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<p>Yep. This makes me sad. That a peanut butter sandwich could mean more than someone’s life, even IF it’s a stranger. The young folks we’ve had the privilege to meet over our kids’ college years would not have batted an eye at the thought of no peanut products in the dining hall, once the reasoning was given. They all like to go out to eat off campus anyway. ;-)</p>
<p>^There is another choice for these kids–attending a college where they can live at home or live off campus in an apartment with a kitchen all four years. That’s what I would do if this were my child. Maybe I’m cynical, but I would have a hard time putting my child’s life in the hands of hundreds or even thousands of people we didn’t know–the school administration, every member of the dining service staff, and a student body that has 25% new members every year.</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate. But not everyone knows your daughter or her condition. When they’re eating something with peanuts, they’re not thinking of someone else’s life-threatening condition. They are not equating a PB&J sandwich to be more important than a life. You can’t put that on a stranger when they simply did not know what they were doing or the extent of their actions.</p>
<p>I agree with sally’s Post 182. Rather than relying on thousands of strangers, take control of how much risk you put yourself in. Live in an apartment where you can cook your own food.</p>
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<p>This gets the young person a degree, but without the opportunity of having a real college life.</p>
<p>Students with almost every other disability can have a real college life. Blind students do it. Deaf students do it. Students with paraplegia or cerebral palsy or potentially life-threatening diseases like epilepsy or type 1 diabetes do it. I even know of an instance when a quadriplegic did it (with the assistance of an aide).</p>
<p>Should students with food allergies be the only ones who can’t?</p>
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<p>Some schools require a dining plan for all freshman. Upperclass may have the option of apt style, in which case you are correct…it is a good place for someone with a food allergy to be. People who have allergies walk a fine line everyday, and elimination of an allergen will NEVER be 100 percent safe, but it will cut down on accidental ingestion/reactions. If it’s not there, you can’t have a reaction. If it’s there in some products, but not others…eh, not so much. Then you are going to have to be just as cautious as if you knew the allergens were there. </p>
<p>It’s a hard road to walk. I am surprised and taken aback by the anger I feel in some posts.</p>
<p>“In a perfect world, it’d be great. But your daughter is a stranger to a “normal” kid and her well-being is not on their mind when they want a PB&J sandwich.”</p>
<p>This is pretty harsh, and I think a huge majority of kids would not feel that their PB&J is worth more than a human life. I do not really think you meant that.</p>
<p>Handicap-accessible bathroom stalls are generally inconvenient for people not bound by a wheel chair. Do we make all bathroom stalls handicap-accessible to accommodate a minority? Yes, if there is only one stall available, and no, if there is more than one. Using the same logic, we can make a conclusion about college dining halls. But… It is not a perfect analogy. A college with one and only dining hall is stuck between a rock and a hard place… Accommodate the kid with one type of allergy and unleash the angry reaction from the peanut eating majority as well as the other allergy sufferers OR do nothing and then get sued by the kid with the allergy? I’m sure the college’s legal advisory team has weighed the scenarios and made the recommendations.</p>
<p>"Some schools require a dining plan for all freshman. "</p>
<p>shellz, this is an argument with a flaw. A college certainly can make an exception to the rules…</p>
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That is not what I said.</p>
<p>True, Bunsen. But if the kid is living in freshman dorms, where will he eat? I know at our kids’ schools they had to live in the dorm. Or commute, which for some is not doable.</p>
<p>Marian…bless you.</p>
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<p>If the college also requires freshmen to live in the dorms and if the student doesn’t have (1) access to a readily available supermarket, (2) places to store both perishable and non-perishable foods where they won’t be exposed to other people’s food, and (3) a kitchen in which to prepare food in the dorm, just letting the student out of the dining plan requirement won’t be enough.</p>
<p>shellz, you could request an on campus apartment.</p>
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<p>Huh? If you mean in public facilities or gang bathrooms in college dorms, the accessible stalls are just larger and have grab bars around them; those not needing the extra space do not find them any more inconvenient than regular ones. But the larger size means that fewer of them can fit in one room than the number of regular stalls, which is why there may be only one in a given room.</p>
<p>“That is not what I said.” </p>
<p>N - at least two posters read it that way… It is not what you say, it is how the others perceive it - that’s what they teach future business leaders in business school.</p>
<p>“If the college also requires freshmen to live in the dorms…” </p>
<p>I’m sure that can be accommodated, too, by making an exception to the requirement.</p>
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<p>We are past that stage, D is a senior in her own on campus apt. I do know, however, that there is limited apt style living options at her particular school, and are impacted with upper classmen. It’s just not always feasible to get this kind of exception due to space availabilty.</p>
<p>I’m heading out to dinner now. All this talk of food and dining halls got to me. And since I am going out without the daughter, cashew chicken might just be on the menu.</p>
<p>Good night all.</p>
<p>@Bunsen That’s nice to know. Did they also teach you to follow up with what people say after they make a statement?</p>
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<p>An MBA is a requirement for CC membership? Since when?</p>
<p>ucb, no - in most public facilities I ever used handicap stalls, in addition to grab bars and wider doors, have toilets that are of a different height and the hooks to hang purses etc. that are positioned inconveniently for people of average heights and above (or sometimes these hooks are even absent!). The wider stall does not make up for it. But this is off topic. Let’s continue with accommodating medical issues of a minority vs inconveniencing the majority.</p>
<p>"An MBA is a requirement for CC membership? Since when? "</p>
<p>Marian, this was a comment addressed to N - I quoted his statement. In some other posts, as I recall, N expressed desire to study business. He also made the comment that some read as if he was valuing PB&J more than a human life. Then he complained about people misreading his post… I just put all of this together.</p>
<p>I’m studying what??</p>
<p>Bunsen, don’t they teach you in business school to relay accurate information? I didn’t say I valued a PB&J sandwich more than a life. Nor did I “complain” about people misunderstanding my post. Man, you’re on a roll with all this fabrication! </p>
<p>This is what I have said:
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<p>What college that claims to have a sincere interest in accommodating a student with this disability would not make an exception to the freshmen-must-live-in-dorms rule so that the student could minimize his or her risk? And what parent wouldn’t do all necessary research ahead of time to know what colleges would be most likely to be able to make these accommodations? There are many threads on this site about colleges that are known for integrating students with disabilities. Perhaps those are the schools the PA sufferers should focus on.</p>