Graduate School Reasearch In Education

[hwaters34]

Hi All-

New to the site. I'm a Silly Yak (yahoo member). I'm 36, a celiac (dx 0ct 03) and have 4 kids, two with celiac disease.

I'm a teacher who is in grad school and am gathering my own research on celiac disease and school.

Q: How does the gluten free diet effect children's feelings about school? (But from the kids perspective--not the parents!!)

I'll be posting questions, and looking for kids to keep a "feeling" log during school in the near future--but I'm looking to see if people will be willing to help. I'll take all ages, including college.

Has anyone seen research focused on school from the kids perspective? I've been searching and have yet to find a close link. e-celiacs.org has an art on celiac disease in kids--but not hard facts stuff.

Thanks in advance for anyone willing to help. When the time comes, a letter from my school advisory board will be included--just saying that I'm for real.

Heather

[MySuicidalTurtle]

That is really interesting to think about. How did you come up with this topic? Is it from your own chidren since 2 have Celiacs and two don't?

I would think the answers would really vary depending on when the child was diagnosed. I was diagnosed my senior year of High School (and am now a sophmore in college) and am sure that the feelings I feel about school and Celiacs are very different from those of someone diagnosed when they were a baby or very young. When younger kids get diagnosed I am so happy because they won't remember how life was when they ate gluten (taste and pain -wise) as much as adults do.

I am sure you will find people willing to help you. Good luck!

Kristina

[hwaters34]

Thanks for your response!

The topic is close to home--obviously. I want to share celiac disease with teachers in the field, and this will do it (my class will know more!). Also, as a parent who is celiac disease and who has celiac disease I go through different problem solving techniques when thinking out being out of the house for long periods (like when a meal will be eaten). To take care of myslef, I don't stress so much. I know I can always eat a baked potato or dry salad (yum, I know--but I won't pass out). With the kids, (mine are young, 4 and 6 w/celiac disease) it consumes my thoughts because they depend on me to take care of it while we are out. And, they are not going to eat a salad or bp!!

I also feel, as a parent, one of my main responsibilties is to feed my kids (you know, the basics: food, clothing shelter). Simple! I think about gluten free all the time when they are out of the house. I want to now how much are they really thinking about it.

I've been thinking about homeschooling my kids too. I want them to love learning and I want to see if celiac disease is taking fun out of learning because school and gluten-free are not always easy.

Thanks for your time,

Heather

[celiac3270]

I agree--the opinions are going to vary. For myself, though: I've always liked school, always tried extremely hard and been the top of my class...basically no problems or aversion to education here . I don't think the celiac necessarily affects a person's perspective on school, but you might feel a little left out.....(w/ food and all)

[KaitiUSA]

I've always liked school too. I loved high school and now I love college. Not even the gluten-free diet changed it. I'm sure answers will very though

Good luck with research

[hwaters34]

I think they will vary--but I think it will be interesting/helpful to see the factors that contribute. I might find something that can help parents and kids who are having a difficult time!

Heather

[Merika]

Hi Heather,

There is a book, available on this site and amazon I think, called "personal stories on celiac disease" or something. It is 3 page stories by all sorts of people on how they got diagnosed and their reactions and whatnot. There is a chapter written by people diagnosed as kids, and another chapter written by people diagnosed as teenagers. Very different stories in the two chapters. You may want to check it out.

Merika

[FaithInScienceToo]

I believe the book the previous poster is refering to is entitled, "A Personal Touch On... Celiac Disease (The #1 Misdiagnosed Intestinal Disorder),"

by Berlin, Stone.

Best wishes with your research,

Gina

[angel-jd1]

Several of us that post on this board are in that book (just a side note).

-Jessica

[hwaters34]

Ahh--yes-I know the book. I wanted to write my "story" but was slow moving to do so.

Thanks!

Great advice!!!!

Heather

[hwaters34]

Hi All--I meet (again) with my professor after class and he says it is a no-going with my cliac research. He thinks there is not enough there to "learn" from the project. He thinks I could write it without research. Hmm--maybe some of it...

Thank you to all who said they'd help!

Heather

[dreamhouses]

Hi Heather, I was so excited about your research project till I got to the last post about your professor not supporting it!! I'm wondering if you are in the psych dept. or med school or what. I guess that would change how appropriate the research would be. Despite his/her response I think its really cool that you are channeling your energy and thoughts on celiac into what you may be able to study. Maybe you could just re-package it a bit for the professor. Could widening the topic a bit to include other health issues be to your advantage? Like maybe comparing the effects of several different health issues which change specific ways that kids are able to function in the school situation. Maybe a hypothesis that deals asks how health issues affect a childs self concept, and assesses how much support or lack of support they need to compensate for that. A lot of that seems to be uncharted territory in the research area. From what I can tell there really isn't much of a format for educators to rely on in helping students cope with these types of health issues. Lots of strategies and laws now cover various learning disabiliites, but the health issues can also impair kids learning situations because of the additional pressure it puts on them. I can tell by your enthusiasm on is that you really have something to offer with this type of work even if this doesn't turn out to be the place. Good luck, and keep up your creative thinking. Dreamhouses

[Holly04]

Gluten-Free + School = No Fun

I'm Holly [Age 13] and I don't really like being gluten-free at school. I get frustrated when they see other people eating gluten. I'm not saying I would cheat. But every single day I think, 'What if I just took one little bite of that pizza' or 'Maybe just a taste of that breaded chicken'. But I know I can't and I know the result. Not good. But you know- there are some people who try to hide their food so it doesn't make me feel bad; some who don't care what I think; some who don't know I have Celiac; and some who rub it in your face. None of the above are good. Sometimes I wish I never I had Celiac.

One of the science teachers in my school does have Celiac. I've talked to him but its not really any help because he says he cheats all the time. And thats obviously not good. He is the only other person I have talked to face to face who has it and he said he was diagnosed when he was about 40. No help.

In my opinion- I hate being gluten-free around other people. (Except my family)

And I am getting pretty tired of answering "Celiac Disease? Whats that?" or "Eww you have a disease. Get away"