Being a father of a young girl with a nut allergy, I really hope that schools work hard to reduce the stigma of a child with anaphylaxis. It would be a shame if she was ostracised or treated differently because of the allergy. I personally am in awe of how she can deal with eating differently from her peers without so much as a whimper. She just accepts her lot and doesn’t let it get her down.
I hope she never gets bullied because of it:
Children with potentially deadly nut allergies are being bullied for being different, say researchers.
And their parents are stigmatised as ‘neurotic and attention-seeking’ by other parents, they found.
Relatives of some victims of the condition are even suspected of deliberately giving a child nuts to check they really are allergic.
Some children told how they were bullied by classmates, who taunted them about their allergy and threatened to trigger it.
What loving family member in their right mind would feed nuts to a child with a severe nut allergy to check if they are really allergic? And for those parents that think we are “too neurotic” about ensuring that our children are safe and not exposed to substances that can kill them, take a long walk down a short pier.
Tags: Anaphylaxis, Bullying, Children, Disabilities, Education, Family, Health, kids, Leicester University, life, Nuts, Parenting, Professor Mary Dixon-Woods
Topical Teaching 
August 16, 2011 at 11:52 pm |
For me, unfortunately, it took a wallet emptying divorce to find out I had a nut allergy.
August 16, 2011 at 11:56 pm |
I’m sorry to hear that. Thanks for your ongoing support and contributions.
August 17, 2011 at 10:28 am |
What amazes me is that I am told as a sub not to carry any nuts of any kind to school but they serve Peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch to classmates of a child with nut allergies. You know where the epid- pen is in the office at the opposite end of the building…
I tell you nuts and nut oils are in a lot of things. You have a right to be taken seriously and children with asthma should be able to keep their inhalor close.
August 17, 2011 at 10:42 am |
In Australia you’d be hard pressed to find a school that isn’t nut-free. To sell peanut butter sandwiches in today’s age is incredible.
Thanks for the comment.
October 19, 2011 at 1:15 am |
Incredibly insightful thank you, I believe your current subscribers will likely want significantly more content along these lines carry on the good effort.
October 19, 2011 at 1:56 pm |
Thanks Tim. Keep up the good work!