Spokin | Resources | Newly Diagnosed Food Allergies

Newly Diagnosed Food Allergies

If you just found out your child has food allergies, let us welcome you to one of the biggest clubs out there. We’ve gathered wisdom from pediatricians, allergists and other food allergy parents to put together a step-by-step guide for the first three days along with all basics you need to get started. Now, take a deep breath – we’ve got you.

Allergen Component Testing: Alyssa’s Story

Alyssa Bauder scheduled what she thought was a routine appointment with an allergist but received news that changed her life. While she still had a life-threatening allergy to peanuts, she no longer was allergic to tree nuts, fish, shellfish, or chickpeas—news that seemed almost too good to be true. Learn how she tackled 13 food challenges and worked with her therapist to manage food allergy-related anxiety with a strategy that led to wins like her first Starbucks at 24 years old and a lot of fun along the way.

Alyssa is thankful for the freedom she’s gained and is glad to still be a part of the food allergy community, one that she’s passionate about and plans to continue advocating for through both her platform and career.
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Allergen Component Testing 101

The most powerful and potentially life-changing diagnostic tool in the food allergy community is also the least known: the allergen component test. We partnered with Allergy Insider, an education platform from Thermo Fisher Scientific who conducts the majority of allergy blood testing in the US and is considered the gold standard, to provide the details you need to know so you can understand if component testing is right for you. Spoiler alert: if you manage allergies to peanut, most tree nuts, milk, egg, or soy, we think the answer is a resounding YES! 
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Specific IgE Blood Based Allergy Testing

As food allergy parents we become experts at everything from label reading to interpreting a cough. But even the most experienced have questions on the widely used IgE blood tests. So we went directly to the company whose ImmunoCAP lab tests represent the gold standard in specific-IgE blood testing globally, Thermo Fisher Scientific. This feature answers the most commonly (and not so commonly) asked questions from the food allergy community — 42 in total — including a special deep dive on component tests. An additional resource is their recently launched educational site, AllergyInsider.
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Top 16 Answers: What is a 504 Plan and Do I Need One?

When you have a child with severe food allergies, heading back to school means so much more than just buying a new backpack. It means taking every step to keep your child safe, and that might include getting a 504 plan. To help you get started, we talked to a food allergy mom who is uniquely qualified. Debby Beerman, an attorney and mother of three food-allergic children, walked into her first 504 meeting armed with legal documentation, printouts of policies and a secret weapon — her mother. For more than two decades, Madge Beerman worked as a special education case manager and counselor in the Chicago Public Schools system and sat in on every 504 meeting for her school, listening to countless discussions between parents and administrators about students’ disabilities. Now retired, her mother runs her own consulting business as a special education advocate for students with disabilities. Like her mother, Debby is a mom on a mission to keep kids safe in the classroom and help others with the 504 process.  
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Top User Rated Allergists

Dr. Paul F. Detjen An allergist plays a vital role in a life with food allergies, from the initial diagnosis and annual updates to, hopefully, eventually introducing us to the latest treatments and therapies. Whether you are looking for your first allergist or considering a change, getting a referral from another food allergy family is invaluable. Announcing Spokin’s inaugural list of the Top Rated Allergists! This list featuring the top 30 allergists reviewed by our users.
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An Action Plan for Food Allergy Bullying

This is the one guide we hope you never have to use, but if your food allergic child is bullied, here is everything you’ll need. If your child is one of the nearly 25% of children bullied, a rate that rises to 50% starting in sixth grade, emotions will inevitably kick into high gear. Clear thinking and knowing your rights is how to prevail. Mary Vargas, a disability rights attorney and allergy mom, tells us exactly how to respond in the event your child is bullied.

Bullying 101 | 6 Steps If Your Child Is Bullied | How To Notify Your School

 
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How to Prepare a Babysitter

The people we trust to take care of our food allergic children hold a special place in our heart, particularly babysitters. Whether you are hiring a sitter for the first time or it is already part of your regular routine, we all need to thoroughly prepare our sitters. Spokin's checklist and 60 second auto-injector videos make leaving easier – knowing you've covered all the bases. Save this resource in the Spokin app for easy access and sharing. Online babysitting services like Sittercity make it easier to find the perfect child care provider for families with specific food requirements. Sittercity pioneered tech-enabled child care in 2001, and connects millions of families with local babysitters and nannies every year. They're building a platform that radically simplifies the way parents and caregivers connect and manage their trusted relationships, and Sittercity's search functionality allows parents to narrow down potential candidates by their family's specific requirements. See Sittercity featured sitters from around the country who have experience preparing specific meals for families with special needs. We are grateful to Sittercity for the special offer of 50% off a 3-month membership for Spokin app users — redeem your coupon code in the Spokin app!
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Oral Food Challenges

The topic of food challenges is very personal to me. My 13-year-old daughter, Natalie, has multiple life-threatening food allergies and has experienced seven food challenges. She's passed five and has an upcoming appointment to face pecans for the third time after trying twice before (she doesn't like to say "failed").

In light of the recent devastating loss of a 3-year-old boy, we felt compelled to cover the topic. While the "how" that we are all searching for remains unknown, we have collected answers to the most common food challenge questions to move away from fear and take a step toward knowledge.

Spokin's mission is to help people with food allergies live the fullest life possible. We want you to have that magic moment when you open our app and discover food allergy "wins" — wiping out the tremendous amount of time it takes to find safe food, restaurants, camps, etc.

Our mission drives us to build a resource that is committed to, quite simply, life. The recent tragedies drive us to double down our efforts. If you have ideas of what you wish the Spokin app could do to make your life easier, please email me at [email protected] We are building Spokin for you and, near and dear to my heart, our kids. 

 
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