ALLERGIES DON’T have to cramp your lifestyle; they can be controll-
ed by avoidance, medication and immunotherapy. Rhelda Nicholson, the
North Shore contact for the Allergy Information Association, has helped
develop 2 kit on allergy to be handed out te North Shore schools.

DEEP RICH chocolate.
Peanuts. The fresh smell of
flowers.

ABETH COL

y Reporter

For most, these are the little
perks that make life worth living.
But for people with allergies, some
of life’s “treats’’ can be life-
threatening.

This fact was brought home a
few weeks ago when a 10-year-old
boy from Nanaimo unknowingly
ate some peanuts in Dairyland’s
Lite and Scrumptious Heavenly
Hash Ice Cream.

For Graham Mpyrfield, who is
acutely allergic to peanuts, the ex-
perience was far from heavenly.
Had he not vomited, experts agree
he could have died. The package
listed only almonds.

Graham's story shows one of
many pitfalls that face allergic
people in day-to-day life. Although
few allergies are so acute, one in
six Canadians is treated for
allergic diseases each year.

Rhelda Nicholson, the North
Shore activator for the Allergy In-
formation Association (A.I.A.),
says public education will help
create a more ‘‘allergy friendly”
environment for allergy sufferers.

Therefore Nicholson is lobbying
the local school boards to carry
special A.I.A. Information Kits in
the classroom.

Already accepted by North Van-
couver and Howe Sound school
districts, the kit’s material has a
two-fold purpose: to raise teach-
ers’ awareness of allergies and to
get teachers to take their newfound

Charity
foundation
meets

PAGE 33

awareness into the classroom.

Nicholson says something as in-
nocuous as a broom leaning up
against a classroom window can
pose a problem for a child with a
dust allergy. By raising awareness
of these potential problems,
allergic children do not have to
suffer in the classroom.

The kit also tells teachers how to
prevent allergic children from feel-
ing they're different from others.

cookbooks carry
everything from how to make
bread without wheat and = cake
wihout eggs to how to make ice
cream without milk.

recipes on

The A.LA. has a_ positive
philosophy towards allergy. Their
theme for Allergy Awareness

Month was: Learn to control your
allergies, don’t let your allergies
control you.

Although Nicholson says

““.. Something as

broom leaning up against a

iNMNOCUOUS AS a

classroom window can pose a
problem for a child with a dust

3

Nichoison suggests one fun way
to overcome this is for the parents
to come into the class as part of
show-and-tell to discuss allergy.

Membership in the A.I.A. may
be especially helpful to parents of
allergic kids.

Imagine the parents who
discover their child is allergic to
wheat and milk. How do they cope
when one of the major food
groups must be eliminated?

The A.I.A. puts out allergy
cookbooks which show the tricks
of allergy-smart people. The

cae : a
medical profession becom:
more advanced in its approach to

allergies, some doctors are still

skeptical.
“A lot of doctors say it’s
psychological, ‘It's all in your

mind,””’ Nicholson says, adding
that some people may suffer
allergic reactions for years before
getting them diagnosed as such.

The A.I.A. is a _ national
organization with 4,000 members.
For more information on A.I.A.,
call Nicholson at 987-8995.