Food Allergy Awareness Week is May 8-14!

So I've just booked all my classroom visits for Food Allergy Awareness Week 2011. Have you given any thought to what you can do to help?

In addition to reading a copy of "The BugaBees" (my suggestion) FAAN has a great list of ideas to help get you started. Among other things, FAAN's web site offers free downloadable presentations, talking points, coloring pages and more. Beyond that, this video from Nick News is still one of my favorites to share with kids and adults.

If you're not the group-presentation-giving type, consider other ways you can help build awareness. Refresh friends and family members on Epi-pen protocols. Send a special "thank you" card to those most supportive to you and/or your children's food allergies. And if you're someone who doesn't have to deal with food allergies on a regular basis, take time to educate yourself --- you just might save a life one day!

Fear of Success

Last weekend, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a Writers’ Conference at the University of Wisconsin. It was both fun and inspiring to meet so many smart, creative people! And while they were all very different, with diverse backgrounds and personal stories to tell, there was one common attribute I found consistently among all of them: Modesty.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one to pick up on this because, interestingly enough, the theme for Friday’s lunch presentation was “Fear of Success”. The speaker asked some very poignant questions: Why do writers consistently downplay their work? Tell themselves they‘ll likely never be picked up by an agent? Never have a publisher interested in their story? (Mmm.. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because we’ve had it pounded into our heads that the competition is seriously fierce out there?) But maybe the speaker has a point too. Maybe there is a part of us, deep down inside, that is a little bit afraid of what success will look like.

We all know it’s easier to stay quiet, take the back seat, let someone else have the spotlight. Writers aren't the only ones who may feel this way. Many food allergy families I know also prefer to leave it to others to make the effort so they don't have to. But in the spirit of Food Allergy Awareness Week next month, I challenge you not to fear success. I challenge you to ask for better accommodations in schools. To stand up for safer food policies and protocols. To teach others how to help protect kids who need our protection. And to do your part to spread understanding and compassion for those living with food allergies.

Don’t be modest. Tell your story. And keep in mind that Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times before any of his books were published. Remember that success is for those who never give up.

Share the Love

Share the love of reading by donating your new and gently used children’s books to the Half Pint Library! Find a Half Price Books location near you before March 31st to participate.

More Free Lunch!

Qdoba is taking the Chicago area by storm and offering free lunch for 'Lil Foodies ages 12 and under at their newest location on March 19!

Check out Qdoba's online food allergen menu and stop in to see us if you'll be in the Lincoln Park neighborhood next month.

Hope you can join us!

Camp Tag

Summer Camp registration for my kids occurs this weekend! This will be the second year we have participated in the YMCA program offered through my daughter's school and I have no doubt it will once again be an awesome experience. For food allergy families living near Joliet IL, Philadelphia PA, or Sandy Spring MD, you have some other exciting summer camp options this year thanks to FAAN and their new program, Camp Tag.

Camp TAG is a 5-day, half-day camp for ages 3-12 that will launch in summer 2011. It will provide a safe place for children with food allergies and their siblings to have fun with no worries about having an allergic reaction, as well as give them an opportunity to meet other children who share the same conditions and know they are not alone.

While these locations are a tad bit too far for our family to participate this year, we wish all participants great success!

504 Plans

Later this year, my baby boy will start Kindergarten! His first day still feels like a long way off, but the registration materials sitting in my mail box remind me that it may be here sooner than I realize. Even though Maxwell does not have food allergies like his sister, I know there are many other Kindergarteners out there that do. If you are a parent to one of them, you might want to consider asking for a 504 Plan.

Although my daughter is in the midst of her third year at our public elementary school, I am just now beginning to uncover the mysteries of the 504 Plan and how it can help keep her safe. What is a 504 Plan? This legal document refers to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act which specifies that no one with a disability can be excluded from participating in federally funded programs or activities, including elementary, secondary or postsecondary schooling.

In many school districts, food allergies are not typically considered as a disability covered by 504 Plans, but the truth is, they are without a doubt eligible if the severity of food allergies are life threatening. One other important thing to note: Some districts have even been heard to say, “We don’t do that in this district.” But in fact, compliance to Section 504, which is a federal statute, is not optional.

Why go to the trouble of creating a 504 Plan when you could just sit down with your child's teacher and principal before the school year starts and come to an informal agreement? Well, the major difference between a 504 Plan and this sort of casual discussion with teachers and administrators at the beginning of each school year is that a 504 Plan is a legal document. If the plan is not enforced, parents have legal recourse to the United States Office of Civil Rights or to the local courts, depending on the jurisdiction.

If your school is reluctant to make changes that you feel are necessary for your child's safety, going through the outside evaluation process and getting a 504 Plan may be the best way to protect your child in the classroom. Even if your relationship with your school has been cordial, having a formal, legally enforceable plan may help everyone involved.

Keep the Faith

Holiday season is officially here, bringing with it endless opportunities for all kinds of celebrations and let’s face it, challenges, for those living with food allergies. In the last month alone, my second grader has had numerous “close calls” with impromptu treats served at school and beyond. It’s enough to turn me into Ebenezer Scrooge some days and wish for it all to go away. I’m sure there are many of you out there who know exactly what I’m mean. Some days it feels like a never ending battle that you will just never win, but I’m here to remind you there are always ways to try and find a little faith.

I did, most recently when I had the privilege to attend the AFAA Food Allergy Conference earlier this month in Minneapolis, MN. What a great lineup of optimistic speakers addressing real life topics and sharing exciting possibilities for food allergy sufferers in the very near future.

For example, Steve Rice from the Food Allergy Initiative announced that a comprehensive new training program for educators (developed in collaboration with FAAN ) is scheduled to be rolled out in 2011. Another great speaker with the Food and Drug Administration announced that an FDA-sponsored restaurant guide to food allergies (which has been years in the making) may also be implemented as soon as next year. And within five years, treatments like the Chinese Herbal Remedy now in 2nd phase trials may be available by prescription or possibly over the counter.

These major milestones in food allergy advocacy and research are most definitely cause for celebration, with the promise of many more advancements to come. So in those moments when you’re ready to say “Ba Humbug” to potential health scares caused by holiday cheer, remember that real progress is being made in big and small ways. And when it comes to my daughter's food allergies, any level of progress most definitely makes my days both merry and bright!