Posted by Kristen Kauke |
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ~Buddha
Back-to-school time is hardly a time of nirvana. As parents, we fret about purchasing back-to-school supplies and wrangling our kids back onto a schedule. Our kids fret about seeing friends who were placed in the other class, and managing the burden of homework. And for our kiddos with food allergies, they have additional worries of how to feel safe.
Feel that daunting sensation in the pit of your stomach yet? Ok, so exhale … and reflect back to Buddha’s advice.
Let go of last year’s pains. We can’t change the bumps in the road already traveled, but we can learn what paths to avoid and ways to re-route. Ponder the events and ways of coping that were less than productive and consider it as feedback for improvement.
Don’t anticipate catastrophe. As parents, we are but one of the variables from whom our children learn to navigate their world. Other variables include school leaders, peers, and independent exploration of their environment. (Phew, it’s not all on us!) One of the most important gifts we can give our children is learning to manage our own anxiety. We can keep our own worries in perspective by asking the following questions of our “worst case scenarios”:
- How likely, really, is this worst-case scenario to occur? 100%? 40%? 10%?
- How bad could this scenario be if it were to occur?
- Can we handle that?
Plan wisely for preschool: We can help our kiddos plan wisely by instilling rules, role-playing situations, and encouraging reasonable expectations.
Good rules to enforce with food allergic kiddos include:
- always read food labels;
- ask an adult before eating food that was not provided by your parents or other designated adult;
- whoever is responsible for you should be aware of your food allergy;
- wash hands before and after eating;
- wipe surface before eating;
- be prepared with a stash of “safe” food; and
- always have epinephrine auto-injectors.
Parents can role-play ways to respond to social situations such as the following:
- A friend asks, “Why do you have to eat something different?” Practice answering: “Because I’m allergic to (milk). If I eat that I get sick.”
- Teachers open play dough in the classroom. Practice asking: “Is this play dough safe for me?”
Preschool aged children are all about themselves – they want what they want when they want it. While they may have many complaints about food substitutions and safety precautions, it’s important to reframe comments such as “but it should be this way…” and instead say, “I’d like it to be…” and to echo reasonable expectations such as: “You don’t have to like it, but you have to do it.” Or “Fair does not mean equal.”
Plan wisely for elementary school. When kids reach kindergarten age, we can help them plan wisely by inviting them to ask questions, helping them problem solve, educating their friends, and encouraging them to face their fears.
A favorite word of kids at this age is why. Inviting kids to ask questions increases their knowledge about food allergies, and knowledge is power.
Parents do their kids a favor when they guide them through the problem solving process instead of just giving them an answer. If your kiddo is worrying about sitting at the nut-free table in the lunchroom, ask them about their specific worry.
This is also a great age to guide kids in ways to educate their friends about their allergy. Kids at this age tend to be altruistic; most are willing to help if they know how. Help your child teach peers about their allergy.
Fears at every age are common. Most kids at this age have fears about separation, thunder and lightning, sleeping in the dark, and bodily injury. For kids with food allergies, the fears of separation and bodily injury might be more magnified. We need to practice preparing for reasonable risks and facing our fears. As parents, we need to encourage our kiddos to act with courage to gain confidence over their fears.
And again…exhale. I wish you and your family wisdom and presence this school year.
Posted by Chris Weiss |
As you may have heard, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act (FAAMA) was signed into law by the President on Jan. 4, so we can expect the federal government to create some national, voluntary food allergy management guidelines for schools.
When will this happen? My best guess is by the end of 2011.
Who will create the guidelines? Likely, they will be created by a coalition of groups including FAAN, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) working under the auspices of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH).
I know that some in the food allergy community are unhappy that these guidelines will be voluntary, and not mandatory, but this is just a political reality. We knew early on that any sort of mandate on our schools would never have been passed by Congress. So the dilemma was pass something voluntary vs. pass nothing at all. We chose the former.
The whole FAAMA process was enlightening to me on many levels.
It was exciting to find out that the bill had been officially introduced on the very morning of FAAN’s first Kids’ Congress on Capitol Hill in the fall of 2005.
It was exciting to walk through the halls of the House and Senate office buildings, looking at the state flags outside of office doors, along with the state seals.
It was exciting to meet actual members of Congress, shake their hands, and speak directly to them about the challenges that families managing food allergies face.
It was exciting to see kids with food allergies, wearing suits and dresses, talking to their legislators about their experiences.
It was frustrating, however, to realize that the legislative process can be filled with so many obstacles and challenges. Partisanship is real, and there were concerns raised not only about the grant incentives in the legislation, but also whether the legislation was even something the federal government should consider. One legislator even told a family from his state that FAAMA was unconstitutional.
And over the last few months of 2010, it felt like our bill was tied to a yo-yo. One week, the bill was on life-support; the next week, it was dead; the next week, it was a sure thing; the next week, it was back on life support. But thank goodness it all worked out in the end.
Now we’ll shift our attention to other national issues that affect those living with food allergies that could be addressed by Congress.
As always, I welcome your feedback.
Posted by Julia Bradsher |
Greetings, and welcome to the first post of FAAN’s brand-new blog! In this section of our website, you’ll hear from various members of FAAN’s staff, who will share their perspective, experiences, and stories about food allergies and anaphylaxis. You’ll notice that the topics will usually fall into the areas of education, awareness, research and advocacy. This is not a coincidence, as those are the mission points that are at the crux of everything we do.
We’ve accomplished so much in our aim to make life simpler for families managing food allergies, and I’m excited to share with you our ambitious plans for the future. In 2011, the 20th anniversary of FAAN, we will continue to work diligently to educate the public about the severity of food allergy and provide the food allergy community with tools and programs that it deserves.
Next month, I’m pleased to report that FAAN will honor some very special individuals and corporations who have gone above and beyond on behalf of people with food allergies at the Los Angeles Honors Gala. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (Corporate Leadership), Kristy Villa, host of “The Balancing Act” on Lifetime Television (Media), Campbell’s (Corporate Advocacy), Kendall Hollinger (Teen Hero), Brian Hom (Family Advocacy), and Melanie and Tom Staggs (Family Leadership), will be honored during this event on Feb. 10. Tickets are available through our Events website.
I’d also like to let you know about a great educational program that will be unveiled this year. FAAN was commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) to produce an instructional DVD to help schools and parents manage food allergies in the school setting. This video will be available on our website, and will likely be part of a larger DASH toolkit that can be used by schools across the nation to help manage students with food allergy.
Also in 2011, we will open Camp TAG (The Allergy Gang), a camp where kids with food allergies can just be kids. I’m really excited about this one-week camp, which will provide children with food allergies and their siblings with a safe environment to meet new friends, learn more about food allergies, and just have a lot of fun. The camp will be staffed with trained parent and teen counselors who “get it” when it comes to food allergies, and the curriculum for the camp has been approved by FAAN’s Medical Advisory Board.
In closing, we are very excited about our programs and initiatives for 2011. We welcome your feedback. Please call or write if we can be of help to you or your family.
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