Avery’s 2½-year-old brother Nolan has severe food allergies, and when she came home that afternoon she told my husband and me that “her heart was smoking mad.” She was so upset by her classmates’ attitudes that she had marched right up to her teacher and told him that she wanted to give a speech to the class on allergies.

That evening, using a lot of information from our allergist, Avery and I created a factual, child-appropriate presentation, complete with an EpiPen demonstration. Avery would usually have been frightened to speak in public or to give an oral presentation.

Yet armed with her cue cards and a heart full of passion, she not only gave the presentation to one class but was soon recruiting teachers in the hallway, requesting that they also allow her to come into their classrooms.

To our amusement and pride, Avery has even made changes and additions to her allergy speech. For example, after having been asked why she lists peanuts and tree nuts separately, she added a sentence or two explaining the difference between a peanut (a legume) and a nut. She has also added a question and answer segment at the end of her presentation, and has even been known to quiz her teachers about what they have learned from her presentation.

To date, Avery has done about two dozen presentations, including one to our local anaphylaxis support group. Avery transferred schools last school semester, but continued to give allergy presentations, and has already lined some more up for this school year.

Our daughter has amazed my husband and me with her strength and the depth of her love for her brother. She was 8½ years old with no health issues when Nolan was born. At six months, her brother suffered his first of many allergic reactions, to a peanut butter-laced kiss.

His entire body was covered in a rash and hives, his eyes were bloodshot and then his face swelled until his eyes were shut, and he began to make a low grunting sound. What did I do? I stripped him down and quickly got him into the tub. Never having seen an allergic reaction or heard one described, it didn’t even cross my mind that this was what was happening.

Nolan’s allergies include peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, gelatin, peas and other legumes and shellfish. He has asthma as well as multiple environmental allergies, and has outgrown allergies to eggs and fish.

Avery, who is now 11 years old, has never once whined or complained about the changes or sacrifices our family has to make in order to keep her brother safe. I even overheard her whisper on Santa’s lap a few years ago that she wished most of all for her brother’s allergies to go away.

Avery understands the reality of allergies and asthma, having witnessed her brother’s many reactions. She is the first to quizzically examine a new food product, she re-reads ingredient labels, she will not hesitate to question a grownup if it concerns her brother’s safety, and she is the first to block her brother from a stranger’s touch (and if they do touch, they should be prepared for an articulate girl’s allergy and cross-contamination lecture).

But our daughter is also aware that those who don’t deal with allergies personally may not mean to be insensitive. She knows that our own family was also unaware of allergy issues until our little man came along. What Avery also knows is that we can choose to make a difference. Her immediate goal is to continue to educate others about allergies and how to recognize if someone is having a reaction and administer the auto-injector. She hopes that, by explaining the seriousness of allergies, her peers will choose to help protect those children with allergies and make choices which could keep them safe.

When she grows up, Avery plans to be an allergist. She even has the floor plans of her office all drawn up, complete with hand sanitizer dispensers and automatic doors, so no germs get on the door handles. Above all, Avery’s goal and dream is to care for her baby brother and to cure his allergies.

Michelle Chow and her family are navigating the world of food allergies in Ottawa.

Dr. Watson: Unfortunately, peanut allergy is increasing. A negative skin or blood test for peanut allergy in a child before they are exposed to peanut only tells you that they have not yet made any IgE, the allergic antibodies, to peanut. It does not predict the development of an allergy.

For children who have outgrown this allergy, regularly eating peanut appears to reduce the risk of the peanut allergy coming back. It is not known if this is true for children who do not have a peanut allergy. So it is difficult to know why your second child developed her peanut allergy at age 7. Was she eating peanut regularly?

For your third child, I would exercise caution because of your other children’s allergies. I would keep peanut-containing products out of the house. There are no good studies that say prevention of an allergy is possible, so I cannot make a scientific recommendation. The longer you avoid peanut exposure, the more you may delay a possible allergic reaction.

If you decide to have your son tested, I would recommend doing so before school, while he’s under your supervision. If the test is negative, then you will need to decide whether you are comfortable with continuing to avoid peanut versus feeding it to him regularly. I wish I knew the right answer. I do not, but neither does any other allergist. This is an area of heated debate.

We welcome your question to Allergic Living’s Ask the Allergist. Thank you for understanding that the specialists aren’t able to answer every question received.

Dr. Wade Watson is a pediatric allergist and Professor of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University. He is also the head of the Division of Allergy at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.