I just had an inspiration while I was trying to draft a blog post about the holidays, and all of the challenges that holidays can present for diabetics, and I wanted to run the idea by all you'all, 'cause I consider you to be the "experts" on T1.
I'm pretty sure that 99.99% of the American population is pretty much burned out on hearing statistics about "diabetes". Paricularly since most of those statistics presented by the news are accompanied by video clips of really fat butts waggling down the sidewalk and lectures about obesity (you all know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm sure). With this type of depiction of "diabetes", with the inference that all diabetics have brought the disease on themselves through poor lifestyle choices, it can be really difficult to 1) draw a distinction between Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, 2) humanize the children and young people and adults who have been inflicted with T1, and 3) encourage funding for T1 research. I know that this frustration has been vented by so many members of this forum, including myself, but we've never been able to figure out a way to draw the "collective" attention toward T1, educating the populace, and getting funding to support finding a cure for T1.
But, and idea just came to me. In the face of all of the over-exposure in the media about "diabetes" (meaning, type 2 diabetes), what if we started talking about "the little d". "Little", as in "little people"....kids....living with diabetes. "little d", as in teens and tweens who are navigating those particulary challenging years. "little d", as in adults who have lived with diabetes for decades and are still goin' strong.
So, I know this is just a nugget of an idea, but I wanted so send it out to you all before I sat down and tried to make something of it.
You're on a good track, but may I suggest that you stay away from the word "little"? I think it's misleading. To someone who doesn't know better the word "little" would imply that it's the less serious of the two. Also, keep in mind that not everyone is a child or teen when they are diagnosed.
Don't forget people like me. Dx'ed type 1 Aug./08 at age 52. Just call it what a lot of people say when they hear I am type 1. Oh, the bad one!!! LOL There you go, how about " The big bad one"
You're on a good track, but may I suggest that you stay away from the word "little"? I think it's misleading. To someone who doesn't know better the word "little" would imply that it's the less serious of the two. Also, keep in mind that not everyone is a child or teen when they are diagnosed.
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Good point. How 'bout "the quiet d"? As in, the "d" we don't hear about?
Don't forget people like me. Dx'ed type 1 Aug./08 at age 52. Just call it what a lot of people say when they hear I am type 1. Oh, the bad one!!! LOL There you go, how about " The big bad one"
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Keith, that does not look like a 52 year old arm to me. I've seen your tat before on the forum, and assumed it was a much younger arm. You must take very good care of yourself :)
But seriously, I've tried to keep a positive outlook with our 8-year old son (dx 5/13/09). I would hate for him, or any other young person, to hear T1 referred to as "the big bad one". How disheartening :(
I don't mean to pick on you, but I feel the same way about "quiet" as I do "little." But, that's just my opinion. :)
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I agree with you.
I really dont see a problem with calling it type 1 diabetes and simply education others on what it is. I do not think calling it something else will make anyone pay more attention to it. Its not going to suddenly raise awareness about it. I just see it causing more confusion. People are going to say things that annoy you (general) about it but instead of getting annoyed just turn it around into a positive moment to give someone a education on it. I do say this now with very little experience with dealing with others and their questions tho.
I'm not sure why we should be the ones to change when it is the media that doesn't fully explain which disease they are referring to. Almost every anchor is on Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc, just start tweeting, posting, replying that they were referencing either type 1 or type 2, not diabetes as a whole.