Peanut Allergies

[peggyfromwastate]

Bc a Lot of ppl are allergic to dogs!!!

I object to the quote from the dad where he says she's already a cast off and can't do a lot of things other kids can do.

These parents are a little overprotective. They shouldn't allow their daughter to feel like she might die at any moment just bc a classmate had a pb&j for lunch. holy cow. The only thing a peanut allergy keeps u from doing is eating peanuts.

[Vanquisher]

Peggy, I am agreeing with you a lot today.

[scrub-jay]

Bc a Lot of ppl are allergic to dogs!!!

I object to the quote from the dad where he says she's already a cast off and can't do a lot of things other kids can do.

These parents are a little overprotective. They shouldn't allow their daughter to feel like she might die at any moment just bc a classmate had a pb&j for lunch. holy cow. The only thing a peanut allergy keeps u from doing is eating peanuts.

Good point. What about my idea of just having more handwashing stations?

[peggyfromwastate]

I don't think the school needs to accommodate more than they already are.

The ADA requires them to have trained staff who can inject the epipen. Epipens are very easy to use. Anyone can get trained. The first grader herself knows how to do it I'm sure.

Also most schools offer a "no peanut" lunch table or separate place to eat entirely. Risk of ingesting a peanut is much less if you are not eating at the same table.

More handwashing stations wouldve expensive and I doubt would make a difference. Everyone should wash hands already when they get to school in the morning, and after coming in from recess. That's not a big deal. Rinsing out the mouth... Seems excessive. I doubt she's kissing the other kids or drinking their spit... Just seems dumb. Next they will need to wash their faces too.

We had concerns about our don in school too. Mostly bc the playground is a long way away from the nurses station, and recess is after lunch. So if a kid brings a candy bar out onto the playground (which is against the rules) and somehow our son ate some of the peanuts, or the kid wiped it on him or something, we were concerned that he could have an anaphylactic rxn on the playground. So of course we demanded that they ban recess, right? No... I talked with the nurse about my concern, and we worked with the playground aids to make sure they knew Steven and could recognize if he was having an anaphylactic rxn and they started carrying fanny packs to recess so that they have An epipen on hand.

This girl can carry her own epi. She can inject herself too. That's all on the medical form. So I think she should be covered. I think this is more of the parents issue.

The only problems my kids have had at school involves broken bones due to playground accidents... But I don't think they should remove all monkey bars.

[Cumberland]

We have a situation at our preschool where a child has a gluten SENSITIVITY. Not an allergy. This child is also a young 5, doing a second year in a 4 year old class. She is over a year older than some of the kids. Her parents say she cannot be trusted to avoid gluten and therefore they whole school should be gluten free (its a coop, and the parent helping that day brings the snack). They appealed to the parent board to ban gluten, which was approved. It caused a lot of grumbling among parents, because they felt like a 4 year old, and even a child older than that, should be taught to make the right choices about foods they can't eat. It just came to another vote, and the board adopted an identical policy to the public school system meaning we can go back to gluten next year. This mother angrily cried at the meeting, not because of her 5 year old, but because of her younger child who will be starting school soon- he has never been tested for gluten issues but she does not want him to eat gluten and therefore wants the school to stay gluten free.

I think this is an example of the me me me philosophy a lot of parents have. And I wonder if the parents at the peanut school in question are protesting, not because of the girl's peanut allergies, but because of the excessive changes all have to make because of one child. If it is necessary, I can see it, but I really do wonder if all that is being required is necessary- if it is not not medically necessary than it needs to stop. It sounds like there are alternatives that could be explored, like the peanut dog, rather than having so much effort expended on one person/thing/issue. I also think that video clip only showed one side of the story. They didnt interview any school officials or any medical experts, just showed a bunch of lower socioeconomic appearing people and run down homes.

I am also amazed that there are no other kids with peanut allergies at the school. There are probably a dozen kids in my child's first grade cohort alone ( out of maybe 80-90 kids).

[peggyfromwastate]

Our elementary school only has about 4 or so total out of 500 students.

[Meenah]

If it is a potentially fatal reaction, and so inconvenient for the school, shouldn't they (according to the ADA) fund her going to a peanut free school if there is one available? It seems that would be better for her. Attorney's?????

[diggitydot]

I think what's becoming lost in the mix is the degree of severity. Some people (like me with my latex allergy) have mild symptoms, but someone else could go into anaphylaxis with even minute exposure. Judging everyone else's allergies by the severity (or lack there of) of my own would be unfair.

If the kid has a severe allergy and these measures are absolutely necessary, the other parents need to shut it and deal. If it's an overreaction (which I'm not implying since none of the stories I've read indicate an inappropriate parental freak-out), then we have some overzealous, overreaching parents. However, to qualify for services of this kind, I'd be surprised if the school didn't require detailed documentation. And that they were willing to implement these measures would indicate that there is documentation and that they've received it.

[peggyfromwastate]

Not necessarily. The school is probably being bullied here

I am dubious as to the severity of her allergy. What good does rinsing out mouths do?

Like I said, my son is at the very top of the curve for peanut allergy. He's had an anaphylactic rxn before. If we are not careful with exposure to peanuts and even processed foods, over time he can feasibly increase in sensitivity to the point where he can not be in the same airspace as peanut dust.

But mt son is already one if the most allergic kids in the country for all peanut allergies based on the curve...

So I'm doubtful that this girl us so sensitive to the point of needing the mouths rinsed out. ??? Handwashing is one thing. That's reasonable.

I still think the way the parents need to go is towards educating the authorities in how to deal w an anaphylactic reaction should one ever happen rather than trying to force everyone else to adapt in ways that are probably not effective in preventing exposure to peanuts (like rinsing out the mouth).

If she's one of the very unlucky 6 year olds on the planet who really could suffer anaphylaxis by inhaling peanut dust... Then idk. If I were the parent I'd probably try to get an allergy dog or find alternate schooling. I do not think the steps the parents are taking make sense. My allergists have never suggested something like this... ??

I highly doubt this is on doctors orders. Dh has been to allergy courses and he can not imagine what medical rationale is behind rinsing out the mouths. That's overstepping.

[diggitydot]

I've got a kid with special needs and have had to supply two different school districts in different states with his DX info from his pediatric developmental specialist. The school may be bullied here, but they're well within their rights to request documentation. If they're allowing themselves to be bullied into their current position sans proof, they deserve their self-made shitstorm.

[DCJenn]

I think it's a bad combination of over-zealous protective parents (OK- and I've never seen my kid go into that kind of reaction and I imagine that I'd pretty much want to sanitize the universe if I did) and over argumentative dipshits in the case of the other parents. and the ones who suffer are the kids.

I'd likely keep my kid home if the allergies were that bad. Nikolai's very best friend is allergic to peanuts and she and her parents to a great job of keeping her safe. That said, the minute she's at her grandparents for an overnight, they're at the Thai place ordering Pad Thai.

J.

[peggyfromwastate]

I think the school is being bullied bc there is no medical rationale for rinsing the mouth. At least nothing I've ever heard of. Maybe I need to read up on it... But dh is stumped too.

It sucks. I have empathy for the parents. I can not see how their actions are helping their daughter deal with this allergy though in a reasonable way. She will have the peanut allergy her whole life. She needs to feel like she can function in the world in spite of her allergy. She needs to be able to recognize what foods she needs to avoid. And she needs to feel like it's just something she needs to deal with and not that everyone around her needs to accommodate.

???

Washing hands Is really the best preventive measure the school can take to accidental exposure to peanuts.

[peggyfromwastate]

Jenn that's funny bc we love Thai food but we just can't eat it!!! No matter how many times you say "no peanuts" some always gets left in there.

And anaphylaxis is scary, but it's not generally all of a sudden. You see swelling on the arms, face, around the mouth maybe first. The kid can usually recognize the swelling starting before it moves into the throat and closes off the airways. But it's not always accompanied by external swelling-- that's why all the teachers and playground staff and lunch aides need to know so that if they see your kid stumbling around they don't think hes just screwing around-- they think anaphylaxis first.

[HouseofWool]

I do think rinsing the mouth seems excessive. My nephew also has a severe peanut allergy. Bad enough that my sister cannot bake with peanut butter if he is at home, something gets into the air and he has a reaction to it. That being said, all of his siblings eat pb sandwiches with him in the room and are careful to not let it get in contact with him in any way.

[DCJenn]

I'm not sure exactly what rinsing the mouth is supposed to do?

J.