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Cincinnati Babies
jerseygirl81
member
news story about peanut allergy accomodations
jerseygirl81
member
What do you think of this? The (obviously unscientific) poll had over half of respondents saying her allergy is too disruptive for her to be in class. I found that shocking.
School parents want girl with peanut allergy sent home
First-graders in Florida school required to wash hands, rinse out their mouths before entering classroom
ORLANDO, Florida ? Some public school parents in Edgewater, Florida, want a first-grade girl with life-threatening peanut allergies removed from the classroom and home-schooled, rather than deal with special rules to protect her health, a school official said.
"That was one of the suggestions that kept coming forward from parents, to have her home schooled. But we're required by federal law to provide accommodations. That's just not even an option for us," said Nancy Wait, spokeswoman for the Volusia County School District.
Wait said the 6-year-old's peanut allergy
is so severe it is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To protect the girl, students in her class at Edgewater Elementary School are required to wash their hands before entering the classroom in the morning and after lunch, and rinse out their mouths, Wait said, and a peanut-sniffing dog checked out the school during last week's spring break.
Wait said school leaders will meet this week with parents to address concerns and try to halt inaccurate rumors that children's mouths were being wiped with disinfectant.
Chris Burr, a father of two older students at the school whose wife has protested at the campus, said a lot of small accommodations have added up to frustration for many parents.
"If I had a daughter who had a problem, I would not ask everyone else to change their lives to fit my life," said Burr.
Attempts to reach the girl's parents for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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This discussion has been closed.
Re: news story about peanut allergy accomodations
As a parent of a child with food allergies, I really don't give a $hit how "small accommodations" have frustrated other parents. In my opinion, it's a form of discrimination to expect the allergic child's parents to home-school her and to stay out of their way. You can darn well bet that if it were their child, the shoe would most certainly be on the other foot. It's really akin to expecting the little girl to live in her own bubble and never leave her house, just because they don't feel like dealing with the side effects.
I think that legislation like Americans with Disabilities and other anti-discrimination reforms have made life much easier for many people with many forms of disabilities, and selfish people like that make me sick.
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
There was a debate about this on P&CE in the past couple of days. In the article I saw on there the parents were upset about all these procedures cutting into the kids' learning time. Let me see what I can dig up, because I think that referenced a different article.
ETA: https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/50686512.aspx
I don't even care if you find the other article. It's BS to expect parents to home-school their child because other people feel "inconvenienced". I can tell you right now, I am not equipped nor do I have the desire to home-school my child, and I don't need other people telling me I need to do it like those parents in FL.
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
I am not saying I agree with their complaints, nor do I think Tyler should be home-schooled. Just throwing another article out there.
This topic gets me totally riled up. It seriously makes me want to cry. As much as a parent may say, "if that was my kid, I would/wouldn't do this" BULLSHIIT. You never know what you would do until you really have to face that situation. Because the other parents don't have to deal with a child with allergies, it isn't a big deal to them. This is a child's LIFE we are talking about.
And the accomodations aren't crazy. Washing hands, rinsing mouths. No big deal. I could understand if the kids had to shower right before walking in the classroom or having to change clothes once they got to school, but, OH NO. DON'T MAKE MY CHILD WASH HIS/HER HANDS!
Oh, I know that. I guess I just can't get on board with a suggestion like this, no matter what the other parents' rationale is. That's my point.
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
This, exactly. And I love you, Katie:)
I'd be willing to bet money that these are the same parents who vote "NO" for school levies, too. I can just hear it, now - "I don't want my tax dollars going towards all that mouth wash." Effing tools.
I don't get the big deal w/ washing hands. I would think that you'd want a 6 year old to wash their hands pretty often anyway. As far as the rinsing the mouth out, why not use it as an opportunity to encourage good oral hygiene.
It can't/won't happen. That's what these idiots fail to understand. Brown v. BOE.
ETA: By idiots, I mean the parents "demanding" action.
Jennifer, I hope you don't think I was attacking you, I didn't mean for it to come across that way.
I just meant that no matter the spin on it, I don't see how there is a valid argument that requires that child to stay at home.
My blood is boiling right now, because it's reminded me that I'm going to have to put up with this crap when Tyler goes to school.
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
Don't get me started on the dumb $hit parents have said to me regarding my holding *BASIC* expectations of their [young adult] children. ::headdesk::
I just remember the little tidbit that Mommy2Max shared on her FB page a couple weeks ago:
"Fun Fact of the Day: A recent study on 85 shopping carts from 4 states were tested for bacterial contamination. 72% of the carts had a positive marker for fecal bacteria (E. coli tested positive on half of those). WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE!!! That is just flat out gross."
People are disgusting!
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
I don't have a child with allergies, but it ticks me off!
What if the child was in a wheelchair and needed a ramp built so the kids had to walk further to use/not use the ramp, would they be complaining then and saying the child just needs to stay home? NO! I think people act before they really think about something and how stupid it is to say that child shouldn't be able to attend school simply because it is an inconvenience to others. Well tough crap! I am inconvenienced every day by someone/something it seems, but I wear my big girl panties and deal with it and these children should be tought to do the same and to be respectful of others who have a disability.
My boss was just throwing a fit this morning because on his flight in yesterday he wasn't able to have peanuts because the person in the row before him had an alergy and Delta wouldn't allow anyone 3 rows ahead or 3 rows behind peanuts because of it. He was whining like a baby about not getting his peanuts and I looked at him and rolled my eyes. I said, what if that was you or your child or wife who had a severe allergy and it was a danger if the peanuts were anywhere near. He didn't have an answer, and this is the same thing. It's a small inconvienience that can mean a life or death situation for some. Grow up!
I can't wait for our flight in May. I am going to do my best to get them not to serve peanuts at all during the flight. How can they say no to a baby in glasses?!
Yes, exactly what sistrkate and miller said! (I know that comes as a great shock!)
Well, OK, I could be on board with them not taking precautions as long as they are OK with me sending my daughter to school with a very long knife and telling her to stab someone in the stomach who comes near her with peanuts. Oh wait, even that wouldn't be as life threatening as her allergy. Nope, not accomodating a safe environment at school is not acceptable.
As DD's older brothers go through school, there is pretty much at least one child each year in their classes with at least a peanut allergy if not milk, egg, etc also. You better believe I pay close attention to how parties, etc are handled for future reference.
Some of you may be as pleased as I was at meet the teacher night this year when they talked about how the cafeteria menu was revamped to be more healthy and they also no longer serve peanut butter sandwiches that you used to be able to get every day. I was so excited to hear that (of course my bubble was then burst when the teacher commented that was what she ate every day and she was so sad to have to pack her PB sandwich every day now.) I just kept reminding myself....baby steps...hopefully by the time DD gets to school that it will be even better. <crossing fingers>
Actually, that is probably really true. We are pretty hyper-informed on this board. I imagine many people think that food allergies are nothing more than a runny nose, maybe an itch........they don't understand that people's throats swell up, they can't breathe and sometimes die. I know that's being over-dramatic and Tyler's allergies are not as severe as that, but many people live in fear of that daily. The question is, how do you educate people about this stuff and get them to understand that our children are entitled to a safe education environment?
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
I feel really bad for the child and for the family. I cannot even imagine dealing with that level of food allergies. It must be so scary for them to even leave the safety of their own home.
With all that being said, it sounds to me like they would have a good case to request a private home-school tutor for their child. Like I said, I cannot even imagine being in their shoes, but from what I can imagine, if my child was THAT allergic, that she could have a reaction by simply smelling a peanut, I don't think I would want her to go to school.
Public schools are a busy place. Parents come in and out to pick up their children. Substitute teachers, special education teachers, special subject teachers are in and out of the classroom. Guests come in for special presentations, etc. As a parent and an educator, I would NOT want to take the risk of having my child in an uncontrolled environment where other people are coming in and out.
Not sure if this is against TOS but here is what someone from the other board said:
I don't have a problem with declaring a school a nut-free area, even though my kids love peanut butter and would happily eat it daily, and even though it's a cheap source of protein and thus potentially beneficial for low-income children. I don't have a problem with a school banning birthday treats from home or something along those lines. I don't even mind them sending home a note at the beginning of the school year that nut products are not allowed and that your child will need to wash his or her hands upon arrival at school if anything nut-based was consumed for breakfast. To me, those are reasonable accommodations. Allowing the allergic child to keep sanitary wipes in her desk to wipe down her own work space is reasonable. Drenching everything in clorox bleach and forcing children to frequently wash hands and rinse mouths is overkill to me. As others have said, if this child is really THAT allergic, then she needs to be at home or in a more controlled environment.
I agree with all of this (minus the handwashing part - I wish kids could take a handwashing break every 15 min - LOL). I think it would be great if they could allow the child to come in for a special subject for a period of time each day where they knew that she would remain in the same room, with the same teacher and same students, where no parents or special guests where allowed to come in during that time period and right after the students took a bathroom handwashing and drink of water break. I could imagine feeling better about that as a parent and as a teacher.
I really hope that she eventually "grows out" of her severe allergy. I would just be on pins and needles all day if she was my DD.
Ditto this exactly. In early elementary grades, this is much more easily controlled. Twenty students or so report to the same room and stay there all day (or leave as a class to go to a special). Where I teach, we have around 2000 students. They change classes every 50 minutes or so. The hallways are packed... kind of like an airport when it's busy. While certain things, such as food served in the cafeteria and 'no nut' food in the room, the other parts are going to become much more of a challenge. I really do hope that she outgrows that level of sensitivity. I can't imagine how it would work in a cafeteria that seats 800+ students at a time.
The elementary school I taught at had 1200 students - the largest in Ohio. If you laid the hallways from end to end they were a mile long. That's a lot of classrooms to pass on the way to a special if you can have an allergic reaction to just smelling a peanut. The school would have to be nut-free. But then what are the chances the student could run into a parent coming in to help in a classroom, who just fed her toddler peanut butter crackers? Or a student teacher who ate a reeses cup in her car on her way to school? There are so many unknowns at any level of public education.
I guess what I'm saying is I see both sides. Food allergies scare me. I know there are precautions that can be taken, and when you're in a confined environment they have to be taken. And while I believe it is possible for a school to be nut free.. what about other environments where "rules" aren't enforced? Malls, restaurants, etc...
You guys are awesome!