Talking Allergies

Great!

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Fiona - how did the meeting go with the school?

Has that boy bothered Tyson again?

It really is great that he told you --- when my daughter was teased she didn't tell me for months.

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

My husband met with the principal last week and the meeting went very well. The principal had already spoken to the boy in grade 6 and my son received an apology from him. He took our concerns very seriously and demonstrated that he understood the risks if this behaviour were to continue or escalate. My husband brought the Allergic Living bully article with him and the Principal asked if he could hold onto the magazine for a while and also encouraged us to bring him more articles and information about how schools are dealing with food allergic children (we will encourage him to subscribe!). He is also planning to add annual allergy training to the safety training that occurs for the teachers, staff and ALL the children in the school (and asked our advice on who to bring in)!

My son is feeling really great about this and also asked to attend the meeting with the principal (primarily because he had never been in his office and was curious about it )!

Thanks very much to everyone who passed along advice ! It really helped us to have good conversations at home and my son even wrote a short story for his French class homework about a bully who learns to be nice (completely unprompted); so obviously the messages are sticking! I am really proud of how he has handled this and for the great responses he received on this forum.

Thanks!!!
Fiona

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Son 7 yrs: Anaphylactic to eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts and allergic to soy, animals & environmental + Asthma.
Daughter 9 yrs: No allergies!
Me: Allergic to animals & environmental.
Hubby: Allergic to deer, horse flies & bees.

So glad to hear the school is being great about it, and the boy seems to have learned his lesson. Good for your son!

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DD 2004 Allergy to peanuts, egg, sesame, and new: lentils and chick peas
DS 2006 Allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, kiwi fruit, eczema

That is wonderful to hear of the administrator's willingness to learn more about food allergies.

Hopefully Tyson realizes that his advocacy will help many other students with food allergies too!

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

We just received confirmation today that the school will be subscribing to Allergic Living magazine to keep in the teachers' lounge! !!

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Son 7 yrs: Anaphylactic to eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts and allergic to soy, animals & environmental + Asthma.
Daughter 9 yrs: No allergies!
Me: Allergic to animals & environmental.
Hubby: Allergic to deer, horse flies & bees.

That is fabulous! When I read your earlier note I was thinking that would be a great gift for a school.

For our teacher appreciation week I will be buying a dozen magazines for the staff room (parent council pays for it) and will try to find an Allergic Living single copy!

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

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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

Fiona, WOW, all great news from your sons school - everything that has transpired, from start to finish has been handled so well... from your brave son, to the meeting at school, the apology and the principal's willingness to handle this so well and even to subscribe to Allergic Living - AWESOME!! I love the idea of providing this magazine to the school... never would have thought of this, and it's a really great idea!! SOOOOO happy to hear that your son can safely go to school and the boy in grade 6 has learned something from this experience. It's all good to hear and thanks for sharing!

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

You might mention to the school that there are many articles available on our website. Near the top there is a search button and you can pull up topic on a variety of subjects.

Schools and Dr's offices get a discounted price, too.

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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

Just read this one and wanted to offer virtual hugs. You are lucky your child mentioned the incidents to you.
We had our first I cident right before Christmas where a first grader from another class threatened to force my 6 year to eat peanuts. We handled it through the school and all is well now but I think the hardest part was my boy didn't tell me himself. He told me the bully was hitting him but didn't think to mention the verbal threats. Fortunately my son's friend showed his true colours and told his mom about what hPpened to my boy so I got the information.

I thought all this bullying would start later. Hard to take in grade one. At least the school is good with dealing with it.

Let's all hope all our kids have an easy rest of the year.

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DS 1: anaphylactic to peanuts, allergic to fish
DS 2: asthma