Twinkle Toe Shoes cause epileptic seizures?

[mamacatnv]

I'd lace them up and send her off to school with them with instructions that if anyone has an issue they need to contact Mom.

Their argument was so weak to begin with

 

[mhsjax]

Well, lets see, in my dd's pre-school 2 years ago, a little boy was so allergic to peanuts that the teacher's had to be trained on how to use an epi pen. This was kept in the classroom because if he had an allergic reaction by even breathing in the peanuts he could DIE! Are you willing to take that risk of hurting that child? Yes having a peanut free school is a pain in the butt for me too. But once again I am not willing to hurt another child so that I am not inconvenienced. Guess we do have different opinions.

I have a friend and her son was that allergic to milk, if he even touched it he could die. Like another poster, she didn't expect others to work around her, she taught her son and everyone around him how to deal with it and how to use the epi pen.

I don't have a child with that severe of an allergy, he does but it isn't life threatening, so I am not sure how I would deal with it, but I know a lot of people that don't expect the world to work differently because of them.

What is this child with the peanut allergy going to do when he gets in the work force, or travels. There will always be peanuts around. I realize this is somewhat off topic, but I think a line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[C.Ann]

It sounds like there's a child or teacher in your daughter's class who is epileptic or otherwise prone to seizures or migraines.

There's a huge difference between being outside in the bright sunlight, where the twinkling isn't so visible, and being indoors in the same room with them, never knowing when they're going to suddenly start flashing.

Certainly, do ask the principal for clarification!

That seems to lend some credibility to the fact that this is a "medical need" issue.. It sounds as though there is a child in that particular class (or the teacher herself) who is having (or may have) a medical problem because of these shoes..

If that's the case (and it's the OPs responsibility to find out directly from the school officials herself - rather than having someone else "count" shoes), then the Twinkle Toes should not be worn by any child in that class..

I would have no problem with that.. It's a minor request in terms of protecting the health of someone else.. I'm sure there are some very nice (maybe even trendy) sneakers available that wouldn't break the bank..

 

[Hannathy]

For those of you familiar with the Boston/Cambridge area; I remember hearing years ago that for some people with seizure disorders, the light flickering through the trees as one drives down the street can cause seizures. If you knew that a child in your child's class actually suffered from a seizure disorder triggered by flashing lights, would you really send your child to school in flashing shoes? I see this as a more critical issue than sending a child with a peanut butter sandwich. A child with food allergies can avoid the allergen. Flashing lights? Not so much. BTW, they use a strobe light during an EEG to diagnose seizure disorders.

We have gone over this for pages those shoes are not in the range to trigger seizures!!!!
Yes seizures can be triggered by lights but not the twinkling from the little lights in these shoes.

If there is a child that doesn't like them then seat the kids apart and in a bright classroom I sincerely doubt the occasional flashing would even get to a child across the room. These are 5th graders with their feet under their desks. Keep your eyes on your desk or the teacher and no problem.

 

[klj27]

I t does sound like the op is handling it well so far. Based on what your daughter said I would guess that the affected child is someone in your daughter's class. I would still accept what the nurse said and use the situation to teach my child about empathy and sacrifice.

I think a friendly phone call to the nurse would be fine just asking for further clarification that this is something only pertaining to your daughter's classroom.

 

[DawnCt1]

We have gone over this for pages those shoes are not in the range to trigger seizures!!!!
Yes seizures can be triggered by lights but not the twinkling from the little lights in these shoes.

If there is a child that doesn't like them then seat the kids apart and in a bright classroom I sincerely doubt the occasional flashing would even get to a child across the room. These are 5th graders with their feet under their desks. Keep your eyes on your desk or the teacher and no problem.

Stress, fear of a seizure, etc can trigger a seizure. Perhaps until the child with a seizure learns that she has nothing to fear from the shoes, empathy and understanding is in order. Children with seizure disorders are most fearful of having a seizure in front of others. And, I took the easy way out, I didn't read pages and pages.

 

[C.Ann]

We have gone over this for pages those shoes are not in the range to trigger seizures!!!!
Yes seizures can be triggered by lights but not the twinkling from the little lights in these shoes. .

Nothing has been "proven" in that regard.. It would be impossible to do so because each person is a unique individual.. That would be like saying everyone who breaks their arm will take 63 days, 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 2 seconds to heal..

Have you read all of the posts here by people who actually have seizure disorders and/or migraines and the wide variety of things that trigger them? No two are exactly the same..

There is nothing about seizures or migraines that is an "exact science", so unless one of us is the teacher/child in that classroom that has actually dealt with the exposure and what happens as a result of it, "we" can't presume to know what the end result is..

 

[daughtersrus]

We have gone over this for pages those shoes are not in the range to trigger seizures!!!!
Yes seizures can be triggered by lights but not the twinkling from the little lights in these shoes.

.

Really? The only thing that I've read on the thread are opinions from DIS members saying that. There are probably just as many posts saying that they could cause seizures/migraines.

After what your DD said Mine would have her shoes on tomorrow and I may have to take a stroll past the school in the AM and do my own count so when and if they called later the principal and I would have a little talk.

I went and looked on line at some of them and they are really cute, I know my DD would have had a pair. She loves her shoes!

Would you continue to send your DD with them if you found out that the child in question was in your DD's class?

 

[HsvTeacher]

This is the exact style of Twinkle Toes shoes that two of my students have:

Twinkle Toes Shoes

I would say this is comparable to the brightness in my room. (If we're using the ActivBoard, it's even darker because I turn one set of lights off.) My other student's shoes are more pastel-colored, but they are equally as bright.

Totally distracting!

 

[barkley]

I have a friend and her son was that allergic to milk, if he even touched it he could die. Like another poster, she didn't expect others to work around her, she taught her son and everyone around him how to deal with it and how to use the epi pen.

I don't have a child with that severe of an allergy, he does but it isn't life threatening, so I am not sure how I would deal with it, but I know a lot of people that don't expect the world to work differently because of them.

What is this child with the peanut allergy going to do when he gets in the work force, or travels. There will always be peanuts around. I realize this is somewhat off topic, but I think a line has to be drawn somewhere.

i would presume that the peanut alergic child would be an adult when they enter the work force or travel independantly. if that is the case then they will be responsible for themself, to take whatever precautions are necessary in limiting their exposure to the alergens that endanger them, and possibly ask for reasonable accommodations as is their legal right.

in the meantime-they would be a child, for whom their parent(s) and their school is entrusted and required to ensure their health, which includes taking precautions and making decisions about accommodations.

 

[PrincessMomto2]

I have a friend and her son was that allergic to milk, if he even touched it he could die. Like another poster, she didn't expect others to work around her, she taught her son and everyone around him how to deal with it and how to use the epi pen.

I don't have a child with that severe of an allergy, he does but it isn't life threatening, so I am not sure how I would deal with it, but I know a lot of people that don't expect the world to work differently because of them.

What is this child with the peanut allergy going to do when he gets in the work force, or travels. There will always be peanuts around. I realize this is somewhat off topic, but I think a line has to be drawn somewhere.

I agree with you for the most part. Not sure what he will do when he grows up maybe his allergy won't be as severe. This kid just has to breathe in the peanuts I had never heard of that before but it looks like some severe cases can be impacted by it being airborne. I don't think he still goes to their school anymore. But the school has kept the no peanut rule. There are other kids of course with allergies but no where near as life threatening as this kid. There was a college age girl a few years ago that died after kissing her boyfriend. She never told him about her allergy and he had eaten a peanut butter sandwich. How sad. So glad that my kids don't have allergies like this.

 

[PrincessMomto2]

i would presume that the peanut alergic child would be an adult when they enter the work force or travel independantly. if that is the case then they will be responsible for themself, to take whatever precautions are necessary in limiting their exposure to the alergens that endanger them, and possibly ask for reasonable accommodations as is their legal right.

in the meantime-they would be a child, for whom their parent(s) and their school is entrusted and required to ensure their health, which includes taking precautions and making decisions about accommodations.

I agree especially with severe reactions that some can have.

 

[SandiH]

This is the exact style of Twinkle Toes shoes that two of my students have:

Twinkle Toes Shoes

I would say this is comparable to the brightness in my room. (If we're using the ActivBoard, it's even darker because I turn one set of lights off.) My other student's shoes are more pastel-colored, but they are equally as bright.

Totally distracting!

Oh my, those would give me a headache. I hope none of my students are wearing them this year. I haven't seen them until now.

 

[mamacatnv]

Okay, so we know flashing lights cause seizures. And striped shirts cause seizures. And blinking lights cause seizures. And flashing lights cause seizures. And driving in a car in sunlight can cause seizures. And driving in a car at night can cause seizures. And shiny paper can cause seizures... I'm sure we could find a thousand things that CAN cause a seizure (not will, but can). So where do we draw the line? How many concessions does a school have to make for the hundreds of different needs of its students? And who's paying for all these concessions?

 

[Hannathy]

Nasty much????

I was responding to a personal attack by another poster, which has been removed by the moderators. SO... my statement doesn't make much sense sorry.

 

[barkley]

I agree with you for the most part. Not sure what he will do when he grows up maybe his allergy won't be as severe. This kid just has to breathe in the peanuts I had never heard of that before but it looks like some severe cases can be impacted by it being airborne. I don't think he still goes to their school anymore. But the school has kept the no peanut rule. There are other kids of course with allergies but no where near as life threatening as this kid. There was a college age girl a few years ago that died after kissing her boyfriend. She never told him about her allergy and he had eaten a peanut butter sandwich. How sad. So glad that my kids don't have allergies like this.

when we moved to where we live now i noticed that the 3 local stores that have delis and bakeries in house had signs in them that read "if you are ordering or purchasing a food item for use in an x (local school district) school, please notify staff". at first i thought it might be because of some kind of discount they offered, but then i learned that the local school district has identified not only what they know some of their students are alergic to food wise, but what can be the most common life threatening alergens in food products. apparantly the schools have worked with the stores, and by letting a staff member know you are getting a food item for the school they can let you know which products they carry that specificly meet the school's criteria.

i asked the manager of one of the stores if this had been triggered by a severe reaction at one of the schools and he said 'no', that it had been put in place as a preventative mechanism to make every attempt to avoid that from occuring.

 

[petals]

Sounds kinda of odd to tell you after.. maybe they should put it in their school rules no shoes with lights on. Btw those shoes are very pretty

 

[Scurvy]

This is the exact style of Twinkle Toes shoes that two of my students have:

Twinkle Toes Shoes

I would say this is comparable to the brightness in my room. (If we're using the ActivBoard, it's even darker because I turn one set of lights off.) My other student's shoes are more pastel-colored, but they are equally as bright.

Totally distracting!

Those look like the ones I've seen at Target and Costco, and the flashing was obvious even in that bright light. That video is obviously just a home video and isn't enhanced for the computer. They are very bright. Come to think of it, maybe I've seen your students around town! I'd hate to have to put up with those things in a classroom all day. And one thing that people don't seem to consider is that it isn't only the shoes which are distraction. It's also the behavior that the shoes seem to inspire. A room full of little girls constantly kicking things or hitting their feet together so their shoes will flash gets old fast!

 

[ilovepcot]

Okay, so we know flashing lights cause seizures. And striped shirts cause seizures. And blinking lights cause seizures. And flashing lights cause seizures. And driving in a car in sunlight can cause seizures. And driving in a car at night can cause seizures. And shiny paper can cause seizures... I'm sure we could find a thousand things that CAN cause a seizure (not will, but can). So where do we draw the line? How many concessions does a school have to make for the hundreds of different needs of its students? And who's paying for all these concessions?

There really doesn't seem to be a place for the line to be drawn...truly. Things in this world seem to be getting totally out of control.

Just because my DIL says it's *possible* for a seizure to be triggered by twinkle shoes doesn't mean I wouldn't be upset myself if I'd purchased a pair for my child, then be told *after the fact* they couldn't be worn to school again. Truly, it's endless!!!

 

[luvmy3]

Perhaps the child who is sensitive to the flashing lights in in the same class as the OP's child. Maybe for now they are only asking the children in that class to refrain from wearing the shoes. I've known of schools in the past that banned peanuts and scented products (like cologne) from particular classrooms to begin with but not from the entire school. This could be that sort of thing.

For those who don't understand why anyone is paying attention to the children's shoes - I imagine it's because they have flashing lights on them. I don't notice most shoes but the ones with flashing lights or the ones that squeak certainly do catch my attention. Isn't that what they are designed to do?

I can understand that but wouldn't that child have to walk to other parts of the school and be exposed to those flashing lights? What about when they went to lunch and there are 100 kids in there and 1/4 of them have those shoes? If they are going to request that the OP's dd not wear them because they can cause seizures then the right thing would be to request that nobody in the school wear them at all to protect any student prone to seizures or migraines.