Looking for some help here...We've just moved to a new school district and are having trouble 'convincing' the administration that our son should not be required to go to the school office for his enzymes at every meal/snack. His doctor has written letters stating that he's responsible enough to self administer and we've even had our social worker meet with the administrators. Still, they insist that the school's policy is to have all medications distributed through the office.I'm sure there are other families out there that have dealt with this issue and had success. Please, tell me what worked for you.Thanks.
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Enzymes in school
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
We had the doctor state in the letter to the school that our daughter, Carly, was not to go in the office due to the kids that are waiting to be picked up because they are going home sick. Also, do you have a 504 plan. This will allow you to do things different than the normal school rules. We bought a lock box and the teacher keeps Carly's enzymes, inhailer, and special snacks in it. What grade is your child in? Michelle
My Junior high had the same policy and I thought it was so dumb. Here I was old enough to babysit and almost old enough to drive, but I couldn't give myself an enzyme that I had given myself for years without permission! I actually got around it by not telling the school I took enzymes (thats bad I know) so I carried them around in my backpack. I was diagnosed later in life and so when I started the junior high I just "forgot" to mention that I have to take enzymes. All of my friends knew what they were and why I took them so it was never a problem. But since your sons school does know (and I wouldn't suggest not telling them anyway) maybe you could get your sons teacher to give them to him. I am not sure if the school allows this, but it would be easier to just have her/him hand the enzymes to your son on the way out to lunch rather than going down to the office before he eats. Good luck though!Emm
Hello!I used to have to go to the office to take my enzymes as well, however it took a tole on my social life, people thought i was contageous and wouldn't come near me. I didn't like to tell people i have CF because i was treated different and here the school was just aiding in making me feel different. I think that there should be exceptions with enzymes, it is not like pain killers or something that you can request, it is something that you can't eat without and if you have to haul your bum down to the office and get them to get it for you, it takes away from eating time. I don't know what your school is like but mine only gave us 15 minutes to eat, well that was not enough, especially when you waste like 8 minutes of that trying to get your enzymes, and then to have to eat alot of food because you have CF. I think these rules are dumb, and yes i did the same thing when i moved, the school did not know that i took enzymes or any meds at school. These rules only encourage kids to be sneaky about having things. i think it is crazy that in junior high little johnny could sneak in marijuana but you can't have your enzymes, what a bunch of booger brained ideas ( i know that makes me sound like i am still in grade 2, but i am out of school and a mom now)...Grrr... some things make me very mad! It is bad enough to have CF already why make it worse! Even hospitals leave enzymes at our bedsides where i am from so that they don't have to get to you before your food!
Good luck with that. I had to take them at the nurse's office until I was a sophomore in hs, and I hated it. Sometimes, I wouldn't go, because it would make me so late for lunch. With much convincing, I was permitted to take them on my own. I think that we also included in our letter that the enzymes couldn't harm anyone if they got into the wrong hands somehow. Just be persistant, and they will give in eventually. Perhaps, you could say that it makes your son feel different, appeal to their sympathetic side. Best of Luck~
I believe this is one of those "don't ask, don't tell" situations. The schools have these rules about medication because they do not want to be sued if someone else gets a hold of your meds. From the time my daughter was about 8 we just put her pills in her lunch bag and if anyone ever noticed, we did not hear about it. Sometimes you just have to break a rule or 2 and I am a big goody 2 shoes.
AbsintheSorrow
New member
I used to go to the office in elemnetary school to get my enzymes before lunch. After that, once I started junior high and high school, I just stopped telling them. The same nurse was at my high school, but she knew me very well, so she never harassed me. She knew that living with CF my whole life, I knew what I was doing. So after that, I just kept them in my bag and took them when I ate.
my schools always let me carry my enzymes. they knew i was responsible with them and that if any kids got a hold of them that they wouldnt do much. as people have said, stick em in his school bag. everytime they confiscate them, replace them! they will soon get the picture. i see not letting people carry their enzymes as discriminating and embarassing.
HollyCatheryn
New member
I had to go to the office or nurse for my enzymes, nasal saline spray, anything in grade school, but in middle school my mom just put the number I needed for my lunch in a tiny tupperware in my lunch sack. When I had an antibiotic to take I still went to the nurse. It might be helpful to talk to them not only about the need for the enzymes, but the purpose (that they are not dangerous) and that they are singling your boy out to make him feel different and discriminating against him. Just the word discrimination will send them into a tizzy to work woth you. You can also bring up the Disabilites Act which demands that a school make all efforts to work with a person who has special needs to endure their education. HollyCatheryn
Hi, Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble with your school district. How old is your son? We did not even try to get the school to let our daughter carry her enzymes until she was in the 7th grade. She however was going to an International HS at that time so there was some flexability there. When we returned stateside she was entering her freshman year in HS. She went to a private school so there wasn't too much trouble there either. Our fight came when she started a new school her sophomore year. (we are military so we move alot) We didn't have to involve the CF clinic too much though. We went to the superintendent with a letter and an explanation that the school was so large that there was no way she could go to the nurse to get her enzymes and still get lunch in time. This would be detremintal to her health as she was required to take in 3000 cals per day and skimping or skipping on lunch was not possible. And that is exactly what would happen if she was required to go to the nurse to take her enzymes. Time was another issue. If taken too early they don't do as good a job, if taken too late you might as well not have taken them at all. Also telling them that she would be taking these meds for the rest of her life and needed some sense of "normalcy". HS is hard enough but to have to go through all this too? They had suggested being released from class early. No can do. That would alienate her from potential friends which is already a tough thing to handle being a new kid in HS. They did not fight too much and gave in. We have two teens with CF with our youngest starting HS this year. Keep at em and offer every single little thing you can. Enzymes are not mood altering, they won't hurt someone who doesn't need them if they are taken. Age is a major factor with your arguement though. If your son is in HS, discretion is key. What school district is this anyway? Just curious. Much luck and keep bugging them til they give in. Liza