I’ve had celiac disease since I was
seven years old it all started one day
in second grade when I was at the
doctor’s office the doctor who saves my
brother and me was saying how she
thought we had celiac celiac or celiac
disease is when you can’t have gluten
which is the protein found in wheat rye
barley and malt I was starting to get
worried I could feel my heart thumping
in my chest I found out that gluten was
in a lot of my favorite foods and as the
doctor was saying to my mom celiac is
something you couldn’t grow out of like
you could with an allergy so my parents
scheduled us to get our blood drawn to
see if we had it finally sometime in the
winter they got the results back saying
that we did there were some things that
I had never really thought about that I
seen your legs were gonna be a challenge
for example my lunches they’d have to be
packed differently kids at school or
other places would sometimes make fun
and put my food because it looked
different or to them disgusting you know
what is that does your mom make you eat
that they would say they weren’t
necessarily trying to be mean or hurt my
feelings but it didn’t really feel good
birthday parties are hard I was invited
to go to one and I really wanted to go
there was only one problem all the food
there hi cool Internet mom said I could
bring something else that was good and
free but what if someone made fun of me
I thought I didn’t want anybody to see
my food so I hid it under the table at
the whole time
going out to eat was hard because I
couldn’t go to my favorite places
anymore like Wendy’s but then I tried
thinking from a different perspective I
realized that celiac isn’t a reason for
me to be afraid or hide my fig that I
could be bold and just face things one
thing that helped me start thinking
differently was when I went to
Children’s Hospital event where I
learned a lot about celiac for example I
learned that your small intestine is
like a tiny finger shaped tissues called
villi if a person who has celiac disease
is gluten they will either flatten out
test no lighting is damaged when this
happens it decreases the area that can
absorb nutrients now after learning
about my problem I started taking little
steps towards feeling comfortable with
it
my family started finding gluten-free
recipes some from friends some that we
have been and some that weren’t actually
good and free that we had already had I
found that when you have a problem
getting support can help you a lot and
for me that meant meeting other people
who had had celiac disease and knew had
that could be a big change for example
our friend Lindsey she gave us kitchen
supplies that had never been
contaminated with gluten and foods we
could eat now after all this I celebrate
the AI of celiac in that I eat different
foods celiac doesn’t feel like a disease
it’s just me have you ever had an away
from something I’m assuming if I asked
everybody in this room you would
probably all be saying yes that’s why I
think this lesson is important for
everyone if you ever find yourself in
one of those situations you can try
using some of the things I use to help
me to be bold and just face things I
learned more about my problem I took
little steps towards feeling comfortable
with it I got some support and finally I
celebrated it here’s the part I would
like to share with you from Nadia
Comaneci a five-time Olympic gold
medalist who is only 15 when she won her
first medal I don’t run away from a
challenge because I’m afraid instead I
went towards it thank you for listening [Applause]
seven years old it all started one day
in second grade when I was at the
doctor’s office the doctor who saves my
brother and me was saying how she
thought we had celiac celiac or celiac
disease is when you can’t have gluten
which is the protein found in wheat rye
barley and malt I was starting to get
worried I could feel my heart thumping
in my chest I found out that gluten was
in a lot of my favorite foods and as the
doctor was saying to my mom celiac is
something you couldn’t grow out of like
you could with an allergy so my parents
scheduled us to get our blood drawn to
see if we had it finally sometime in the
winter they got the results back saying
that we did there were some things that
I had never really thought about that I
seen your legs were gonna be a challenge
for example my lunches they’d have to be
packed differently kids at school or
other places would sometimes make fun
and put my food because it looked
different or to them disgusting you know
what is that does your mom make you eat
that they would say they weren’t
necessarily trying to be mean or hurt my
feelings but it didn’t really feel good
birthday parties are hard I was invited
to go to one and I really wanted to go
there was only one problem all the food
there hi cool Internet mom said I could
bring something else that was good and
free but what if someone made fun of me
I thought I didn’t want anybody to see
my food so I hid it under the table at
the whole time
going out to eat was hard because I
couldn’t go to my favorite places
anymore like Wendy’s but then I tried
thinking from a different perspective I
realized that celiac isn’t a reason for
me to be afraid or hide my fig that I
could be bold and just face things one
thing that helped me start thinking
differently was when I went to
Children’s Hospital event where I
learned a lot about celiac for example I
learned that your small intestine is
like a tiny finger shaped tissues called
villi if a person who has celiac disease
is gluten they will either flatten out
test no lighting is damaged when this
happens it decreases the area that can
absorb nutrients now after learning
about my problem I started taking little
steps towards feeling comfortable with
it
my family started finding gluten-free
recipes some from friends some that we
have been and some that weren’t actually
good and free that we had already had I
found that when you have a problem
getting support can help you a lot and
for me that meant meeting other people
who had had celiac disease and knew had
that could be a big change for example
our friend Lindsey she gave us kitchen
supplies that had never been
contaminated with gluten and foods we
could eat now after all this I celebrate
the AI of celiac in that I eat different
foods celiac doesn’t feel like a disease
it’s just me have you ever had an away
from something I’m assuming if I asked
everybody in this room you would
probably all be saying yes that’s why I
think this lesson is important for
everyone if you ever find yourself in
one of those situations you can try
using some of the things I use to help
me to be bold and just face things I
learned more about my problem I took
little steps towards feeling comfortable
with it I got some support and finally I
celebrated it here’s the part I would
like to share with you from Nadia
Comaneci a five-time Olympic gold
medalist who is only 15 when she won her
first medal I don’t run away from a
challenge because I’m afraid instead I
went towards it thank you for listening [Applause]
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