So one thing I hear from parents all the time is, how do I know my teen is ready to go off on their own and handle their diet on their own? Anna, looking back, what skills made the biggest difference once you were on your own?

So because I was diagnosed at a really young age, I feel like I already kind of gained the experience and like advocacy that I needed to take with me to university.

So when I was finally on my own, I feel like I just kind of continued as I've been doing.

Having a background with celiac all my life, I feel like that really made me feel confident in like the choices I made at university and made me feel less afraid to speak up when I needed to.

Anna, can you tell us a little bit more about navigating those moments? Did you ever feel different because of celiac disease?

Yeah, definitely growing up it was hard just because, you know, at birthday parties and things like that or, like, social events, I would always have to be the one to bring my own gluten-free option.

So I remember when I was younger, I'd feel, like, embarrassed, but as I got older, obviously my friends and my family started to fully understand my disease and how to accommodate me.

So now I find a lot of my friends, maybe they'll prepare a separate gluten-free option for me, or I'll still bring, like, my own snack to the function, or if we're going out, my friends are also really good to help advocate for me if we are eating out, just to make sure everything is gluten-free.

So one thing I hear from parents all the time is how do I know my teen is ready to go off on their own and handle their diet on their own? Anna, looking back, what skills made the biggest difference once you were on your own?

So because I was diagnosed at a really young age, I feel like I already kind of gained the experience and like advocacy that I needed to take with me to university.

So when I was finally on my own, I feel like I just kind of continued as I've been doing.

having a background with celiac all my life, I feel like that really made me feel confident in like the choices I made at university and made me feel less afraid to speak up when I needed to.

Anna, can you tell us a little bit more about navigating those moments? Did you ever feel different because of celiac disease?

Yeah, definitely growing up, it was hard just because, you know, at birthday parties and things like that or like social events, I would always have to be the one to bring my own gluten-free options.

So I remember when I was younger, I'd feel like embarrassed, but as I got older, obviously my friends and my family started to fully understand my disease and how to accommodate me.

So now I find a lot of my friends, maybe they'll prepare a separate gluten-free option for me, or I'll still bring like my own snack to the function or for going out.