Anyone have experience with Celiac Disease - Page 3

jessiehl · 07-09-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

I don't have much to add besides what has already been said, but one of my friends at school has to follow a gluten-free diet, does not have any special arrangements with the school (although they are offered to those with dietary needs - but she is independent and would rather handle it on her own) and manages it just fine. She eats most of her meals at the dining hall, too.

This might work for some people - people with Celiac's require different amounts/concentrations of gluten in order to cause a reaction - but I'd be VERY wary of suggesting it as general advice. A lot of people with Celiac's would be constantly ill and malnourished if they did this (in fact, I know one who was basically forced into this situation, because her dorm dining hall refused to accommodate her - this was years ago and they've since cleaned up their act - and despite her attempts to only eat the safe-seeming foods, she was constantly ill due to cross-contamination). I cannot imagine my boyfriend being willing to risk this if he were back in college. And having seen how little it takes to cause him to react, I wouldn't WANT him to risk it.

Also, I think the implication that anyone who makes arrangements with the school to accommodate a legitimate health issue is not "independent" is completely off base.

rodney · 09-11-2009, 10:50 AM

I am bumping this to revisit any colleges which were particularly accomodating this admissions year? Please post your experiences (good or bad)......

mathmom · 09-11-2009, 11:08 AM

We visited a number of cafeterias that had their offerings divided up into stations including wheat-free, vegan and vegetarian foods noted. (American seemed particularly friendly in this regard.)

rodney · 09-11-2009, 11:10 AM

mathmom: any that you particularly remembered? we've never seen that in our visits....

mathmom · 09-11-2009, 11:50 AM

The American one was particularly striking because I noticed wheat-free was labeled. Tufts had a similar arrangement I didn't notice if wheatfree things were labeled. I got the impression Brandeis might be similar with Kosher added as an option, but it was closed. They do have nutritional info about offerings on their website. I think you do better when there is one big cafeteria with stations than with a fastfood court type offerings.

rodney · 09-11-2009, 11:51 AM

Thank you....glad I asked; American is on junior D's list.....

MarinMom · 09-11-2009, 02:35 PM

Son's friend is a freshman at Chapman U. this fall. He has several allergies and needs to stick to a gluten-free diet. The dorm caterer has been incredibly accommodating. The caterer had stocked up on special ingredients for him before freshman orientation started and has been cooking his meals individually. Supposedly Loyolla Marymount uses the same caterer and is able to be similarly accommodating.

lonestarmom · 09-11-2009, 02:48 PM

A little off-topic, but just as an indication of how aware & accomondating universities are becoming--the ecumenical protestant chapel at Yale offers gluten-free communion bread!

KCBMOM · 09-18-2009, 03:02 PM

Speaking from experience you must be sure the dining services are able to fully satisfy a celiacs needs. Although we met with staff from Dining Services upon my daughters arrival this fall and were assured her needs would be met, it turned out that she was basically on her own. There were no specific "gluten free" entries. She could only check the weekly menu's on line where entrees where simply labeled "wheat free". However as anyone with celiac knows that is not enough...it must say Gluten Free. She had very few options, and was basically living off of care packages from home, which really can't adequately provide complete nutrition.

Sadly, due to the stress of of all of this coupled with her first time away from home, she was sick in less than two weeks and was basically forced to withdraw. In the week since she's been back we have been doing a lot of research and now see that there are SOME schools out there who REALLY get it. They provide GF breads, pasta's, pizza etc. One that looks very interesting to us is the University of New Hampshire. There are special refridgerators stocked with GF food, and the dining staff will cook special entries for GF students. There is also a nutritionist on campus who works directly with students with special dietary needs.

All in all, I guess we didn't ask enough of the right questions. We just assumed that when they said they would meet her needs they would do it. My only advise is to be sure you ask all of the questions you should, and be sure that they have specific GF options, not just steamed vegetables and salad!

If anyone out there has any other suggestions of schools in the Northeast that are Gluten Free I'd love the suggestions. For what it's worth the school I'm talking about was in Florida.

Lenore · 09-30-2009, 08:26 AM

UConn is fabulous. I have two kids who have Celiac - the younger one (not college age yet) attended a basketball program there over the summer and their head of dining services -- Dennis Pierce -- was completely accommodating and runs GF food stations all year round.

amtc · 09-30-2009, 09:02 AM

My girlfriends daughter has Celiac and she goes to U. Michigan with no problem at all.

mimk6 · 09-30-2009, 10:11 AM

My child did not have Celiac Disease but had another illness where many foods made her quite ill. She was not very successful with her dining hall situation which was small and not particularly accommodating. She moved off campus her senior year and felt better when she could shop and cook for herself. I think larger dining halls that are serving more people with special needs can probably provide more variety and make better accommodations.

rodney · 09-30-2009, 10:45 AM

update: Elon University Aramark has added gluten free baked goods (extensive list) to all dining halls...

keep this list coming......

hellojan · 09-30-2009, 07:32 PM

Budweiser makes a gluten-free beer now (it's called Redhouse). So, your son will be able to party!

CRL123 · 10-31-2009, 05:19 PM

My son has celiac disease and will also be going to college next fall. We have been touring schools. So far the worst school that we've toured for someone with celiac seems to be the University of Virginia. Even their hot dogs had wheat in them. University of Michigan was fabulous. Every semester they have a list of gluten free foods that they serve in the campus dining halls on their website. It is pages long. We ate in a dining hall when we were there and my son had a hamburger on a gf bun. They also offered gf pizza to us.

Lehigh University was also very accomodating. They had gf pasta and waffles and could tell us what was ok to eat in the dining hall.

Any college that receives federal funding has to provide gf food for a student with celiac disease so I'm sure that our kids will be able to eat something. It's just a matter of how good it is and how many choices they will have available to them.