Thanks everyone, even if you can't help.
Today, DD contacted the school nurse (her own idea), who is a nurse practitioner. She is going to try and get her help in educating the head of Disability Services.
I think that is great! She is being pro-active and self advocating. Which, from what I can tell, is what colleges expect. Theoretically, while they still may be our kids, unless it is billing/payment, colleges think the students should be the ones doing everything.
As far as what DD is asking for--something on paper a "plan" that states that her teachers have been informed of her allergy, it's severity and the fact that 911 would need to be called, if DD needs to Epi herself. The other colleges have always done that,without a problem. I guess we want to have things on paper in case she ever needs 911 called or needs to leave the classroom if someone next to her opens a Kit Kat-KWIM??
Even if she has a paper plan, if she is sitting in a classroom and has a reaction, it is likely she will have to say she needs an ambulance and is having a reaction. Especially if she is sitting in a large lecture hall or somewhere in the back.
But, I'm sort of thinking that even if she has a plan, on file, and the disability office says something, doesn't your DD really want to talk to the teacher herself anyway to make sure they understand?
Plus, if your DD is sitting in class, and she does have a reaction, I can't imagine an entire room full of adults sitting there and watching someone die in front of them. I mean, I could have imagined that given the school my older two kids went to for elementary.... but..... college?
Lastly.... just trying to gauge something here.... has your DD had a reaction to someone eating a food sitting next to her? I was trying to see what her FA's were. What she is dealing with? I can't see it listed.
At this point, she has nothing in hand to state that her teachers are even aware of allergy, not to mention her severe asthma.
Nothing is stopping her from telling them herself though. This is sort of the leap that we are having to take with DS1 going to college.
She is not living on campus, as we only live 25 minutes from school.
So she is still living at home and will be commuting. What are the hours like for school?
Am I wrong to feel so shocked over this? This isn't all new to us, she went into shock at 18 months, we had to file a complaint with the OCR when she was 12. I feel like we are starting from square 1 with this college.
I don't know if you should feel wrong about being shocked. There are a bunch of us with kids either in college or heading off to college this year. My DS1 for example is headed to college, living away from home, with PA/TNA, we had a 504 for public school, and dealt with aggressively hostile administration, teachers, parents and students while he was in public school. We also filed a complaint with the OCR for our DS2 when he was in 3rd grade.... he was at the same school... with the same awful people.
I sort of think you don't necessarily have to view it as starting over with college. It is different. DS1 contacted the Disability Office for his university for housing accommodations. The documentation we submitted was incredibly minimal compared to what we had to submit to the elementary school to prove that he had food allergies... and that they were deadly. DS1 got his housing accommodation easily after the woman called him to confirm the paperwork that we submitted.
Inherently, I think that colleges aren't there to thwart the students or disbelieve them, but I think they expect that the student will say something.
I absolutely believe that if your DD's school says she should come up with a plan in tandem with the Disability Office, then that should be possible. There should be an informed person. However, having dealt with, for years, people who knowingly undermined and endangered my kids, with their allergens, in their classrooms, it is possible to have your child come up with a standard of self-vigilance that helps keep them safe while you fight through the system.
One of the things that I would tell my son is that we will absolutely support him if he feels he is unsafe, needs to remove himself, and somehow someone thinks he should be penalized. If indeed your DD needed to get up and leave, not just move her seat, or ask the person to not eat the kit kat next to her, she should feel supported in doing what she needs to do for herself.