This month as we start getting ready to send our kids back to school, I couldn't think of a better guest blogger for this month than my dad, Dane Way. He has been an educator in the public school sector for over 35 years and has seen it all. In his post he highlights how important it is to include allergy testing as part of your child's medical workup. He has also included a number of great links to check out if you think your child may be suffering from allergies, an intolerance or a food sensitivity. The articles discuss how food can have an effect on your child's behavior and are a must read for any parent! I hope you enjoy!
Food and Pet Allergies and Behavior of School Age Children by Dane Way
As an educator in the public school sector for over 35 years, and someone that has dealt with allergies all my life, I am elated when I hear that the parents of a youngster having trouble in school include allergy tests as a part of their efforts to help their child.
If you are the parent of a child that is having trouble settling down or staying on task or focussing on an activity for any length of time, I would suggest that you do some research on your local area physicians and naturopaths and find one that will include allergy testing as part of their workup of your child. Although family practitioners are getting better at including allergy tests when dealing with child behavior issues, many times your normal family doctor is not trained to think about allergies or to find the best solutions when allergies are indicated.
It is in your child's best interest if you take the time to find a doctor that isn't going to make a snap decision to quickly throw drugs at the problem. Don't get me wrong, I have seen situations where the correct drug with the correct dosage has turned a child's life around. But for as many of those success stories there are as many that didn't work out.
There are simple blood tests that can show allergy tendencies as well as scratch tests. I tend to put more weight in the accuracies of the blood tests over the scratch tests, but you can make that decison when talking to the physician of your choice.
I have included a few links that will hopefully give you food for thought and more information to help you make the best informed decisions for your son or daughter.
Elizabeth's thoughts; I hope you enjoyed this post and found it informative. If your child is having difficulty with behavioral problems in school this might be a good, inexpensive option for you to check into and discuss with your physician. And remember since allergies tend to be a genetic thing maybe as a parent you can get tested along with your child to ease some of your child's fears about getting tested. Who knows it might just turn into a bonding experience for your whole family! Do you have a school aged child with allergies? Have you noticed a difference in behavior in school since finding out? I would love to hear your stories, as always, please feel free to comment and share with your fellow readers.
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