Navigating School with Food Allergies

If you know who wrote this poem, Please let me know so that I can give them the proper credit!

If you are just starting out on your food allergy journey, I would encourage you to read Food Allergies, A Mom’s Perspective This post on school and food allergies.

The Fear Never goes Away – Sending Your Child To School With Food Allergies

I found this poem throughout the internet, but was unable to find who wrote it. It brings tears to my eyes every time I read it and feel it’s blessed us every school year. Navigating school and food allergies can be a demanding and challenging roll for most food allergy moms. In the beginning especially sending your child to school for the first time it is so scary, but is manageable. Can be made less scary.

Think about it. School is a place to gain education. In this post I will share with you all of the things that worked for our family. That were proven useful and were very much appreciated throughout the years.

We have only ever had one incident that wasn’t even an incident and it occurred this year (sophomore year) he needed to do a lab for a college level test and they needed to work with milk. He can not even touch milk. The teacher called to inform me. I didn’t want him to fail. He worked so hard for this biology class, but he could also NOT touch the milk at all. Needless to say they found a way for him to participate without putting him in danger, but I was a nervous wreck until I got my hands on him. The fear will never ever go away and that’s the part no one understands. Yes, everyone is fearful of losing their child, but this is a whole new level that is so hard to grasp unless you have been through it too.

The What If’s

With the summer being close to an end for food allergy mom’s it is not something we look forward to. It’s something we dread. No one knows my child as well as I do. The teachers don’t know what his triggers are. They don’t know his specific symptoms.

I know my kid won’t stick his hand in someone’s lunch to share.

What if another kid just grabs his food, meanwhile their cheese snacks are all over their hands!

What if the other kids are eating, don’t wash up and go play with the toys with food all over the place?

What if there is a substitute teacher they won’t know any of the kids, let alone mine and his food allergies.

What if he has an allergic reaction and I am not there?

These are all very valid concerns and fears. The first time I sent my son to school, I was terrified.

Emotionally Navigating Your Child’s Food Allergy Diagnosis may be a useful read as well. You are not alone. We all feel this way.

Communication is key

I knew, he knew what he could have and what he couldn’t. Even in preschool. I was more worried about the other kids. Touching their food then touching him. The teachers were always on top of it. Letting me know ahead of time if there was a birthday in class. So I could make him a cupcake, or cookies. He was never not included in celebrations. As he got older, it would be pizza parties, but again I would make him his own pizza and his friends and class mates knew about him needing special food. To the point where they were washing up extra just to be sure he stayed safe. It seemed they grew with him, learned with him and I am very grateful for that in retrospect.

Educate the Educators

I have always made some version of this form. Giving it to his teacher and school nurse before the start of each school year.

Every teacher and nurse loved it, because it made them feel better about his allergies and how to manage or treat them. Because yes, a single allergy is one thing, but my son is allergic to dairy, eggs, soy, corn, tree nuts, shellfish, rosemary, sesame and sunflower.

That is a lot to keep track of. And yes, they could handle this but have never had a child with so many allergens before.

I would also write a letter for them to look back on with his usual reactions. Every allergic reaction can be different from the last, but my son’s always seem to start with his eyes. Half of the time, he didn’t even know what was wrong when it was happening, but you can definitely see it plain as day.

With so many allergies to have to control with just my son, teachers and nurses were very grateful for any and all information I could give them and Trust me I gave them a lot of information.

This is an example of the medical card I had created for my son. I would give this to his teacher. I also stapled a picture of my son to it so substitute teachers to easily identify my son.

School and Food

I always provided all food, snacks and drinks for him. Made the pizza or cupcakes for any child’s party at school. I was a stay at home mom for this very reason. When it came to my kids food allergies, I needed to be ready for anything. With so many doctors appointments, school forms, nurses, food and snacks, plus I was always ready to run if that phone rang during the day. Most of the time when the phone rang it was because he dropped his snack and needed a new one, but that fear is always there.

At the time we had two small children and the oldest with this many allergies. Being a stay at home mom is what worked for our family dynamic. My husband was always there when we needed, but most of the doctors appointments, food, school, and food allergies were my priority.

Where To Eat? Lunch Safety

When he was in pre-school and kindergarten he ate in the classroom. When he got a little older we would handle the cafeteria. I know kids. they throw things, milk comes out of their noses MILK! my sons worst allergy! They ban peanuts from school but not milk! How were we going to handle this?

We had multiple options when it came time.

Option 1 – Eat alone in the classroom with the teacher

Option 2 – Eat in the lunchroom at a corner table alone

Option 3 – Sit at the end of a regular lunch table that way he could get up easily if someone spilled their milk

Option 4- Sit at the peanut free table

We did not want him to feel left out or be outcast because of his allergies. He was and is no different from all of the other kids. We wanted his safety of course but also were concerned for his self esteem and emotional well being. Taking all of this into consideration we decided Option 4 would be best for him. The kids at that table were well aware of food allergies and what can happen because they had them as well. Lunch monitor’s were also made aware of his allergens and what to look out for as his reactions. He was also placed at the end of the table so it was easy for him to get up if there was a milk spill.

The 504 Plan

What is a 504 plan? – A 504 is a management plan in which you collaborate with the school a written food allergy plan.

504 is available under the federal civil right law, section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 which lists allergy as a hidden disability – Furthermore, protections under 504 were reinforced by the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and amendments in 2008 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture states in it’s guidance for accommodating students with special dietary needs when a doctor diagnoses a food allergy as impacting a bodily function or other important life activity. This criteria meets the definition of a disability.

This allows you to create a written allergy plan outlining how the school is going to address the needs of your child. This will allow your child to participate not only safely but equally along side all the other children throughout the school day/year.

Steps to the 504 process

Contact the school’s 504 coordinator
coordinator will assemble a team to determine qualification of protection
medical recommendations and information provided to the team will be reviewed
if your child is eligible – team will create accommodations for an IHP (individual healthcare plan) and a food allergy and anaphylactic emergency care plan- written plans cover a variety of scenarios from cafeteria procedures, staff education to a transportation plan.

Now that you know what a 504 plan is it is up to you to determine if one is needed for your child.

We never requested or enforced one for my son. Due to the fact that though food allergies do fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act. As long as I had the school nurses, and teachers on board. I was always just a phone call away for any questions. I knew that the teachers didn’t want anything bad to happen either. They have always been so willing to cooperate and make him safe and included. I also do not recommend this course of action at all. This is what we felt was right for our food allergy journey. 504’s can be super helpful and in some cases necessary. I would however recommend doing your own research and coming about your own conclusions on this matter.

The Inclusion Of School And Food Allergies

My son being highly allergic to milk was the scariest thing about sending him to school. There are peanut free tables in the cafeteria, nut free classrooms, but there is no milk free classroom? What do they serve in every school cafeteria? Milk. There was always milk around him. Even at the peanut free table. The funny thing is with all of these allergies, he is NOT allergic to peanuts!

When he was younger and I was weighing the options of possibly creating a 504 plan with the school. I felt like it didn’t even matter. They weren’t going to eliminate milk from the premises, so I needed to educate the educators, the nurses were fully aware, called when they needed to, made sure that all forms were completed and that all medications were new and up to date. I was really lucky with the people that were involved. Who were always so caring.

Our decision to not do a 504 was strictly because we felt confident in the school nurses and how much the teacher’s cared. If we did come across a teacher who was frivolous we would then reconsider but that hasn’t happened yet for us.

We decided against creating a 504, sat him in the safest place for lunch (which was the peanut free table) we did this because there would be less kids around him during lunch. Less chances of spilled milk. So to speak. We could have also had him sit alone during lunch but then he would become the outcast. He was so talkative and loved kids and school. We wanted him to feel part of, not like something was wrong with him because we felt this would and can have such a huge impact on his self esteem. He was just him!

Coping

He became friends with the few kids at the time that were at the peanut free table. They learned what he could eat and what he couldn’t. They were also aware if they sat next to him they couldn’t have anything with a cheese powder like Doritos or Cheetos. His friends from class started to learn these things too. They would take charge telling others to make sure to wash up so he didn’t get sick.

In my opinion all of these things combined are what helped our son with food allergies thrive in the school setting. He is going into his senior year this year.

We have come a long way through the years. Now the fear of him going away to college is a whole new chapter for me, but we will jump that bridge when we get to it.