Baking / Teachers And School

[shayesmom]

I like your two modes. I was also a teacher and tried to see it through her eyes. We decided that she, as my daughter put it, 'just doesn't get it.' The day after Thanksgiving she asked if it was ok to give my daughter chocolate that she bought for the class even though it said 'that it may contain gluten' on the label. I told her it wasn't and reminded her that the school does not allow food sharing or candy. She said, "but I don't want her to look different than the other kids. How about I give it to her and then she doesn't eat it. She can give it to you later?" I think this teacher is having all sorts of trouble with making sensible decisions and I am not the only dissatisfied parent. We have a meeting with the head of the school next week. Wish me luck.

Wow. Not only is she not "getting" it, she apparently doesn't want to try either. Wow. It must be difficult going through life with such a rigidly set perspective.

It's also interesting to see how she justifies keeping her world in order. So much for "independent thinking" on her part. I suppose that there just isn't an acceptable alternative in her view? Is it that she just can't be bothered with all of this or she's of a generation who thinks that Celiac is really a bogus disease because food cannot possibly affect people so negatively? (I've met these kinds of people and they don't "get it" because they don't want to get it).

I do wish you luck with the meeting. I hope that you gently remind the educators there that they WILL be seeing more and more Celiac students in the near future. As painful as it may be, they'd be better served addressing this issue now than waiting for future legal action from families that will not be so tolerant when their child's rights are repeatedly violated.

And if it helps, there was a bill moving through the House and Senate dealing with food allergies/intolerances. If the bill passes, standards will be set in how to deal with food allergies/intolerance in schools and those schools who meet the standards would be eligible for extra federal funding. At that point, this teacher's continued resistance to accommodate a disability would negatively affect her school's bottom line.

Truly, good luck with this and keep us posted on how it goes.

[StacyA]

And if it helps, there was a bill moving through the House and Senate dealing with food allergies/intolerances. If the bill passes, standards will be set in how to deal with food allergies/intolerance in schools and those schools who meet the standards would be eligible for extra federal funding.

Do you have any more info on this, or a link?

[shayesmom]

Do you have any more info on this, or a link?

Here's a link which outlines the bills in question: Open Original Shared Link

From what I am reading, the bills still are not out of Committee so they haven't been discussed on the floor. Probably would be a good idea for everyone here to contact their local Congressman to push this along.

[strawberrygm]

first off, i want to second the praises everyone is sending your daughter! she is being very responsible standing up for herself. i completley understand how hard this is for her, my daughter was diagnosed the summer before 5th grade, so we have been right there!

this thought kept popping in my head....

if this teacher is so sure that baking is an irreplacable part of her teaching that she simply cannot part with, then her entire classroom kitchen must be gluten free. not just a substitute for your daughter, but everything that everyone has must be gluten free. it nixes the chance of cross contamination, it nixes the worry that your daughter will be left out, it teaches the teacher and the children about food allergies. she must give you the money to go out and purchase the items she needs for the baking class, or at the very least let you approve all items before they ever hit the classroom. if another child in the classroom has a nut allergy, or soy allergy, or any allergy, then all items must also meet those requirements as well.

yes, i realize that this isnt a "real world" suggestion. but since she doesnt seem to live in the real world, maybe this will work in her world.

i also wonder after a month of purchasing all allergen safe foods for the entire class how her pocketbook will feel and if she keeps it up??

[seezee]

I wanted to thank everyone for their great feedback. It really made me feel better.

To follow up, we had a meeting today with the director and he plans to work with the school nurse to create and implement a policy to enforce the existing no food sharing rule. He felt it would benefit everyone at the school and my daughter certainly isn't the only kid who has to have a special diet for medical reasons. He completely understood why I was so upset and agreed.