Celiac Disease Discrimination

[MissyJoy]

I for one am very proud of you! This is your own personal battle, but we are all rooting for you! And you are setting a good example for the rest of us. Thank you.

[KSUmarlow04]

THANK YOU everyone for your support. I checked this website everyday because it gave me the courage to keep arguing.

Although I got my exemption, I have not gotten my refund yet. I will keep an eye on that and call in a few days if it doesnt show up. My mom and I are going to whole foods for a gluten free food shopping spree when I get my money back!

I also wanted to let everyone know that the University newspaper contacted me about doing an article on the difficulties I had with getting the exemption. They are calling me tomorrow morning (8/13) for a phone interview and my article is going to be in the first issue of the school year which I will post on here for everyone to see! I do not want this article to be bashing the school for what they put me through but rather an opportunity to raise awareness to the community at KSU. Although my school paper only reaches the 20,000 people who attend KSU, I still feel a sense of accomplishment and will have pride in the article.

Thanks again and I cant wait for everyone to read my article next week!

[jerseyangel]

Wow--good going and congratulations!! I'm so glad they finally did the right thing.

[Mskedi]

FINAL UPDATE: I DID IT!!

Awesome! Hopefully you've set a precedent so that other people with Celiacs or allergies will not have to go through all the trouble you did.

I look forward to reading that article.

[Takala]

I also look forward to reading it.

[ravenwoodglass]

I am so glad this has turned out well for you. I was appalled at what they were trying to do to you. When my DD entered college in Mass in 2004 not only did they excempt her from the meal plan they even put her in senior housing so she would have her own kitchenette. Silly me thought all colleges would be as accomodating. You showed a lot of strength in fighting so hard for your rights, you should be proud of yourself for that. I hope your last semester goes well and I look forward to reading the article.

[RESO]

I keep seeing these abbreviations, dd, ds, dh... I guess the second letter is daughter, son, husband? But what is this first d? darling? doofus? dear? deer? dainty? deliberate? disconcerting? Thanks if someone can explain.

[Ahorsesoul]

I am so proud of you for standing up for yourself. I think you will find that this will be a building block that will help you all your life! I hope the paper will let you share your story with this board.

RESO, the "d" can stand for all of those (or others) depending on how well you like the person that day. lol

usually stands for "darling" in my circle.

This site has a good listing for reference:

Open Original Shared Link

[KSUmarlow04]

HERE IT IS!!

My article came out last night (8/18) and I have already gotten a phone call from another student who was denied an exemption and she is allergic to several things such as seafood and nuts.

Enjoy the article! I know I did!

Open Original Shared Link

Thank you again everyone!

[JillianLindsay]

Way to go! I enjoyed it I'm a senior psych student also.

Enjoy your gluten-free food this semester,

Jillian

HERE IT IS!!

My article came out last night (8/18) and I have already gotten a phone call from another student who was denied an exemption and she is allergic to several things such as seafood and nuts.

Enjoy the article! I know I did!

Open Original Shared Link

Thank you again everyone!

[jerseyangel]

Very nice!!!

[NicoleAJ]

Well done! More must be done to make universities aware of the need for accommodating celiacs--even if that accommodation consists of an exemption from dining services. I'm really skeptical about their supposed understanding of cross contamination. Just because you can see them cook the food doesn't mean that there's nothing in it, the pans, the utensils, the cutting boards, etc that isn't gluten free. In the early days of my diagnosis, I would watch my mother-in-law cook something for me and then would get violently ill--seeing is not believing that it's completely free of gluten.

[KSUmarlow04]

Update: Well I graduated from KSU in December and I am going on to graduate school next month.

As for the meal plan, I dont think I made too big of an impression because the school is still not allowing exemptions. I had a lot of people call/email me and say they were having the same problem. One girl got an exemption last semester after a great deal of effort only to find out that she would have to put up the same fight this semester. They didnt exempt her again!

I was proud of myself until I found out that they were only giving me the exemption to shut me up. They really dont understand the disease, nor do that have any sympathy for the students.

[Takala]

Update: Well I graduated from KSU in December and I am going on to graduate school next month.

As for the meal plan, I dont think I made too big of an impression because the school is still not allowing exemptions. I had a lot of people call/email me and say they were having the same problem. One girl got an exemption last semester after a great deal of effort only to find out that she would have to put up the same fight this semester. They didnt exempt her again!

I was proud of myself until I found out that they were only giving me the exemption to shut me up. They really dont understand the disease, nor do that have any sympathy for the students.

___________

Congratulations on your graduation, and for at least setting a precedent so that other students know that they can beat down the doors of ignorance.

[jerseyangel]

Update: Well I graduated from KSU in December and I am going on to graduate school next month.

Congratulations!

Thanks for the update--frustrating, though, that they still don't get it.

[AKcollegestudent]

I'm in the middle of something similar at my school--thanks for at least giving me an example to follow.

[DownWithGluten]

I sat here reading this thread and am just appalled/shocked at the ridiculousness of it. Forcing you to pay for something that can harm you when they are not willing to accommodate or pay for the medical bills. That's just terrible.

Good job for getting them to revoke your mandate, even if you don't feel it started a revolution or anything. You still made somewhat of a point, and stood up for yourself and didn't just allow them to get away with it for you. So, good job. I'll read your article later!

This thread makes me angry, though, for what they were trying to force. Jerks.