celiac disease And College

[debi4956]

I am a Mom of a 17 year old newly diagnosed celiac disease and she will be off to

college this coming Fall..Well, needless to say we are overwhelmed. We live in

Illinois and I'm sure Brit will be staying close. We are a very close Mom and

Daughter team and her going off to college was a teary-eyed subject before the

diagnosis. Now, this has added another issue to the "you'll be ok" subject.

She is very bright and now a fun-loving, free spirit again. I can not believe

the change in one month off the gluten. She was in so much pain with her belly

for so long it changed her whole personality. But, thank goodness "SHE"S

BACK" and we can forget about the past..But, oh the future. I have read your

article on "preparing a celiac for college" and it was really great info. Now, I

need to put it all to work. I really wish I could find more celiac disease kids that

will be attending the same college (which at this point we are still trying to

figure out). It would be great if somehow we could post somewhere a list of our

kids colleges and see if we couldn't try to hook kids up at least for

support system while at school.Have any ideas how to do that? Maybe a website for

celiac disease's and college names and then you could respond to those emails? I don't

know but, I think that would help Brit..Well, I need to go. This new phase in

our life has me running to 3 different grocery store and if takes a lot of time

to read the labels. But, we will survive and seeing Brit smile again makes

it all worth it..I'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas or any other

articles about college that you can send

[cgilsing]

Hi Debi!

I am also from Illinois although I am now out of college (and was not diagnosed until after college). I graduated from Illinois State in Bloomington 3 years ago though and I know a lot about the area (my in-laws live there and we visit regularly) I'm originally from Decatur (Millikin University), and I now live in east-central Illinois and visit Champaign (U of I) and Charleston (EIU) regularly. There are several good health food stores and resturants (Biaggi's (in Bloomington and Champain) has a GREAT gluten-free menu, but may not be on a college budget for day to day eating) that cater to people with celiac disease in the area. If you ever have any questions about good places to go or where to find certain items feel free to PM me. Hopefully I will be able to help! Oh....and I don't know if you want to tell her, but I know a great place to find gluten-free beer in Champaign!

[elonwy]

You could also contact the nutritionists at the campuses you are looking to apply to. Every campus has one, and where they may not have all the answers, or even all the right ones, they'll usually have some idea or be willing to do the research. I work at a college campus, and the nutritionist here was pretty helpful, and I think learned a bit from helping me find answers. She also mentioned that many kids here have Celiac here, so it might give you an idea if she'll have any Celiac buddies.

Elonwy

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I am in college and go to two different Atlanta and outside of Atlanta support groups. I haven't found anyone on campus, yet, with Celiacs but I find regular support groups helpful and fun when we go out to eat!

[REBECCA ZABORSKI]

I am a Mom of a 17 year old newly diagnosed celiac disease and she will be off to

college this coming Fall..Well, needless to say we are overwhelmed. We live in

Illinois and I'm sure Brit will be staying close. We are a very close Mom and

Daughter team and her going off to college was a teary-eyed subject before the

diagnosis. Now, this has added another issue to the "you'll be ok" subject.

She is very bright and now a fun-loving, free spirit again. I can not believe

the change in one month off the gluten. She was in so much pain with her belly

for so long it changed her whole personality. But, thank goodness "SHE"S

BACK" and we can forget about the past..But, oh the future. I have read your

article on "preparing a celiac for college" and it was really great info. Now, I

need to put it all to work. I really wish I could find more celiac disease kids that

will be attending the same college (which at this point we are still trying to

figure out). It would be great if somehow we could post somewhere a list of our

kids colleges and see if we couldn't try to hook kids up at least for

support system while at school.Have any ideas how to do that? Maybe a website for

celiac disease's and college names and then you could respond to those emails? I don't

know but, I think that would help Brit..Well, I need to go. This new phase in

our life has me running to 3 different grocery store and if takes a lot of time

to read the labels. But, we will survive and seeing Brit smile again makes

it all worth it..I'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas or any other

articles about college that you can send

Hi, I have the same fears as you. My son is also 17 and recently diagnosed with celiac. We too are looking for colleges and live in IL. We are in Chicago and the idea of him living on campus makes me a bit nervous.

[LqrMan]

Open Original Shared Link

Read that post as well for info. I am too lazy to re-write what I said in there. However, a good school will work with you to the best of their ability. My small college was able to keep me fed for 4 years and I am very appreciative. Make sure you contact the food service manager for any school you are considering and go from there! Good luck!

[Celiacsdoitglutenfree]

I am a 19 year old college student, and got diagnosed with Celiac disease while in college. Only about 3 months ago to be exact. It was tough being 1,100 miles frome home, having to cook my own meals and figure out through trial and error what worked and what didnt. BUt i made it through that semester, and have learned so much from it (via cooking and eating out). My school (and I am told all schools do) have commitment to peparing special meals for allergy sensative students. When I told my school about my Celiac Disease they said that I could sit down and have a meeting with the cooks telling them my needs and how they can best serve me (because that is what they are their to do... and if they dont the school will be in VERY BIG trouble). I didnt end up doing that because I felt more comfortable making my own food in my own litttle dorm room on hot plates. Plus all my family and friends were giving me cooking ideas and sending me yummy food. I think your daughter will be very prepared, especially with all your gluten free foods you will be sending with her. Of course it will always be comforting and fairly easy for her to return home on a weekend if shes had a rough week. That was never an option for me, so Im sure with the loving support group, and the school cooks... she'll be all set.

[debi4956]

Hi Debi!

I am also from Illinois although I am now out of college (and was not diagnosed until after college). I graduated from Illinois State in Bloomington 3 years ago though and I know a lot about the area (my in-laws live there and we visit regularly) I'm originally from Decatur (Millikin University), and I now live in east-central Illinois and visit Champaign (U of I) and Charleston (EIU) regularly. There are several good health food stores and resturants (Biaggi's (in Bloomington and Champain) has a GREAT gluten-free menu, but may not be on a college budget for day to day eating) that cater to people with celiac disease in the area. If you ever have any questions about good places to go or where to find certain items feel free to PM me. Hopefully I will be able to help! Oh....and I don't know if you want to tell her, but I know a great place to find gluten-free beer in Champaign!

Hi..I am so sorry it took me so long to write back..I have not checked this site for a while..But, so happens we went to Illinois Wesleyan for a audition with Brit on Saturday and we are waitng to hear from them. it will not be for about 4-6 weeks, But, I will get back with you if IW is the place she decides on. Thanks so much..It is great to have a person who knows the area..Her other choices are Butler and Northwestern! Thanks again, DEB

[cgilsing]

Good luck with your application to IW! It is a great school, and the fact that it is smaller than many of the state schools will probably be to your benifit in regards to celiac disease. Plus I am partial to universities in the Bloomington/Normal area . I echo everyone else when I say that you should talk to whichever school she is accepted to about her dietary concerns. They will will most likely be willing to make concessions for her needs!

[swimmerchic]

Hi,

I just thought that I would give a little reply---I was diagnosed at 17, and have succesfully survived living in a dorm and univeristy...the whole time surviving on a gluten free diet! The dining hall chefs are usually wonderful cooks who will sit down with students who have special dietary needs and make sure that they are eating. Coooking on your own provides you with a lot more choice and you learn to be creative with the basics of food---and you definitely learn to eat well. There are some "quick meals" i.e stick whatever from the package in the microwave and cook em up if you look hard enough in the grocery store. As well another thing that has helped me survive is cooking as much as I can when i am at home...i.e chicken, hamburger, spaghetti sauce, etc and freezing it and bringing it to school with me...it is so much easier to microwave that stuff and eat it---and I eat alot better cause it is like having a micrwave dinner...very little effort required (except when you cook it all at home!). I have only cheated on the diet once in my whole school career....st.patricks day of my first year...at some point i decided that green beer was the coolest thing ever and had a drink of it (i learned that one the hard way!)..." lol Tell your daughter best of luck and i would love to post some some recipes that i have found that are "easy college friendly ideas!"

[wlawn]

Debi, where can I get the article on "preparing a celiac for college" ? Our son will be going to college in September and we are looking for some good information to prepare him and us.

Thanks.

Bill

[dd6444]

I'm going to be attending the university of hartford in the fall. My dad called up the college and found out that I can probably get an on campus apartment (usually reserved for upper classmen) that has a kitchen, so I can make my own food. They also have a nutritionist I think, so it should all work out. My biggest concern is my roommate. If I have a jerk of a roommate he might cross contaminate things and it wouldnt be very cool.

[munchkinette]

I agree with checking the individual colleges. I started at one college with a central dining hall. Pasta was the default food when everything else looked gross. This would not be a good environment.

I transferred to a different school after a few years. (Mills College in California) Most dorms had individual meal halls, although there was one main cafeteria. One dorm/dining hall had all the people with special needs. A classmate had severe diabetes and some other stuff that required her to get specific foods. They made her breakfast every day. A few other girls who had special dietary needs lived in that same dorm. I have no idea what options are available where you live, but unfortunately this was a private school (with lots of financial aid available).

Some colleges also have student apartments. They are usually available to juniors and seniors first, but you might look into that for special diets. They have their own kitchens. My brother went to a large public university that had this option (UC San Diego). And actually, public schools (at least in CA) have to comply with a number of disability/accessibility regulations, so they might actually have more options.

[jeanette1978]

Hello,

I was looking through this website because I'll be visiting U of I in Champaign later this year. I actually attended school there but before I knew I had Celiacs.

If you happen to read this, can you let me know some restaurants or bars that understand what Celiacs is? Oh - and if you can tell me where you got the gluten-free beer - that would be GREAT!

Jeanette