One day, I walked into a class party organized by my son’s teacher. The sight of brightly colored balloons normally evokes feelings of joy. However, as the mother of a child with a latex allergy, the scene was anxiety-inducing. This anxiety quickly escalated to sheer panic when I discovered my son was having a severe anaphylactic reaction. There he was all alone, desperately gasping for air as the color steadily drained from his face.
It is almost impossible not to have increased stress and anxiety and stress at a time when we are living through a period like no other before. There is literally no playbook.
We talk a lot about inclusive education on this page, but what does that really mean? One of the most common examples I give when speaking with educators is if the public would be outraged by how you are separating a food allergic child if you swapped disabilities with a visible one, such as a child who was using a wheelchair you are doing something wrong.
Today’s episode is with Leah Robilotto of The Food Allergy Institute. In this episode, Leah and I discuss food allergy teasing, taunting and bullying. With an expertise in assisting schools and families through the psychological trauma that can come with food allergy management, Leah offers tips and tricks for addressing issue and concern, that benefits all sides of an issue.
As any food allergy parent will tell you, the management of food allergies can have a profound effect on a family’s life, trickling into aspects of day-to-day living, both large and small. Daily activities such as grocery shopping, cooking dinner, and preparing snacks become challenging, as food package labels do not consistently list food allergens. When dining out, families will…
I work with family’s like mine to build what I call a healthy level of anxiety, which means to be aware but not scared of your surroundings and take reasonable precautions.
Caring for chronically ill kids is a lot of work on a parent. In the last week, I have been reading about motherhood burnout. But before we get too far into this discussion, know that fathers can experience the same issues; it just happens that burnout is more common for moms in the United States. I began reading about this…