Celiac at MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

I think as long as you pack her lunch and notify her teacher, there's nothing else you need to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

Write a letter to the counselor requesting an 504 Eligibility Meeting and attach the doctor’s report confirming dx and his recommendations for accommodations.

What would you request? A lunch aide? Or just documentation of the condition?

Document the condition.
For ES, you might want a dedicated table that is gluten-free while your child is eating.
All staff should be aware so that they don’t give your child a snack or leave surfaces unwiped.

When you get to MS, there’s accommodations at Outdoor Ed.

I teach MS and have two kids of my own with food allergies. MCPS is hit or miss with these particular special needs. This year, I have many students with celiac or food allergies, but MCPS won’t supply me with wipes so I can’t allow any snacking in my room. However, I also have other students with accommodations to have a snack in class so I have to send them into the hallway to eat and then wash their hands.

A gluten free table? Come on. It’s not like the kid is going to sick from gluten vapors or even sitting next to some one eating gluten. This isn’t a nut allergy. The kid needs to ingest gluten to get sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pack her lunch.

+1

Tell her not to eat anything she’s unsure about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not trust the schools on this one. It’s similar to having a child with a nut allergy. You send packed lunch, you send packed snack, you give the teacher a bunch of prepackaged treats to hand your kid in case there is a class treat. Make sure that teachers, lunch room workers, school nurse, etc. Know that your child never eats anything that you did not send in.

I guess you can do a 504 but that is not the most important step since you do not want the school giving her any food whatsoever.

Actually, it’s not at all like a nut allergy. A person with celiac doesn’t react if gluten in nearby, only if they ingest it.

[Anonymous]

Insisting on a gluten free table may mean that your child will be eating alone. I don't think that is a reasonable accommodation. Teach your daughter to use a napkin packed in her lunchbox as a surface on which she places her own food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

Write a letter to the counselor requesting an 504 Eligibility Meeting and attach the doctor’s report confirming dx and his recommendations for accommodations.

What would you request? A lunch aide? Or just documentation of the condition?

Document the condition.
For ES, you might want a dedicated table that is gluten-free while your child is eating.
All staff should be aware so that they don’t give your child a snack or leave surfaces unwiped.

When you get to MS, there’s accommodations at Outdoor Ed.

I teach MS and have two kids of my own with food allergies. MCPS is hit or miss with these particular special needs. This year, I have many students with celiac or food allergies, but MCPS won’t supply me with wipes so I can’t allow any snacking in my room. However, I also have other students with accommodations to have a snack in class so I have to send them into the hallway to eat and then wash their hands.

A gluten free table? Come on. It’s not like the kid is going to sick from gluten vapors or even sitting next to some one eating gluten. This isn’t a nut allergy. The kid needs to ingest gluten to get sick.

These are children. They are messy eaters. Crumbs end up on the table and kids don’t always watch where they put their food or hands down. Cross contamination happens. Little ones also share food without thinking that gluten is a hidden ingredient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

Write a letter to the counselor requesting an 504 Eligibility Meeting and attach the doctor’s report confirming dx and his recommendations for accommodations.

What would you request? A lunch aide? Or just documentation of the condition?

Document the condition.
For ES, you might want a dedicated table that is gluten-free while your child is eating.
All staff should be aware so that they don’t give your child a snack or leave surfaces unwiped.

When you get to MS, there’s accommodations at Outdoor Ed.

I teach MS and have two kids of my own with food allergies. MCPS is hit or miss with these particular special needs. This year, I have many students with celiac or food allergies, but MCPS won’t supply me with wipes so I can’t allow any snacking in my room. However, I also have other students with accommodations to have a snack in class so I have to send them into the hallway to eat and then wash their hands.

A gluten free table? Come on. It’s not like the kid is going to sick from gluten vapors or even sitting next to some one eating gluten. This isn’t a nut allergy. The kid needs to ingest gluten to get sick.

These are children. They are messy eaters. Crumbs end up on the table and kids don’t always watch where they put their food or hands down. Cross contamination happens. Little ones also share food without thinking that gluten is a hidden ingredient.

I have celiac disease and am highly sensitive (get sick easily)--so I get the need to not mess around. But please, please don't listen to the PP who is suggesting a GF table. Your daughter needs to learn to not eat food that isn't hers. As long as she does that, she will be fine. You have to ingest gluten to have a problem. She isn't going to lick the table. It's all good.

While I'm posting, let me just add: This is an overwhelming moment, and I'm sorry you're going through it. Big hugs. But please know that as chronic diseases go, this one is a really great one to have. The learning curve is very steep, so the first few months will be hard, but once you've got the diet figured out, you've got it. There is SO much good food out there to be head, and awareness (everywhere from restaurants to friends houses) is so, so much higher than it was even 10 years ago. Your daughter is going to feel so much better once she's been on the diet for awhile, at which point really she'll be "cured." That's it--no medicines, no interventions, no thing will be needed. It's just the diet. So there's no reason she'll be missing school going forward. As long as she doesn't eat gluten, the disease won't be active, and she won't need a 504.

Compared to, say, type 1 diabetes (which shares the same genes as celiac), celiac is a cakewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not trust the schools on this one. It’s similar to having a child with a nut allergy. You send packed lunch, you send packed snack, you give the teacher a bunch of prepackaged treats to hand your kid in case there is a class treat. Make sure that teachers, lunch room workers, school nurse, etc. Know that your child never eats anything that you did not send in.

I guess you can do a 504 but that is not the most important step since you do not want the school giving her any food whatsoever.

Actually, it’s not at all like a nut allergy. A person with celiac doesn’t react if gluten in nearby, only if they ingest it.

And it's not life threatening!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

Write a letter to the counselor requesting an 504 Eligibility Meeting and attach the doctor’s report confirming dx and his recommendations for accommodations.

What would you request? A lunch aide? Or just documentation of the condition?

Document the condition.
For ES, you might want a dedicated table that is gluten-free while your child is eating.
All staff should be aware so that they don’t give your child a snack or leave surfaces unwiped.

When you get to MS, there’s accommodations at Outdoor Ed.

I teach MS and have two kids of my own with food allergies. MCPS is hit or miss with these particular special needs. This year, I have many students with celiac or food allergies, but MCPS won’t supply me with wipes so I can’t allow any snacking in my room. However, I also have other students with accommodations to have a snack in class so I have to send them into the hallway to eat and then wash their hands.

A gluten free table? Come on. It’s not like the kid is going to sick from gluten vapors or even sitting next to some one eating gluten. This isn’t a nut allergy. The kid needs to ingest gluten to get sick.

These are children. They are messy eaters. Crumbs end up on the table and kids don’t always watch where they put their food or hands down. Cross contamination happens. Little ones also share food without thinking that gluten is a hidden ingredient.

I have celiac disease and am highly sensitive (get sick easily)--so I get the need to not mess around. But please, please don't listen to the PP who is suggesting a GF table. Your daughter needs to learn to not eat food that isn't hers. As long as she does that, she will be fine. You have to ingest gluten to have a problem. She isn't going to lick the table. It's all good.

While I'm posting, let me just add: This is an overwhelming moment, and I'm sorry you're going through it. Big hugs. But please know that as chronic diseases go, this one is a really great one to have. The learning curve is very steep, so the first few months will be hard, but once you've got the diet figured out, you've got it. There is SO much good food out there to be head, and awareness (everywhere from restaurants to friends houses) is so, so much higher than it was even 10 years ago. Your daughter is going to feel so much better once she's been on the diet for awhile, at which point really she'll be "cured." That's it--no medicines, no interventions, no thing will be needed. It's just the diet. So there's no reason she'll be missing school going forward. As long as she doesn't eat gluten, the disease won't be active, and she won't need a 504.

Compared to, say, type 1 diabetes (which shares the same genes as celiac), celiac is a cakewalk.

+1. Mom of a T1

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1227196.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Insisting on a gluten free table may mean that your child will be eating alone. I don't think that is a reasonable accommodation. Teach your daughter to use a napkin packed in her lunchbox as a surface on which she places her own food.

This! My child has Celiac, diagnosed in age 3.

Before K, we had “practice” lunch at Starbucks. ( I would buy a coffee). We would bring her food and either lay out a napkin or unzip and flip open the lunch box. Once we figured her preference, just went with that.

Always pack lunch!

The 504 suggestions up thread are also prefect btw.

Good luck.

My child is now in HS so I know this works!

[Anonymous]

Yes and it’s super fun when your child has Celiac and Type 1 in preschool!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is most likely celiac (need to do endoscopy but blood work came back with indications of such). She is currently in 1st grade. How is MCPS about dealing with Celiac? If needed how do we start the 504 process? Especially at the beginning I think she’ll need support from school to not eat things she can’t anymore. This is so stressful and knowing I’ll not have a lot of control at school is even more so. Anyone have experience?

Write a letter to the counselor requesting an 504 Eligibility Meeting and attach the doctor’s report confirming dx and his recommendations for accommodations.

What would you request? A lunch aide? Or just documentation of the condition?

Document the condition.
For ES, you might want a dedicated table that is gluten-free while your child is eating.
All staff should be aware so that they don’t give your child a snack or leave surfaces unwiped.

When you get to MS, there’s accommodations at Outdoor Ed.

I teach MS and have two kids of my own with food allergies. MCPS is hit or miss with these particular special needs. This year, I have many students with celiac or food allergies, but MCPS won’t supply me with wipes so I can’t allow any snacking in my room. However, I also have other students with accommodations to have a snack in class so I have to send them into the hallway to eat and then wash their hands.

A gluten free table? Come on. It’s not like the kid is going to sick from gluten vapors or even sitting next to some one eating gluten. This isn’t a nut allergy. The kid needs to ingest gluten to get sick.

These are children. They are messy eaters. Crumbs end up on the table and kids don’t always watch where they put their food or hands down. Cross contamination happens. Little ones also share food without thinking that gluten is a hidden ingredient.

Sounds like a personal issue.

[Anonymous]

Some with celiac are sensitive even to crumbs. I would send with napkin and have DC get use to eating on that. Even before my DC was diagnosed, she would leave the room when I was baking. Just opening the bag of flour and having little bits of flour in the air bothered her. So yes, having kids eating sandwiches all around a child can cause issues.

[Anonymous]

I think a 504 is good for documentation...like in case of a substitute teacher.