Talking Allergies

Ok - so I finally have a date to go in and meet with my daughter's principal.
I really have no idea where to begin.
Any pointers would be great. I obviously need to make some notes so I don't miss anything but I'm worried about staying focused and not going off into tangents! From my quick discussions with her in the past she seems to *think* they're doing a great job, but we all know there's always room for improvement.

Help please!

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4ye old DD allergic to sesame, peanut, raw egg , and mulitple environmental & seasonal allergies

2 yr old DS -no known allergies!

I would suggest that you and your partner decide before going in what the focus of the meeting is to be. Has there been major issues in the past? Is this a meeting to gather information? Is there anything specific that you want from the school?
I would start by telling them how happy I am with some aspect. If there is someone who is doing a great job, tell them. I would ask them to explain their current policies and procedures because you don't want to waste time re-inventing a policy if there is a perfectly adequate one that is not being put into practice.
Once they have explained their current school system, you can show them how it isn't working in your case. Try to use facts, dates, actions (or inactions) and their impact.
Try to speak about the student and the impact felt by him/her.
One thing that the schools fail to realize is that our children are walking through a minefield of allergens every single day at school. Our childs reality is not the same as those of the school staff and the other students. If you haven't lived with this it is hard to understand that candy and popsicles etc are food and yes, enough allergen can be on them to kill.
End the meeting by echoing back what you understand the outcomes to have been. Agree with how any followup should be handled. Thank them for their time.
Once home send a quick e-mail (so you have a copy) thanking them again for meeting with you (time and date), rephrase the issues you discussed , the resolution and the agreed upon follow up measures. Create a file for incidents and school corespondence in your computer. You will want a time line and specific details about dates and meetings in the furture if your issues are not resolved.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I agree with Susan. It is important to go in with a focus so choose what is most important at this time. Pointing out the positive is very important too. Both you and the adults at the school ultimately have the same goal- a safe environment for all children. If you go in with a positive"let's be a team" attitude , I think you will see better results than if you go on the offensive. Good luck! Let us know how things go.

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daughter: 6 years tree nuts, peanuts

Thank you!
I had my meeting today and I'm thrilled with how it went.

Thanks for the advice.

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4ye old DD allergic to sesame, peanut, raw egg , and mulitple environmental & seasonal allergies

2 yr old DS -no known allergies!

One thing we learned is get information from your principal in writing if you can. Our principal works on more of a personal level not a paper level but you as the parent must protect your child to the best of your ability. If we have questions we put them in letter form and ask for a reply on how or what is being done this way you always will have a paper trail. In the beginning we had meetings where certain things were said such as have you thought of home schooling etc and we knew we were going to have a bit of a challange protecting our son. Hope your journy into schooling is easier. Best wishes.