Aug 20, 2018, Banning foods in schools not the solution: Allergy advocate https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12106988 Banning kids from taking cakes and nuts to school or daycare won't necessarily stop kids from breaking out in hives or having an anaphylactic shock, according to parents of children with severe allergies. Australasian allergy advocate Jackie Nevard, whose 9-year-old son Thai has seven allergies, said the key was educating parents, teachers and kids rather than outright removing one or two foods from lunchboxes. But more and more education providers were instead resorting to banning foods which caused reactions. "It seems a simple solution banning food, but because there is like nine main allergens that cause an allergic reaction - banning nuts does nothing for the majority of children because milk, eggs and nuts are the top three allergens and you can't go banning milk and egg," Nevard said…. In New Zealand one in 10 children are likely to have a food allergy by 12 months of age…. Nevard is visiting schools and childcare centres in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga next week to raise awareness around food allergies and how the community can help sufferers safe…. The 5-year-old Hamilton boy has a teacher aide sit with him while he eats lunch at school to make sure he doesn't come in contact with his danger foods that other kids are eating around him. The teacher aide also helps him apply his barrier creams for his eczema and his extensive medical kit which includes an EpiPen is always close by. Isaac's food allergies include egg, dairy, sesame, kiwi fruit and cashew and pistachio nuts. He also has environmental allergies including dust mites, pollen, grass, cats and dogs which cause his face to come up in a red rash and his eyes to go puffy, red and itchy….
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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