Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Defensive Homeschoolers?

^^ I think Lori that this is a court case, since you have been told to HS.

Unfortunately, they also don't operate under federal law unless you threaten to sue them. I am speaking from experience here since both my kids have federally recognized physical disabilities. We had to fight tooth and nail to get accommodations for their life-threatening food allergies. We are talking about the basics, things that are medically necessary for them to have safe access to school. Things like having a trained person on site at all times to administer the epipen and prohibiting staff members from offering my daughter food that we had not approved.

I also know some parents whose kids have autism. Believe me, their needs are NOT being served by the school despite the kids' diagnoses and IEP's.

It would be great to have federal protection for GT students but don't think that schools would automatically toe the line if that happened.

Oh, and I have to say that jokingly using the "allergy" excuse for homeschooling sounds about as funny to me as jokingly saying you are homeschooling because your kid has cancer. I may be overly sensitive about this but that's how I feel. If your child truly has allergies, that's one thing. But I hate to see people making light of something that could kill my kid.

Cathy

Cathy, fyi, our school district has started an allergy education program for all in the school community. They are taking it very seriously and are in the forefront of allergy education. You are so right. Even DH said "that's ridiculous" when I told him he couldn't bring in the cookies for St. Patrick's Day which were manufactured in a plant manufacturing items using nuts and other allergens b/c there is a child in DS's class with a peanut allergy. Clearly, DH needs to read the mail DS brings home. You make a very good point.

Questions, I am glad to hear that some districts are starting to take the issue of food allergies seriously. For unknown reasons, anaphylactic food allergies are on the rise. Many districts are still behind the curve on this issue.

Well, it seems that many schools would rather just exclude those with any sort of special circumstances. It's just easier for them, I guess.

It's a crazy world and it's so interesting for me to read all the posts from homeschoolers when I have spent the last three years fighting for my kids' rights to attend public school!

I'm sorry to hear about your son's dairy allergy. PM me if you would like a link to a great online food allergy community.

When my daughter was in high school 12 years ago, I had to fight the school so she could carry her inhaler for her asthma! They wanted to keep one at school and not allow her to carry it on the bus! Talk about nuts! They gave me a hard time for not having the doctor put her on preventative meds. I told them, "I wasn't the doctor, and neither were they." I trusted my doctor to start with the least amount of medication and add more if needed to control her asthma.

Yes, we have the same problem when it comes to food allergies. As a conscientious parent, I feel like it's my duty to see that the doctor's orders with regard to DD are carried out. One of the requirements for these kids is that they be supervised at all times by an adult trained to recognize and treat anaphylaxis. But the school places roadblocks.

According to the teachers' contract, teachers cannot be required to administer injections. Those who volunteer for training can administer injections IF they have current CPR certification. The district and teachers' union strongly discourage teachers from volunteering due to liability issues. The result: only the administrators are trained to give the epipen. What happens at lunch time, when the administrators are gone to lunch? When my DD is at highest risk for exposure to peanut? You are probably wondering, "What about the school nurse?" We have a school nurse only one day a week. So my kid is only allowed to suffer anaphylaxis on Fridays. That's what funding cuts will do for you.

I could rant more, but your eyes are probably glazing over...

Cathy

acs,
You don't need to feel personally responsibility to change your community. Work to make a difference where you can. I feel that if my advocacy efforts improve the situation for my children and a few others along the way that I am making a positive impact.

Also, just so you know, the immersion program developed in our district was not initiated for any altruistic reasons. It was simply a way to bring up the test scores of the Spanish speaking students in our district (NCLB). The program just has some positive side benefits. Though the program is still young, it appears to be successful and the district is looking at expanding it.

You don't need full-scale buy-in from the larger community to initiate positive changes. A small number of students and parents have made a big impact in our situation. My dd's school has less than 100 English-speaking students who have transferred into the school (of over 600 students). It is just one small effort in our district of 35,000 students.

I'm sorry so many schools are not handling the allergy issue well. I guess I've taken it for granted that our school goes all out to protect these children, which they should.
Last year there was a boy with life threatening peanut allergy in a different classroom. All the kids in that class were very aware and very, very protective of him.
His whole class table was made peanut free and it worked well.
At the end of the year the whole grade ate outside and DD8 had a peanut butter sandwich, because there was no allergies at her table and I hadn't thought about the fact that they would be outside.
The other kids wouldn't let her near him, the whole recess! In fact they were quite the caring, little angry mob and chanted "peanut girl" at her for the whole recess!
It's good she is so understanding.
Ever since then, I make the girls wash their hands whenever we leave the house after they have eaten peanut butter. I'll even make them change their clothes if they get p.b. on them. Regardless if we are going to meet up with someone with allergies. You just never know who has the next shopping cart, what if they rubbed p.b. on it inadvertantly?
In regards to GT kids being in the minority and fighting.....I'd like to think you catch more flies with honey, but if the only way to secure an apporpriate education for your child is to fight, then that is what you should do, my good people!!!
Seriously, througout history it's usually the minority who are being discriminated against, very rarely, the majority. That doesn't mean unjustices cannot be triumphed over. If GT is 5%, that's a pretty strong 5%. I don't think the majority of people are mean, nasty and uncaring. It's just being able to slow down and put yourself in someone else's shoes.....that's sometimes hard for everyone.
But, even I know when to say uncle. You better believe if my child isn't being served well or adversely affected by being in school, I would drop out of the "fight" in a New York second and take her home to school if it can't be worked through. Because, ultimately, my only priority as a mother is to get those kids grown up and off on their own as happy, healthy people who like themselves and others.........

stepping of overly dramatic soapbox now,

I

Cathy - I'm sorry about joking about the allergy issue. We've been involved in the public school system a bit in early childhood classes, and they said all the teachers are really aware of the problem, because there are so many kids with food allergies. I think they all get training on the epi pens, or parents can bring in their trainer pen and show anyone. I can't believe your school isn't taking your child's life-threatening allergies seriously. That's just scary.

I haven't spoken to the schools about DS4's asthma yet, since he was just recently diagnosed. I guess I joked because I didn't realize there were real problems out there. I hadn't even thought of the bus yet.