Posted on 01/04/2005 7:54:07 AM PST by TheBigB
YORKTOWN, Ind. — Savannah Dowling is a typical 8-year-old girl; much of her protein comes from peanut butter sandwiches.
However, if she wants to bring one to Central Indiana's Pleasant View Elementary School, she has to eat it at a special table in the cafeteria to accommodate one first grader with a severe allergy. Soon she'll have to take her lunch to an area the school is calling the "peanut gallery" so the one child with the peanut allergy isn't affected.
"I don't think everybody should have to suffer because of one kid," said Mike Raper, a critic of the idea and fiancé of Savannah's mother. "I think it's a terrible precedent. Basically, because there's nowhere to draw the line. You've got people allergic to milk, wheat. My own son's diabetic. There's just no where to draw that line."
School Superintendent Mary Ann Irwin called it "one of the most challenging" accommodations the school has made for its students.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I can top this. Forget a special table.
There is a lady that works with me, her daughter is in preschool and she is NOT ALLOWED to bring food made from peanuts or that has peanuts in it to eat for her lunch.
The classroom door has a pic a MR. Peanut with a red X on him and above are the words "Peanut Free School Zone".
I'm diabetic and no one prevented the other students from eating sweets around me when I was a kid. Since I was the one with the problem, I was the one that had to adapt. And I think that it has made me a stronger person.
It's what the PARENTS of the 'special needs' kids demanded.
One set of parents does not a mandate make, IMO.
The school board/principal, should have held their ground on behalf of the majority - or CHARGED an additional fee of some kind for the accomidation.
I guess the reason we're hearing more about people like this is due to modern medical technology. It was probably the case, decades ago, that someone with an allergy this severe wouldn't even survive to kindergarten.
Then again, I wonder how much of this is caused by environmental factors or other things that multiply a child's sensitivity. Perhaps we've unwittingly caused this problem.
Hopefully medical technology can come up with a cure for this, that your friend's daughter might live a long and happy life.
Sorry, I guess when you said this small child should learn to be around peanut butter while he is young that you also meant that all young children should have to deal with life-threatening substances at the lunch table.
Do you limit your advocation of this "life-enhancing" activity only to children with food allergies or would you extend that to other kids, like those who have severe reactions to insect bites/stings?
If you had read my post, you would see that we actually agree that the solution is to have a PB free table, rather than impose on all other students.
you're still trying to put words into my mouth.
go to hell.
Sometimes. Sometimes not. ;>)
If so, the Board of Education that is not engaged in the process of providing a good atmosphere for learning. It's lunacy to prohibit peanuts for consumption by all students because one student has an allergic reaction to peanuts.
No Child Left Behind mandates a "least restrictive environment". But I believe that this cuts both ways. You can't restrict one child at the expense of another.
Try avoiding MSG.
"DO you think it's good to be encouraging such a weak gene pool? It may sound harsh, but natural selection used to take care of this. Now every weakness is coddled."
So what is the alternative? Kill 'em off or just not attempt to protect them in any way and hope they die? Does it matter that some people outgrow these things and go on to pefectly productive and normal lives? Maybe I should just stop coddling myself and force myself to eat wheat, rye and barley and if I die so be it? You know that Ronald Reagan guy? He ended up with Alzheimer's so there must have been something weak in his gene pool. Sure hope he didn't get "coddled" anywhere along the way, especially after he got sick.
Starting in the 1920s Virginia and other states began sterilizing "defectives" -- people who were mentally retarded or of low IQ. Eventually they also sterilized some teenagers who did nothing more than run away from home a couple of times. Tens of thousands of people. All in the name of improving the gene pool. Maybe we could reinstate that program and apply it to those darn people with allergies. (that was sarcasm in case somebody can't tell)
"I have heard of celiac sprue but don't know anything about it. Is it an allergy to wheat etc.? Did you just develop it in mid life, it is not something you had when you were younger? Do you have other allergies?"
Sorry I didn't answer earlier. Been away from the computer.
It's like an allergy to wheat except that instead of the common allergic reaction, wheat, rye and barley stimulates your autoimmune system to attack your small bowel and your ability to absorb nutrients. Your body thinks wheat, rye and barley are poisons. I was eating tons and nearly died of malnutrition.
Many people who have it developed it as children (I suspect I had some mild symptoms as a child) but mine came on full-blown in mid-life. Symptoms are varied and it can be hard to diagnose.
Let me know through private mail if you (or anybody else) want to know more.
I'm allergic to wheat, which being a staple is hard to avoid also. However, my reaction is relatively mild, and I consider myself fortunate that it does not send me into anaphylaxis.
MSG gives me a similar reaction as it does for you: racing pulse and palpitations. You may be receiving more MSG than you realize, because it is frequently included as an ingredient but not called monosodium glutamate. Instead it is listed under a slew of confusing pseudonyms. It's not just in hot dogs, but I've found that it is in about every packaged food at the grocery store.
Because free glutamic acids can occur naturally, when included as an ingredient in less than certain concentrations manufacturers are not required to call it MSG. Instead they call it things like: sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, yeast extract, soy extract, modified food starch, modified wheat protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, whey protein isolate, carrageenan, maltodextrin, citric acid, and pectin. Generally, any protein that is "hydrolyzed" or "modified" or "extracted" or "isolated" or "concentrated" is MSG. It's also sometimes called "broth" or "smoke flavor" or "malt flavor." A lot of the packaged chicken now comes as "fortified with up to 10% broth" which I have to avoid. Soy sauce happens to be a natural source of glutamic acid, so I avoid it also. Furthermore, any time you see "Natural flavorings" or "Artificial flavorings" it is also MSG. If you read the ingredients for nearly any packaged good at the grocer it is going to contain "flavorings" or "natural flavorings" or "artificial flavorings" from cookies to Cokes!
In conclusion, I cook like grandma used to cook. Doing so has made a night and day difference in my life. My migranes are gone, my eczema is gone, I'm not woken up at night with a pounding heart that feels like it's going to burst through my ribcage. Unfortunately, there's no test for MSG sensitivity as there are for common allergies such as wheat, corn, soy, and peanut, and some doctors even question whether "chinese restaurant syndrome" really exists at all. I'm a believer, though. It's a little more work, but the irony is I eat better now than I ever did. I don't eat junk food and I rarely eat out, and lo and behold my health has improved. Shocking.
To touch on the topic of this thread however, I do not believe that MSG should be banned or that special allowances should be made for me at all. Nor do I blame the manufacturers for wanting to make their products taste better. Better tasting products sell, and products that don't taste as good, simply, don't. I realize that few people are sensitive to MSG and I do not expect the majority to have to suffer inconvenience to accommodate my food intolerance. At most, it has made me somewhat of a stronger supporter of truth in labelling. By hiding MSG under so many different names I feel that some manufacturers are violating the spirit of labelling laws while adhering to the letter. I question why manufacturers feel the need to obscure sources of MSG. Is it because consumers might be wary of it? I'm still able to avoid foods to which I'm allergic, I just have to read carefully. Let the buyer beware.
Another great reason to CUT not increase school spending.
I think way to many school officials have eaten way to much rabbit pills thinking they are brain food.
No.If you move the one child you are then segregating him from the rest. That is a lawsuit.
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