Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Gluten-free Meal Options in College

Excerpt from: Law Office of Matthew Stoloff (click for full article)

 

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a food allergy may constitute a disability. When a person has an allergy or autoimmune response to certain food, it can affect “the major life activity of eating and the major bodily functions of the immune, digestive, bowel, and neurological systems.”

When students with celiac disease were unable to find gluten-free meal options at any of the dining facilities at their private university, Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, they filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice and Lesley University entered into a Settlement Agreement requiring that Lesley University provide gluten-free and allergen-free food options in its dining halls.

In the settlement agreement, Lesley University acknowledges that it is a public accommodation and must “make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when the modifications are necessary to afford goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities…”

Questions and Answers About the Lesley University Agreement and Potential Implications for Individuals with Food Allergies

Excerpt from: ADA.gov (click for full article)

 

On December 20, 2012, the Justice Department entered into an agreement with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to ensure that its students with celiac disease and other food allergies can fully and equally enjoy the university's food services in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Lesley University previously required all students living on campus to participate in, and pay for, its meal service plan – even if some students with severe allergies could not eat the food available through the plan without risk of illness. Under the Agreement, Lesley has made modifications to its meal plan to allow students with food allergies to take advantage of its food services. The Agreement also requires Lesley to consider exempting from its mandatory plan students who cannot, because of disability, take full advantage of the University's meal service plan.

Allergies as disabilities

Excerpt from: Las Vegas Review Journal (click for full article)

 

Have a food allergy? Congratulations. The Justice Department says you can be considered disabled.

Food allergies are no laughing matter. Some people wind up hospitalized if they're exposed to even the smallest amounts of peanuts, shellfish or other foods. They quickly learn to take great precautions and ask lots of questions about food they haven't prepared themselves.

But a recent federal settlement with a Massachusetts college does far more than give students with food allergies more power in obtaining suitable food choices. It says food allergies can be considered a disability, creating all-new potential liabilities under yet-to-be-determined "reasonable accommodation" mandates for restaurants, caterers and schools that serve food.

Allergies, extra weight tied to bullying

Excerpt from: The Oakland Press (click for full article)

 

Kids who have food allergies or are overweight may be especially likely to get bullied by their peers, two new studies suggest.

Not surprisingly, researchers also found targets of bullying were more distressed and anxious and had a worse quality of life, in general, than those who weren’t picked on.

Bullying has become a concern among parents, doctors and school administrators since research and news stories emerged linking bullying - including online “cyberbullying” - with depression and even suicide.

“There has been a shift and people are more and more recognizing that bullying has real consequences, it’s not just something to be making jokes about,” said Dr. Mark Schuster, chief of general pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who wrote a commentary published with the new research.