Allergies
Helping a student with Severe Food Allergies access a general education is a cooperative effort between the school, parents, and student. The following lists provide suggestions to help a student with Severe Food Allergies access a general education.
School responsibilities and accommodations:

·         Establish a good working relationship with the parent/guardian

·         Establish a health assistance plan
            * Provide parent and emergency contact information 
            * Provide situation for parent notification (emergency)
            * Provide doctor's diagnosis of the impairment
            * Provide doctor’s orders
            * Establish a food allergy action plan and practice the plan
            * Provide parent suggestions for accommodations that have been successful in the past
            * Establish procedures for when student is involved with a school activity but not during the routine school day (i.e. on the bus, field trips, extra-curricular activities)  

·         Train school personnel in how to handle emergency situations that may arise with reactions to food allergies including the administration of an Epi-pen.

·         Have back-up people trained in how to handle emergency situations

·         Make sure all medications are stored properly and the medication kept accessible in a central location

·         Review current plan with trained school personnel, parents, student (age appropriate) and possible physician after a reaction has occurred

Parent involvement and responsibilities:

·         Communicate regularly with school nurse and school personnel and develop a good relationship with them

·         Notify the school of the student’s allergies

·         Work with the school nurse to develop a health assistance plan

·         Provide the school nurse with the doctor’s orders, provide written documentation, instructions, and medications at school

·         Replace medications after use or upon expiration

·         Provide emergency phone numbers of parent/guardian and other responsible individuals so the school can contact these individuals about allergy-related questions and/or during emergencies. If an emergency arises and none of these people can be contacted the school will contact trained medical people and have the student transported to a medical facility to receive medical treatment, at the expense of the parent

·         Educate the student in self-management of their food allergy:

·         Safe and unsafe foods

·         Strategies for avoiding exposure to unsafe foods

·         Symptoms of allergic reactions

·         How and when to tell an adult they may be having an allergy-related problem

·         How to read food labels (age appropriate)

Student self-management strategies and responsibilities:

·         Do not trade food with others

·         Do not eat anything with unknown ingredients or known to contain any allergen

·         Be proactive in care and management of their food allergies and reactions (age appropriate)

·         Notify an adult immediately if they eat something they believe may contain the food to which they are allergic

 

***These are not complete lists of suggestions or accommodations, but are ideas used by parents, teachers, and students to help a student access a general education.