as someone who grew up around people with allergy problems, some observations to contribute to the shane allergies au:
1. people with a bunch of allergies often have a range of severities. like maybe he's anaphylactic with peanuts, but only mildly allergic to sesame. some things cross contamination or contact is a big deal, some things, even eating a little bit isn't an emergency
2. having 'ambulance needed' as one of the possibilities makes mild reactions a very minor thing. like, oh, my mouth and throat is itchy. better take an antihistamine.
3. you end up with a specific list of safe brands and foods that you have very consistently. multiply for autism
4. unfamiliar and untested foods, tastes, textures are a lot of mental work, partly because of actual risk, and partly because unfamiliar=unsafe is ingrained. multiply for autism
5. capsaicin in particular can be an issue, because some allergic reactions feel like the food is 'spicy'
6. any kind of catering or food made by other people is a huge nuisance because either they don't know to accommodate, or you're burdening them with accommodating you. the easiest ways out are to bring your own food, eat on your own before or after the activity, or subsist on only the safe elements of what is served. (e.g. I'll just have some plain rice)
7. any kind of mixed thing - sauce, soup, etc - is riskier than a plain thing. you end up eating very plain food because it's safe and not really working out what other flavours you like because you can't try them without a bunch of substitutions.
8. ultimate plain foods: boiled/steamed rice, plain spaghetti, fries. fries are available everywhere, and they aren't a balanced meal, but they're something.
9. getting any/enough food takes priority over enjoying it.
10. school camps/summer camps are the worst, and i assume school lunches if that's a thing in canada. lots of 'mixed' foods in the 'sauce on rice', 'sauce on pasta' category, because they're easy to do at scale. breakfast becomes the safe meal, because the bacon, the eggs, the toast, the cereal are all prepared separately with a small number of ingredients
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I have a friends who is celiac (and allergic to oat, kiwi, goat cheese, spinach, etc.) and I'm lactose intolerent (but like deeply intolerent: do not pass go, do not collect 200$). So we eat at each other house having done the Grocery Shopping That is Safe for Both of us or we go out.
When we go out it's often a concept store/Plant based/Vegan Store which have option according to allergies OR we go full Fries and Meat. Because fries are potatoes so No Gluten and No Dairy and meat can be steak or various charcuterie that will also be Safe.
Which is funny to us that our Safe Food are either some kind of Vegan Meal or some kind of Meat Lover Meal, which is so contrary.
We always send each other adress of the most crazy concept store store that opened and that we need to try because its so elaborate we can probably both eat even if its gonna cause and arm and leg (Hi Edward lol). Or we do just a Cheap meal with like cold cut food to assemble.
Also yes, allergies can pop up, get less threatening, or worse and symptoms can changes! From being nauseous, to laying down on the floor with bad cramps, or having a tingling mouth and hands.
