school lunches

[Guest guest]

My son will be a senior in high school this year. We have been on the

diet for a little while. But I am concerned about what to do for

lunch this year. He doesn't like the idea of taking his own lunch

because that will bring attention to himself, which he doesn't want

It will make him seem different then all of the other kids. I can use

some help with this.

Thanks - Johhny's mom

[Guest guest]

If your school is on the federal school meals program (and most are),

and you have a medical practitioner who will sign a orm requiring the

diet, your son can receive gfcf meals at school at no extra cost.

Some schools are excellent about this, some aren't. Took me several

months to get this rolling where I live, but it's been worth it. Ask

the school cafeteria manager for the form. If he/she plays dumb, go

to the district office. This is not an IDEA issue; it's a

requirement from the USDA and just involves a completed form.

> My son will be a senior in high school this year. We have been on

the

> diet for a little while. But I am concerned about what to do for

> lunch this year. He doesn't like the idea of taking his own lunch

> because that will bring attention to himself, which he doesn't want

> It will make him seem different then all of the other kids. I can

use

> some help with this.

>

> Thanks - Johhny's mom

[Guest guest]

For younger kids, here is my school lunch idea page.

http://home.pacbell.net/cscomp/lunch.htm

For older kids who want to purchase the lunch " like the other kids " , I

would personally suggest you consider using enzymes. You can stay

gfcf at home, but knowing that your child will probably eat something

that is not gfcf while he is at school anyway, I think if you show him

how to determine which foods are probably only " mildly " not gfcf [for

example a piece of bread or roll, carton of milk, cream sauce, etc

would be definitely bad choices, but a hot dog, apple, or something

like that would be only " mildly " problematic, if at all], and then

give him enzymes to use while at school, that might be your best

option. For one, because he is almost an adult, he does need to learn

how to choose his own foods anyway. And second, being older means he

will probably eat a " forbidden " food anyway, so the enzymes would help

reduce any negative reaction.

You can learn more about different enzymes here

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enzymesandautism

The enzymes don't work for celiac tho, but so far as I understand it,

a celiac person who has been off gluten for a while, will probably

become sick if s/he eats gluten, so that may be enough incentive to

eat gf food.