Empathy: Why Is It Important to Know About Food Allergies?
One of the most stressful parts of being a food allergy parent or sufferer is explaining why is it important to know about food allergies.
It’s common to hear the phrases “A little bit won’t hurt”, “What CAN your child eat”, or “You’re going overboard.”
Every one of these statements shows that the person saying them doesn’t understand how serious food allergies are, and it usually falls on the parent to explain why is it important to know about food allergies so that their child can be safe and included.
As a 16-year food allergy parent and 6-year Food Allergy Coach, I want you to know that gaining empathy for food allergies with friends and family doesn’t have to be a minefield of stress and hurt feelings.
So to save you time, effort, and heartbreak I’ve come up with my best tips to help.
If we haven’t met yet, my name is Corinna.
I’m a 16-year Food Allergy Mama and a 6-year Food Allergy Coach. I help severe food allergy families keep their kids safe and worry less at home, school, social events, and while traveling. I care and believe that food allergy families deserve safe and inclusive food and life experiences.
If you believe this too, make sure to sign up for my free top 9 allergy-friendly recipe ebook.. You’ll get 5 days of recipes that kids love (including breakfast, snacks, and dinner) PLUS I’ll keep you in the loop about workshops I offer and ways to connect with hundreds of other food allergy mamas like you!
Why is it important to be aware of food allergies?
Food allergies are real and serious. Getting a small trace of allergen in a food allergy person’s mouth, eyes, or nose can cause a severe and life-threatening reaction.
To make things more complicated, food and allergens are everywhere which means that living with food allergies can sometimes feel like a minefield.
To put it simply, avoiding allergens is hard. Not only that, but precautionary measures can sometimes seem completely overwhelming.
For example, reading all food labels is essential to ensure there a no traces of allergens in the product.
Another essential step for food allergy safety is managing cross-contact. Cross contact means that when food touches something, a small amount of the protein is left on that object. If a food-allergic person accidentally eats that protein (even though it’s a small amount), they can have a serious reaction. Navigating cross-contact in a kitchen where allergens are present is a lot of work, but it’s definitely required to keep people with food allergies safe.
And it’s not just about keeping people safe, it’s also helping food allergy kids and family members feel included at events too.
These are just a few reasons why it’s important to know about food allergies, but sometimes people don’t listen because they don’t have much experience with food allergies or they don’t want to change how they’ve done things for years.
So knowing how to explain why it’s important to know about food allergies in a way that helps others to work WITH us to keep our kids safe, instead of against us is crucial.
Why Is It Important to Know About Food Allergies? Isn’t The Best Question To Answer
So now that we know WHY is it important to know about food allergies, sometimes the struggle is actually getting people to take what we say seriously. And I don’t think that “Why is it important to know about food allergies?” is the best question to answer.
Instead, we need to look at how we’re communicating to get empathy.
I honestly struggled with this for a long time.
For many years it seemed like I was talking and nobody was listening. They just weren’t getting it, and I felt like there was a wall between us.
Sometimes, people assured me that I could trust the food they made, but then they did something that left doubts in my head and I didn’t know how to ask them without feeling bad.
Now that I look back, I realize that a big part of the problem was that I needed a different perspective. I wasn’t doing it wrong (and you aren’t either), it’s just that some people don’t respond to regular communication about food allergies. They need a different approach.
But with these simple tips, you don’t have to struggle for many years like I did!
6 Tips To Gain Empathy With Your Family and Friends
First, I want you to know that having the ability to get friends and family to empathize isn’t a natural skill you’re born with. It takes practical knowledge and experience to know what to say and how to say it. Don’t expect yourself to be good at this right away.
Here are the BEST tips I’ve learned to have a stress and drama-free conversation with family and friends about food allergy safety so they can become more food allergy aware and social events can be easier and more inclusive for you and your child.
Have Confidence.
Becoming confident with your needs is essential because if you’re not confident, you can’t be clear. If you’re not clear, then people will be confused and won’t receive what you’re saying.
Start by doing the research so you can fully understand what you and your food allergy child need to be safe and included. Then PRACTICE telling people what you need by saying it OUT LOUD. I know this sounds weird, but the more you hear YOURSELF say something, the more confident you’ll be in what you’re saying.
NEED help with this?
You can get help in the Get Others To Take Food Allergies Seriously Workshop. I'll walk you through this process so that you can come out with a confident plan to help you increase food allergy empathy without hurt feelings or seeming demanding.
2. Overcome Misinformation.
This can be a bit tricky at first, but take some time to think about why people are acting like food allergies aren’t serious.
Figuring out the misinformation that people believe could help you address the problem right away.
If you’re struggling with this, I help with this in my workshop.
3. Decide on your boundaries.
What do you want to achieve for each social event? Sometimes, it’s important that the event is completely allergy-free so your child is fully included, but sometimes, it may be possible just to attend without eating.
For example, your goal for a casual visit will likely be different than Thanksgiving Dinner. Whatever your food allergy goals are, I think it’s important to define them for each event at the beginning so you can be clear from the start.
NEED HELP Figuring out your goals and boundaries when it comes to food allergies at events?
I’ve got an easy step-by-step way to create a plan that works for you using the Get People To Take Food Allergies Seriously Workshop.
With this workshop, you’ll become confident with your family’s unique food allergy boundaries so that you never feel like you’re asking too much or too little.
You’ll be able to clearly explain what you need and why so you and your child can enjoy social events again.
4. Stay away from fearful language.
When you’re describing what you need at family events, try not to exaggerate what could happen. As much as YOU and I KNOW how real and scary anaphylaxis is; your friends and family may not be in that place yet, and making things overly scary may risk them thinking you’re being dramatic.
I know this is really hard, but do your best because it will help, I promise!
5. Be clear about your food allergy needs.
Increasing empathy with friends and family starts with clear communication.
For many years I knew what was needed to keep my daughter safe, but I didn’t know how to explain it clearly. I finally realized that I came across as confusing and maybe even frustrating for others because I was making all the mistakes in tips 1-4.
Not only that, but I finally realized that some people don’t respond to the usual ways of educating. They need a different approach.
This is when I finally sat down and WROTE out what I needed from family members to help keep my daughter safe. It took time and many drafts to do it right because I needed the right information and the right tone so it was taken well.
After many changes and tweaks, I found that my email started to work. I found people who were once difficult now started responding with more understanding. Events started to feel safer and less stressful. We could all enjoy being together instead of stressing the whole time.
This was amazing because I thought things would never change. You can do this too!
Need help creating an email template that works?
I have a food allergy RSVP email/text template already made FOR YOU as a bonus when you register for The Get Others To Take Food Allergies Seriously Workshop.
You don’t have to take forever to create your own email and then take months to edit and get it right because you can get the one that I’ve perfected over 16 years as a food allergy mama.
6. Be Consistent
Now that you’ve become clear, its so important to be consistent. If you’re not consistent, it will cause things to go back to how they were and you’ll lose all momentum. Consistently share your needs so that people continue to understand why is it important to know about food allergies.
Being consistent means being confident. Sometimes it’s hard to feel confident in this lonely food allergy life. My workshop will help you feel less alone so that you can be confident and consistent every day.
What To Do When People Still Don’t Understand Why Is It Important To Know About Food Allergies
I CAN HELP.
Maybe you just want an easy step-by-step plan that gets people to take allergies seriously so you don’t have to figure it out yourself.
OR
Maybe you’re wondering how to clearly communicate what you need because every time you try it makes things worse.
OR
Maybe you trust them, but there’s been reason to think that they may not be checking thoroughly enough, and you need reassurance about how to ask them without feeling bad.
OR
Maybe you’ve told them over and over and you’re exhausted from it. You just need confirmation that you’re still on the right track from someone who knows.
You’re NOT ALONE.
My workshop will help you quickly create a plan to get friends and family members to take food allergies seriously. In this workshop, you’ll get simple & practical tools so that family & friends take food allergies seriously.
Imagine having friends and family who help you keep your child safe instead of fighting against you.
PLUS you’ll get 2 exclusive bonuses:
A Food Allergy RSVP Email/Text Template that you can copy and paste for every event and
2. The “What To Say” Responses to Common Food Allergy Myths so you never have to fumble for words.
You and your child deserve to be included in events without stress and worry.
This program is pre-recorded so all the materials will come directly to your inbox and you can watch whenever it works for you. Save your spot now so events don’t have to be utterly frustrating and exhausting anymore.
Conclusion
Gaining empathy for food allergies means explaining why is it important to know about food allergies in a way that gets friends and family to take food allergies seriously. With these tips, it doesn’t have to be a minefield of stress and hurt feelings.
What about you? What tip will you use first? Let me know in the comments!
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