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Accommodating People with Food Allergies

It's still disability pride month! Since I've had a host of common food allergies my whole life, this is a post about those. I want to share some simple things that—if everyone knew to try doing—would make my life and others' lives a lot easier. It would spare me a lot of explaining, that's for sure. I thought maybe I could share some advice that is somewhat less well-known than "be able to use an epinephrine pen to help someone who's experiencing anaphylaxis" (especially since in an ideal world, people would never have to constantly experience anaphylactic shock/full-body hives, etc.).

Tips for people without food allergies, from a person with many severe ones:

  1. If you're preparing food for any group, normalize asking if anyone has any allergies or intolerances!
  2. There are tons of recipes that will tell you how to replace common allergens. Vegan recipes are also a good resource if someone is allergic to milk or eggs. Gluten-free recipes are helpful for people allergic to wheat.
  3. Use knowledge gained from one recipe and combine it with knowledge gained from another. For instance, vegan recipes often have nuts in them, another common allergen. You might have to look at a vegan recipe to learn how to replace milk or eggs, and another recipe to learn what to substitute for nuts if someone has a nut allergy.
  4. Be aware of cross-contamination. For example, if you use anything to cook with or contain an allergen, even if you clean the thing well, tiny bits of that allergen can remain. Because of this, you may have to reserve separate implements and cookware for someone with food allergies.
  5. If you're in an enclosed space like a classroom or car, be mindful if someone in there with you has food allergies. Particles can travel through the air or get transferred to surfaces people need to touch! Eat outside of the enclosed space and then wash your hands before coming back and touching things.
  6. It can also help to wipe your mouth as well as wash your hands if you've been eating something somebody's allergic to. It is very important to wipe your mouth first and then wash your hands. Otherwise, it's undoing your work.
  7. Please, please, please don't be weird about somebody having to bring their own food to an event/skip an event centered around food/ask for an accommodation by asking to hold an event at a venue without recycled air. Believe me, I love food and it pains me more than anyone that I can't safely do things like go to restaurants due to the risk of cross-contamination. Severe food allergies are literally life-threatening, and being in a space with allergens is genuinely like walking into a firefight. People with food allergies are trying to stay safe when they do things differently.
  8. Many of the COVID-19 safety measures can help protect people with food allergies, too! So if you're used to things like social distancing, wiping down frequently-used surfaces, and handwashing, you can apply them here.
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as my own direct immediate list of game grievances i hate that stardew valley expects you to side against a wheelchair user who is upset that he was moved without his consent. i hate that the mass effect trilogy gives you visible scarring as a direct result of choosing mean dialogue and heals it if you're nice. i hate that the vampire the masquerade ttrpg has a monstrous player class that can appear as horrible vampiric monsters or as visibly disabled people and both of these appearances are mechanically the same. i hate that dark souls games have a difficulty level implemented in a way that cannot be adjusted for disability. i hate that i can play as a mermaid or a werewolf or a horse in the sims games but can't use a wheelchair. i hate that the ace attorney games have so much flashing and not all of the games can disable it. i hate that disability is constantly something that happens to teach a lesson, i hate that disability is something that happens as a punishment, i hate that disability is either compensated perfectly with no drawbacks or something that is endlessly sought to be cured. i hate that no character customization will ever include the mobility aids i use, that the player avatars that represent me will never look like me. i am so goddamn annoyed and so goddamn tired.

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