Diabetes and the school
This is a broad subject that we’ll discuss multiple times in later chapters. When I went back to school after my diagnosis, before they would let me back into class, the school had my parents fill and sign a diabetes care plan that the school needed to follow. More than likely, all of us, anywhere in the US, need one.
To be clear: federal law guarantees that we T1Ds (and many other people with chronic illnesses or disabilities) are entitled to equal access to educational opportunities in public school. That means, for us, access to insulin, glucagon and all other supplies and care we need. When schools don’t have a nurse, school staff must be trained to provide some care as needed. We T1Ds above 8 or 9 years of age don’t require much care: we are largely self sufficient. But we do need, particularly when very young, people to keep an eye on us, and some people to be trained to administer glucagon if needed. For the youngest ones of us, there needs to be some guidelines on what to do with sugar and insulin. For me, I was 11 when diagnosed, and I was totally self-sufficient (I never went so low as to be unconscious). But my teachers were aware of what to look for, and, in middle school, several times a teacher asked me to test because they felt I was low (they were right every time). I feel that I would have been able to be self-sufficient in the same manner as early as 8 or 9 years old, but before that I doubt it.
All of this to say that you don’t have to accept what the school says if you disagree with it. This is a negotiation. But I do understand that, in some parts of the country, getting a school to do the right thing can be difficult. It was not for me in Wisconsin, and my school (Merton School, in the village of Merton) was really awesome!
For me, at 11 years of age, my first care plan specified
- the amount of insulin to take at meals (but, after, my care added that I was able to adjust these amounts myself: it’s really important otherwise you always have to sign new ones and you aren’t able to inject what you really need)
- what equipment I needed access to at ALL times (all my diabetes gear AND MY PHONE)
- when I could access food, water and bathroom (at any time, including during class, in the classroom)
- and what happened in classroom tests: I could always test my BG, eat, drink go to the bathroom, and if I was high or low I could wait it out, take longer to finish, or retake it as a later time.
Now is a good time to remind all of us that, when we are low, we get really dumb, because our brain does not have enough sugar to work any more. And, when we are high, we are very unfocused and unproductive. So, if we are high or low during tests, the test often doesn’t go well—-which is why it is important that we get a chance to wait out a low, or a high, and finish a test later. I’ve gotten a full letter grade lower on multiple tests because I got too cocky and thought my blood sugar wouldn’t affect me much–it does.
This is also an issue when we study. Both in class and at school, when we are high (for me, above 200) or low (for me, 55 or below) it is very difficult to study and do homework. I spend several hours per day low or high, and during that time, my productivity is very poor. So I need to work harder the rest of the time, and be really productive when I am not high or low.
Growing up T1D 