Chapter 2: Growing Up With Celiac
IN THIS LESSON
Being diagnosed at a very young age, navigating my school days (lunches, class parties, assemblies) was a significant obstacle.
Going to school, especially elementary and middle school (before the independence and autonomy of highschool), is much more difficult with Celiac Disease than you might think. Despite the prevalence and increasing numbers of gluten-free kids, you have to be incredibly careful when trusting free provided school lunches or cafeteria food, and often resort to packing not just your own lunch, but your own cupcake for class parties, your own candy on Halloween, your own Valentine with gluten-free chocolate on Valentines day (that's right, some chocolate has malt, derived from barley, in it!)
So, let’s talk about school with Celiac. I was never really able to trust the school lunches provided by my school (considering that everything is cooked on the same equipment, in the same kitchen), but check in with managers/administrators and see if there are safe options free from cross contamination. For school lunches, I packed a daily turkey sandwich throughout elementary and middle school- Canyon Bakehouse gluten free bread, butter, Oscar Meyer turkey slices (there's your protein and carbs!). I also usually packed some packaged snacks, whether it was Pirates Booty or MadeGood chocolate chip granola mini bites. Then, I always had some sort of fruit or vegetable- cucumbers, carrots, strawberries- pretty standard elementary school snacks. Overall, in terms of lunches, what’s most important is packing a lunch everyday, and making sure you/your child knows not to share or take food from peers/teachers. In terms of contamination, I didn’t worry too much about sitting next to friends eating gluten- as long as you’re not sharing utensils or napkins or the food itself, the amount of cross contamination is so miniscule that you are highly unlikely to have a reaction.
Next, school events. Whether it's Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, a 100th Day of School celebration, or someone's birthday, class events tend to always have some gluten-filled food. Luckily for me, I had the strongest support system, so my dad or mom always stocked me up with a gluten-free replica of whatever cake or pizza was being had, or, just stopped by school during the day to drop it off. If you’re a parent reading this, I would highly encourage you to do the same for your child.
Finally, communication/advocacy. Make sure that your teachers know you have Celiac- whether or not they know what that is, it’s important that they have the option/opportunity to provide you with safe snacks, do further investigation, or keep an eye out for you in case you’re ever having a reaction or not feeling well. You don’t necessarily need a 504 or IEP Plan, but this can be helpful, depending on your level of anxiety and reaction sensitivity.
So there you have it! Going to school with Celiac Disease can definitely feel isolating (which is expanded upon more in my Social Anxiety with Celiac article), but there are some pretty simple solutions that will allow you to have a relatively normal school experience.