Allergy Action Plan for School: 6 Essential Tips For Success
Talking to your school about food allergies is super important. If you're wondering exactly why it's important; read this post first to find out.
Whether it’s daycare, preschool, grade school, or high school, keeping our school informed about food allergies is one of the most important things we can do as food allergy parents. Unfortunately, whether we mean to or not, there are too many of us who aren’t doing this at all or have no idea where to start. I know it can be overwhelming, but no matter what, this is something we need to do, mama!
When talking with your school you’ll find the preparation for the meeting is much more intensive than the meeting itself.
Even so, once you’ve done your research and become completely prepared, you’ll find the meeting goes much smoother. I find that breaking things into steps and smaller pieces can help a lot when it comes to things that overwhelm me, and let’s face it, the overwhelm is real when it comes to allergy action plans at school.
I’m sharing 6 steps to break down the overwhelm so you can easily create your allergy action plan for school. Here they are.
Feel free to listen to this podcast episode 27 of Food Allergies Made Easy for added personal stories, or read the blog post below…
6 Tips to Create The Best Allergy Action Plan for School
1. Be ready to explain food allergies and allergy management
Make sure you’re ready to communicate food allergy basics in simple and easy terms. You want to be clear and to the point. Don’t forget to address common misunderstandings about food allergies so you can ensure your teacher knows the facts. There’s a lot to talk about in the meeting so explaining quickly and simply while showing the allergy is real and serious is important.
2. Know what accommodations you want the school to provide and WHY.
Research food allergy accommodations and alternatives. This is one of the biggest steps and takes time and effort on your part. Not every food allergy accommodation will work for your child or teacher, even if you know many others are doing it.
Here are a few things to consider:
Why are these accommodations needed for your child?
Is it easy for the teacher to enforce and follow through?
How much time will these accommodations take and is there a way you can help the teacher?
Back your allergy action plan up with statistics from reputable sources whenever possible, and be ready to hear alternate accommodations that might work better for your teacher. What your teacher suggests may be even better because they are in the “trenches” every day and know what will work.
If you want to make researching accommodations and explaining food allergies easier and save TONS of time, grab my School Food Allergy Plan Template.
In addition to getting an organized allergy plan that’s easy to understand, you’ll get a full list of possible food allergy accommodations and their pros and cons.
3. Know what challenges the teacher will have in complying with your requests
When was the last time you've tried to break a habit? Do you remember how hard it was to change your actions? It can be really hard. Thats why I try and make things as easy as possible for the teacher. Because if something isn’t easy or doesn’t fit into a routine, it may not get done. What happens in the classroom is no exception. Teachers are pulled in so many directions at once and it’s in our best interest to help them succeed by using some pre-thought OR simply asking for their input. Not only that, but making things as easy as possible for the teacher will show that you value them and their time. This goes a long way!
This is also the time to address any myths about food allergies that your teacher might believe. Maybe they are mixing up food allergies with sensitivities or intolerances, or maybe they just don’t believe food allergies are serious. At the beginning of the year is the time to ensure they have the right information right from the start.
My School Success Pack Add On helps you educate your teacher in a way that will get their attention and overcome the challenges they have about food allergies right from the start. You’ll learn how to squash the food allergy myths and create an amazing relationship with your teacher at the same time.
Do you know that you can get the School Success Pack for 40% off if you add it to the cart when you purchase the School Allergy Plan Template? The School Allergy Plan Template and School Success Pack work best together so this is the best option and you’ll get a deal too.
4. Make an action list for the school & follow up
If you don’t write things down, things can get forgotten and lost. Make a list of all the things you talked about in your Allergy Action Plan Meeting. Agree on completion dates, and follow up with the school to make sure they happened. If the school is having difficulty, find ways to help them.
Whether you create your own, or use my premade School Food Allergy Plan Template. You want to be crystal clear who will do what and when and keep track of it all in an organized way.
The School Allergy Plan Template includes 10 pages of action items organized into action lists for the parent, teacher, and administration. This makes it clear who will do what and helps you follow up.
5. Educate your child
Ensuring your child knows how to keep themselves safe is a big part of their school safety. This isn’t a one-time discussion so be prepared to re-visit food allergy safety with your child often. Make sure they’re prepared for the challenges they might face at school.
One big challenge my daughter had was learning how to respond to kids when they asked her questions about her allergies. After she told me this, I started creating lists of questions like “What’s in your pouch?” “Will you die if you eat something you’re allergic to?” (yes, this WAS a question she got), “Can I see your EpiPen?” and “Why can’t you share my food?”.
I gave her “kid-appropriate” answers and we role-played so she could practice answering them.
For more information, click here to get the FREE Preschooler Empowerment Guide. It’s free and includes these questions and more so you can get your child ready for school!
6. Get the right tools for allergy management at school.
I have a saying: anything worth doing is worth doing with the right tools. Ok, maybe it’s not exactly a “saying”, but it’s something I strongly believe. But the point is to make sure your child & teacher have what they need for success.
Of course, epinephrine injectors are the first place to start, but they’ll need something to carry them with (don’t forget coolers for hot days). Other things to think about are a medical bracelet and a lunch box. Make sure to order items well before school starts so your kiddo is ready on their first day.
This blog post lists all the essential food allergy school supplies you need before school starts so that you can feel confident your child has everything they need to be safe at school with food allergies.
Conclusion
As with many things in the life of a food allergy parent, your allergy action plan for school takes a lot of effort, and it may not be easy. But it’s important and it is WORTH IT.
I hope these 6 tips help you break down this overwhelming process into manageable bite-size pieces.
We can do this, mamas; one teacher, one day, and one year at a time.
If you want to make the whole process easier, check out the School Allergy Action Plan Template and School Success Pack. You don’t have to research for hours or miss important things because I’ve done the work for you!
If you purchase the School Allergy Action Plan Template, you can get the School Success Pack for 40% off. Just add it to the cart before you buy!
Did you find these steps helpful? Comment below with something that you'll use for your school allergy meeting this year.
