After meeting with the school Principal and nurse about Gillian and her Celiac disease (more info on this post here), we agreed to an IEP for Gillian. They think they can take care of her needs in school without us having to go as far as getting a 504 plan, which she is eligible for under the “Americans with Disabilities Act“.

His argument was sound – we can take care of her needs now, immediately, instead of fighting the school board for a 504, which would probably go to court because Celiac falls into the grey area of the Act. The IHP is being written up right now. All teachers and staff she comes in contact with daily will be educated on her needs,  she’s going to be allowed to catch up on any work she misses while she’s in the bathroom at school (every day with IBS), the class parties will all be gluten-free, and the principal is researching what can be made for her safely in the school kitchen so that she can get the hot lunch that she’s entitled to without having to go so far as fighting for a 504.

Although I am very aware that this is a life-long disease and she needs to learn to handle it, she is eight years old, and we feel that moving her as slowly into a person totally responsible for her health is wearing on her. She’s beginning to show signs of OCD – worrying about food she’s been eating since she was diagnosed, and asking us repeatedly if it is gluten-free. In the desire to make her life as ‘normal’ as possible, we feel that educating the adults around her at school will bolster her confidence and help her to feel less isolated in her condition.

There are more and more restaurants that she can frequent that offer gluten-free options on their menus, and that means we don’t have to pack her food to eat out – she’s thrilled by ordering off a menu. Can you imagine?

Anyway, having the IEP in place will actually make it more difficult for us to pursue a 504 down the road should we choose to – but we felt that setting a precedent for children with Celiac was important, but getting Gillian support NOW was more important. We’ll take it as it comes.