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Hi All:

My name's Chris, and I've been a <gulp> lurker on this wonderful list for
quite a while now (my husband is allergic to wheat *and* corn), and have
learned many wonderful things--thank you! I'm a freelance writer, and I'm
currently working on a story for Children's Voice magazine (a bimonthly
published for the members of the Child Welfare League of America, the
oldest, I believe, child advocacy group in the nation...). The article is
exploring how certain foods and additives affect children's behavior.

I've been writing for 5 years and have written some 300 articles, and have
*never* had such a hard time as with this story. The research on this topic
is kind of hit and miss--the people who acknowledge the behavior effect say
there are lots of studies proving this, while the people who *don't*
acknowledge the effect say the studies are flawed...ARGH!

I'm interviewing what medical professionals I can find for the story, but I
think the backbone of the story will be the comments from parents and
teachers who have observed this in their own children or in the classroom.
I'd love to hear from anyone willing to speak up, and it doesn't matter
whether your child's sensitivities to foods/additives affect his or her
behavior or not--it seems that a small percentage of kids *do* have
sensitivities that affect behavior, and it appears important for parents to
explore that possibility, if only to rule it out. I'd like to hear comments
from people who have investigated the food/additive sensitivity possibility,
regardless of what the results were.

I want to make it very clear that I completely respect the privacy of all my
sources, and that names will be changed to protect the privacy and
confidentiality of families and children. Too, you don't need to answer
*all* of the questions--just whatever applies to you, thought I'd *love* to
hear from as many people as possible. If you're so moved, please reply to me
offlist at: [log in to unmask] , and don't forget your contact info so I can
keep in touch! (name, email, phone, mailing addy, etc). I will need your
answers by next Friday, September 6, so that I have time to write the story.

TIA for your help,
Chris
Olympia, WA


I'd like to know:

For parents:
--What city and state are you in?
--Your child's current age, diagnosis, and age when diagnosis was first
made?
--What led you to explore the food/additive connection with behavior?
--How did you investigate? Did you do blood testing, food challenges, both,
something else?
--What were the results? What are the "trigger" foods/additives (if any) for
your child?
--How does your child react to these triggers?
--What role did your child's physician/care provider play in addressing the
food/additive connection?
--How supportive is your child's care provider?
--In what ways are you modifying your child's diet?
--How has modifying your child's diet affected his/her behavior or symptoms?
--If mature enough, does your child participate in monitoring his/her diet?
In what manner?
--What has your experience been with your child's school or daycare, with
regard to diet restrictions?
--If your child is on medications, have diet modifications enabled a
reduction in dosage, or an elimination altogether of prescriptions?
--Any other comments?

For teachers:
--What city and state are you in?
--Can you tell me a bit about yourself--are you a special education teacher,
or a "mainstream" classroom teacher? What grade(s)?
--What type of school do you teach in? (public, private, parochial, ???) Do
you have a background in special education?
--What led you to explore the food/additive connection with behavior?
--What is your experience with regard to teaching kids with special needs?
--What have been your experiences with parents when discussing the possible
connection of food/additives and behavior with them? With other school
personnel? Medical personnel?
--Can you describe (without naming names, of course) classroom examples of
children who have displayed behavioral reactions to food/additive
sensitivities?
--In your experience, which foods/additives have you observed to be the most
frequent triggers?
--In what ways can schools help parents and kids?
--Any other comments?

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