Food allergies and mental health challenges create a challenge to ensure

food safety. There are ways to take care of situations especially when a

parent or caregiver is not present. The story below and response

illustrates how easily it can happen and also how safety can be protected.

NNMG Food Allergic Families Forum

Trisha Kay Surbrug Adams  · 952phc3ofulshr12ftmdg5  · We almost made it to 7yrs old without having to epi! But today my daughter (who also has intellectual disabilities) was given a peanut pretzel from a friend. She went to the office at school to tell them she didn’t feel well. My husband picked her up, and once home, so her completely broken out in hives and welts. He asked her what she ate and she then told him about the peanut pretzel. He epi’d immediately and now here we are in the ER! If you have a child with low IQ, and intellectual disabilities, how do you help them fully understand their allergies so they will be safe when not with you?

Christi Jo Elkin I’m so sorry. What we do – health and allergies are covered in his IEP. He has a 1:1 fulltime aid; every single person who could potentially interact with my child is trained on his emergency action plan, including the aid. Exposure at school would require retraining all around. Well done to your child for self-advocating, but many things would have violated our IEP if 1) someone gave my child food at school; 2) my child said they were unwell and there wasn’t an immediate assessment/investigation/treatment for allergic reaction or the emergency action plan otherwise followed. Was the fact a child had a peanut-containing food a violation, too? I’d use this advocate for nut-free classroom if you don’t already have one: You gave them a chance, their supervision wasn’t enough, so something more needs to be done. I’m so sorry this happened and I am glad she got the treatment she needed.

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