am prepared to offer positive, healthy alternatives that will benefit ALL children.

Make a mental list of what you want and ask them to describe how they plan to keep your child safe. Yu might find that they have considered some of the items on your list. This way you can get a sense of how much they understand and you can spend your time focused on the items that they don't get.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

-except this doesnt work for those of us dealing with oral allergy syndrome, vomiting with apples, lip swelling with watermelon and anaphylaxis to pineapple -it just becomes ridiculous doesnt it?


Now THIS idea is great! (except the balls would have to be latex free to cater for those kids )

Catering for EVERYONE in an allergic world is very difficult if not near impossible-being aware of the issues and minimising the risk is personally what i think we need to be focusing on.

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twin boys-
c-eosinophilic oesophagitis
j-avoids peanut, sunflower, pineapple all ana-sensitised to maccadaemia.pecan.Passed barley (previous ana) last year...out grew egg ana and peanut at 3 years..became re sensitised with ana at 6 years to peanut.

Hey, preaching to the choir here! I've got so much on my "can't eat" list of fresh or cooked fruits (OAS gone to full anaphylaxis, yeah me). I know that there is no way to eliminate all allergies for everyone. But for younger kids, I'm sure it can be done on a case by case basis. In my kids school, there is one classroom that is potatoe, nut and apple free due to one child's allergies (the little thing is only grade 1).

I just know that the teachers have been way more appreciative of the classroom resources and "consumables" that we've donated in honour of our kid's birthdays than yet another batch of cupcakes. And the teachers would much rather a "healthy" snack of fruits and veggies vs sugar laden extremely sticky/messy cupcakes.

Now, off to purge old books, puzzles, leggo, etc and make some donations to our school...

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Dawne - Ana to all pitted fruits, POTATOES, strawberries, kiwis, pumpkin, apple, pear; + asthma, hayfever, migraines, fragrance sensitive
dh -nil
DD (1999) - asthma, hayfever, latex/red dye sensitive
DD (2003)- ana to mosquitos (risk all stinigng insects)

I have told our daughter's school that I can not in good conscience condone junk food treats and lesson plans when we are also fundraising for the food bank or impoverished nations to build well or support schools. How do children reconcile wasting resources with the awareness that others have so little?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb