My 61/2 Y.o. Behavior @ School

[krzsqrll]

My 6 1/2 y.o. son was dx w/ celiac a few months back-he's dealing with the celiac diet just fine.However,when he is at his dads house on the weekends he relies on his dad to help him with his special diet.Once in awhile his dad will mess up and gluten our son.So when i get him back on sunday late afternoon he will have a headache/belly ache/moody and be very irritable.Well- this past Monday at school (after being glutened by dad w/ blue cheese & spicy chicken wings from the freezer aisle) i got a call from the Vice Principle saying for me to come in a have a "talk"-Richard has said some horrible things to his teacher! So i went in. His teacher wrote down all the things Richard said that day that was really bad. "You have the smallest boobs in town" was one?! Calling his friends stupid-so on......

This sort of thing happened toward the end of last school year.Thats when his celiac hit its high i believe. I was getting calls left and right. When this happens i do explain to my son the rights and wrongs of his deed(s).He does get certain things taken away from him. However,with the celiac im wondering- how do other parents w/ children w/ celiac deal with school misbehaviours?? On one hand his big celiac symptom other than head/belly aches is his behaviour-anger-moodiness.Ive explained everything to the Principle/teacher and what happens to him when hes been "glutened" and so forth.Does anyone have any suggestions?Tips?experiences w/ this?? It would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. when i did explain to the vice principle the other day that he was glutened at dads house and came home with head/belly aches and his behavior at school was an indication to me that he was DEFINITLY glutened- she acted like she didnt care- Celiac is no excuse!!! Thats what i get from the vice principle!!

Frustrated in Maine...Tam

[ravenwoodglass]

My 6 1/2 y.o. son was dx w/ celiac a few months back-he's dealing with the celiac diet just fine.However,when he is at his dads house on the weekends he relies on his dad to help him with his special diet.Once in awhile his dad will mess up and gluten our son.So when i get him back on sunday late afternoon he will have a headache/belly ache/moody and be very irritable.Well- this past Monday at school (after being glutened by dad w/ blue cheese & spicy chicken wings from the freezer aisle) i got a call from the Vice Principle saying for me to come in a have a "talk"-Richard has said some horrible things to his teacher! So i went in. His teacher wrote down all the things Richard said that day that was really bad. "You have the smallest boobs in town" was one?! Calling his friends stupid-so on......

This sort of thing happened toward the end of last school year.Thats when his celiac hit its high i believe. I was getting calls left and right. When this happens i do explain to my son the rights and wrongs of his deed(s).He does get certain things taken away from him. However,with the celiac im wondering- how do other parents w/ children w/ celiac deal with school misbehaviours?? On one hand his big celiac symptom other than head/belly aches is his behaviour-anger-moodiness.Ive explained everything to the Principle/teacher and what happens to him when hes been "glutened" and so forth.Does anyone have any suggestions?Tips?experiences w/ this?? It would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. when i did explain to the vice principle the other day that he was glutened at dads house and came home with head/belly aches and his behavior at school was an indication to me that he was DEFINITLY glutened- she acted like she didnt care- Celiac is no excuse!!! Thats what i get from the vice principle!!

Frustrated in Maine...Tam

You are in a tough spot. Is there any way you can get the father to educate himself more on what he needs to feed your son? Could you pack safe meals for him to take with him and then Dad can just heat them up? It sounds like he is just not as educated on celiac as he needs to be, not that he is careless. Hopefully that is the case. But if he doesn't take the diet seriously maybe if you can bring him in to school for the talks with the teacher, even if it is only on a conference call perhaps that might help. He may not fully understand the impact is much more than just a tummy ache.

Meanwhile with the school, does he have an IEP in place? If he doesn't he should and as a diagnosed celiac he is entitled to be kept safe from CC and such and to have some accomodations made for his condition. Perhaps it would be possible to keep him home on the days when he is at his worst and they can send his work home for him to do. They could also have a aide that could work with him privately away from the other kids perhaps on those days. They should also be providing counseling with the school psychologist. This is another thing he is legally entitled to.

Lastly can you get Dad to visit here? He might be able to get a better understanding of stuff that way without feeling like you are 'lecturing' him. Sometimes our ex's just don't listen to us as well as they listen to every one else in the world. Especially when we're right.

[AMQmom]

My 7 year old daughter also responds to gluten via behavior. Fortunately, she saves her worst for us at home and not the school staff. She has had incidents with friends. She is a different person when she has gluten in her - as it sounds like your son is when he does. I went online and printed out several pages of info for the school teacher and principal. I assured them that it was my job to keep her safe at home, but they needed to be aware of their responsibilities within the school. All went well for us. I wish it was the same for you. Unfortunately, they do have to handle discipline in some way at school. I warned my daughter's teacher about her reaction(s) and advised her to treat her as you would a child with autistic or attention deficite traits - not that she has those! - just that she is not able to reason with logic when she is reacting. Here are some of the sites that I found helpful for information to give to school staff. I do, however, think that it is imperative that your whole family work to keep your son safe from gluten (from being "branded" or "labeled" at school to having life-lasting physical consequences). My daughter already has two auto-immune diseases - be careful for your son.

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[krzsqrll]

You are in a tough spot. Is there any way you can get the father to educate himself more on what he needs to feed your son? Could you pack safe meals for him to take with him and then Dad can just heat them up? It sounds like he is just not as educated on celiac as he needs to be, not that he is careless. Hopefully that is the case. But if he doesn't take the diet seriously maybe if you can bring him in to school for the talks with the teacher, even if it is only on a conference call perhaps that might help. He may not fully understand the impact is much more than just a tummy ache.

Meanwhile with the school, does he have an IEP in place? If he doesn't he should and as a diagnosed celiac he is entitled to be kept safe from CC and such and to have some accomodations made for his condition. Perhaps it would be possible to keep him home on the days when he is at his worst and they can send his work home for him to do. They could also have a aide that could work with him privately away from the other kids perhaps on those days. They should also be providing counseling with the school psychologist. This is another thing he is legally entitled to.

Lastly can you get Dad to visit here? He might be able to get a better understanding of stuff that way without feeling like you are 'lecturing' him. Sometimes our ex's just don't listen to us as well as they listen to every one else in the world. Especially when we're right.

Sorry for the ignorance but what is an IEP?? Thanks-Tam

[ravenwoodglass]

Sorry for the ignorance but what is an IEP?? Thanks-Tam

An IEP is an individual education plan. It is a federal mandate that falls under the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation we have. The schools are required by law to make sure that he is kept as safe as possible while he is in school and will also address the need for counseling in school to address the behavioral issues that he is experienceing. When he is glutened he is basically not in full control and the counseling can help him learn to recognize when the 'gluten him' is present and be able to better deal with it. The schools are legally required to make sure that art materials, a school lunch choice and in class items for his use are gluten free. The IEP will also help to educate his teachers on how to keep him safe but not leave him feeling different. For example a teacher who usually treats the kids with cookies would need to make sure there was something available for him also. You might need to bring in a bag of treats to be kept on hand for such occasions or the teacher might choose to bring in fruit or another cleared item instead. If they are doing a cooking project he would be provided with gluten free choices or be allowed to do another activity somewhere else. You should talk to the principal and/or the school nurse to get the ball rolling on this. When you go in to talk to them do bring a copy of the diagnosis from the doctors office. Many times all they will need is the diagnosis written on a prescription pad or perhaps faxed to them from the doctor office. I am of course assuming you are in the US.

[krzsqrll]

An IEP is an individual education plan. It is a federal mandate that falls under the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation we have. The schools are required by law to make sure that he is kept as safe as possible while he is in school and will also address the need for counseling in school to address the behavioral issues that he is experienceing. When he is glutened he is basically not in full control and the counseling can help him learn to recognize when the 'gluten him' is present and be able to better deal with it. The schools are legally required to make sure that art materials, a school lunch choice and in class items for his use are gluten free. The IEP will also help to educate his teachers on how to keep him safe but not leave him feeling different. For example a teacher who usually treats the kids with cookies would need to make sure there was something available for him also. You might need to bring in a bag of treats to be kept on hand for such occasions or the teacher might choose to bring in fruit or another cleared item instead. If they are doing a cooking project he would be provided with gluten free choices or be allowed to do another activity somewhere else. You should talk to the principal and/or the school nurse to get the ball rolling on this. When you go in to talk to them do bring a copy of the diagnosis from the doctors office. Many times all they will need is the diagnosis written on a prescription pad or perhaps faxed to them from the doctor office. I am of course assuming you are in the US.

First- thanks for such a fast reply! I did have a school meeting this afternoon w/ principle/his teacher/counselor and a behavioral tech. This is the first one we've had. I did give them a dx on paper from his specialist.At least now i know its required by school law...good stuff to know. We're from Maine. Richard did have a great day today!! Whewwww!

Thanks again-Tam

[ravenwoodglass]

First- thanks for such a fast reply! I did have a school meeting this afternoon w/ principle/his teacher/counselor and a behavioral tech. This is the first one we've had. I did give them a dx on paper from his specialist.At least now i know its required by school law...good stuff to know. We're from Maine. Richard did have a great day today!! Whewwww!

Thanks again-Tam

I hope the meeting was productive. Glad he is feeling better today. It is amazing how 'Jekell and Hyde' we can be when 'under the influence'. I also find it surprising how quickly it can pass as long as we are not reglutened.