Unlike physical disabilities food allergies are not readily apparent to those around you. For a child with food allergies, exposure to the food one is allergic to can trigger a serious physical reaction. The physical reaction is painful and the emotional toll is high as well.
Unfortunately because many people do not understand food allergies they do not take them seriously. Even worse, children with food allergies are often bullied causing emotional distress in addition to having a physical ailment. Most schools have policies against bullying. But, if the teacher and the student do not understand or or are unaware that a food allergy can be life threatening no action may be taken to alleviate the child with food allergies suffering. Many publications have taken up the cause of preventing food bullying. The New York Times wrote a particularly good article about food bullying and its consequences.
The EMPOWER program offers counseling for children with emotional distress from managing food allergies. It is run by the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Although I was never bullied in school over my allergies, I did feel out of place at times. No one wants to be pointed out to the rest of the group as someone who has something wrong with them. It was hard to be the person who had to limit what people could have at parties in the classroom. It made me a much shyer and quieter person than I would have been.
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