<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Fellow listmembers,

In 2000 I received a scholarship from the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) designed to encourage academically-skilled students with disabilities to engage in scientific and engineering pursuits.  The scholarship arranged and funded a summer internship at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  At JSC I spent a thrilling and enlightening three months working with NASA scientists to study the phenomenon of muscle atrophy in astronauts.  Since that time I have helped the AAAS to further disabilities education in the scientific and academic communities.  The AAAS is fully in support of increasing public knowledge about "hidden" disabilities such as Celiac and is doing their best to expand their disabilities program.

As part of this endeavor, the AAAS has asked me to speak at their 2006 Annual meeting.  I will be discussing my experiences in the 2001 internship, as well as my feelings on Celiac and other "hidden" disabilities and how they are handled in the college and graduate school environments.  I will do my best to represent Celiac as a challenging, but not insurmountable condition.

I have been a diagnosed and entirely diligent Celiac for 21 years.  I have a graduate degree in Microbiology and am currently pursuing another graduate degree in Nurse Education.  Although I am not a physician or Celiac researcher, I do feel that I can represent our situation in an accurate and respectful manner. I should also add that I do not work directly for the AAAS in any paid sense; I merely assist in their "PR" and various public speaking engagements when asked.

For my internship story, see http://ehrweb.aaas.org/entrypoint/rr/pinball.html.

For more information on the AAAS meeting, go to http://www.aaas.org and click on "Annual meeting" in the left sidebar.  I believe that the meeting is open to the public, but requires registration and some fees.

I am reporting this to you because I am happy to announce that more influential groups are recognizing Celiac as a disability that deserves attention and accommodation.  I also wanted to remind the younger Celiacs that you are indeed eligible of disability scholarships, as our condition certainly requires special accommodation in college, internship, and graduate school environments.

Best of health and happy eating,

Jessica Mahood
Boston

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