Food Allergies & School

You will really need to spend some time educating people. Food allergies are covered by the ADA and you NEED to request a 504 plan for your child so that you can be certain that eevryone is educated on what is necessary to handle your child's condition. You need to prepare yourself that while some schools are equipped to deal with food allergies from past experience, many are not. You are going to have to be an advocate for your child and be involved to make sure that what needs to happen is happening. We talk about our food allergies a lot at home so he really understands what makes him sick. He actually asks people about food often, i.e. - what is in that - does that have cow's milk or eggs (my sons allergies)? It is difficult, but just be prepared up front. You need to get your ducks in a row now. Good luck!

Hello LG

has the doctor prescribed an epi pen-jr? you'd need a second prescription so the nurse can keep one at school. get a note from your doctor indicating his allergies. most likely you'll have to send lunch from home. BTW, what is he allergic to? and depending on the severity of his allergies, then he may have to sit on the 'peanut-allergy' table. Good luck! ~C.~

For cooking activities, I always asked the teacher for a heads up on what they would be making so I could make my own version sans allergic components that they could slip him so he and his classmates were unaware of any difference. It's also a good idea to teach your child to self-advocate. I know a several kindergarteners and preschoolers even, who can tell you what their allergies are and ask if a food has it and know they can't have it. You can also teach him to spot common things like the spaghettios and teach him to alert his teacher. That will also be teaching him a life skill to manage his own health.

I substitute regularly at 1 school in PISD (elem) and they are very diligent about the allergies.

All teachers have a list at their desk with pictures of the children with specific allergies, diabetic, etc. Especially when I have subbed in a class that has a child with allergies, it is on my notes. I have subbed there so long, I know the kids now and know who is allergic to what.

There is also a table in the lunchroom set up for peanut free. So the children will not feel divided, with a parent's permission they can have a friend sit with them as long as the friend is having a safe lunch/snack.

Make sure you talk to the nurse and his teacher and you should be fine. Also, volunteer during the cooking and lunch time, you can meet a lot of moms and his classmates!!

Most schools are pretty good about watching out for allergies. Make sure to send in a note to the school nurse, one for his file, and one for the teacher to keep in the classroom. Your son should be old enough to understand his allergy and be able to voice a concern or question if it has anything in it he is allergic to. My son used to choke on minced nuts..he was not allergic, just had a gagging reaction and would work himself up to being sick. We finally got over that but for the longest time I make sure EVERYONE knew about his reaction and taught him to ask if the cookie, etc, had chopped nuts in it.

J.

I'd be more concerned about ketchup than spaghettios getting splashed. You need to follow the procedure - 504 + talk to the school / district about procedures.

My 5 year old can't have cow milk or excessive amounts of dairy (cheese, yogurt), gluten, or tomato products without serious stomach issues - it doesn't limit him much, and he still had issues with it...because someone wasn't paying attention, he had pizza with milk one day at daycare. He wasn't able to get off of the potty. He asks everyone now, and makes sure they know what he can't eat.

I don't know what your son's reaction is - but if it's miserable and not life threatening (like Montezuma's revenge type diarrhea) - it might be a better idea to let him experience the consequences at home.

Of course - if it's anaphylactic shock, then that's not so much an option.

*hugs* Good luck.
S.

My son also suffers from a dairy allergy and it is very difficult to fathom sending him to school.

I have bought a few things I like. Label it or lose it (http://www.labelitorloseit.com/) has a bright yellow allergy lable that I have attached to my son's lunchbox. I put one on the inside and then I went to Learning Express and bought cute luggage tags with his name and my phone number on it and attached an allergy label to the back of it. I put the tag on his lunchbox and his backpack. You can get plain ones as well.

You need to make sure that the school knows about your son's allergies. When I called to see what the policy was (go to your district's website or call the school for answers) I was told that they fill out paperwork and that 3 people are assigned to my son and all are knowledgable about his allergies. One of those people is to be with him at all times during the day.

Every district has a different way of handling things. Check with your school to be sure.

Good luck!

The best thing to do is educate your child on what the food that he is allergic to looks like so he can avoid it. In my experience with public school--the teachers are not with the children at lunch. Lunch room helpers--2 or 3 people watch many classes eating lunch at the same time. Hopefully it will be different at your child's school.

I'm not sure about labeling his lunch box. Might be fine for a year or two, but those kids can be mean about teasing.