ok i am planning on writing a paper on discrimination in schools and the workplace on people who have diabetes. i was wondering if there are any surveys done with that? i would love to know where i can find viable resources for this project.
this is a second part of my question, have any of you ever been discriminated against because you were testing BG, eating, or taking insulin?
I have a several experiences where people try and prevent me from eating but i needed to since my blood sugar was low and when i was little i was teased alot because i had to go to the nurses ever time i needed to test my blood sugar and before lunch. Though in that case kids always wanted to with me because i needed a buddy.
I don't know if this helped at all but good luck with your paper.
i'm dont know of any US papers on this topic- but have a look here: http://www.d1.org.au/issues/#docs
where there might be some resources you can use
maybe when you're finished, you could post your paper?
A few years ago I wrote a paper on chronic illness in the classroom and specifically concentrated on diabetes and cancer. I found the different laws about what schools and the family have to do if their is a child with diabetes in the school as well as many articles about people who felt the schools had broken the law in the way they delt with the students. If you have access to a journal database I'm sure you could find some article.
As far as personally, I was diagnosed in high school and the school nurse tried to tell me that I had to come to her office every day at lunch to do my testing and injections. The nurse was very rude so I hated going there, so my mom and I found out that by law I was allowed to do it where ever I wanted. She talked to the principal about it and I was "allowed" to test and inject anywhere.
Hope that helps!
you may want to contact the legal department of the American Diabetes Association. They have an "advocacy" segment that may assist you.
hi Mel, sorry I don't have a resource for you but the link for ADA is a good bet.
Personally, I have been T1 for 31 years, I have been working in a professional capacity since 1987, (engineering, medical products and now pharmaceuticals) and have never been subject to discrimination. hope to see your paper someday.
cheers
I cant say much about the first part of the question(s) but yes i have been treated un fairly by other students in my HS. they think i can get away with anything i want such as eating in class but i cannot so i hope that has helped =]
i have had problems in school wit teachers and testing my BG or if i have to have food in class because of a low. our school is strict about the no food or drink in class thing and at first teachers would make me sit in the office till my BG was back to normal. and i had a problem wit that cuz i would miss the class and not know what we were studding and had to take it to the school board
there are lots of data bases out there, but I'd suggest jstor. You'll have to access it from school and if it won't connect then go talk to your school librarian, office, or even your local library about getting a connection. I do all my research from this site, try it out.
Yes, I currently am appealing a grade change for an upper level Math class at my University. I was very sick at the time of the Final (DKA). I filed all the ADA forms, and still they are lockstep in resolving anything.
I have a severe history of Diabetes (2,390 mg/dl when I was first diagnosed), and I fight very hard to stay in good health. To date, I do not have any long term, or permanent damage.
I have tried very hard to work with my university, meeting with many officials to date, and only a very few of them (who I really appreciate) are understanding. Unfortunately, many of the decision makers don't have a clue when it comes to type 1 diabetes.
Hi Mel,
Thought I would mention Hunter Sego from Indiana who faced discrimination within his school district and he and his parents went into overdrive and, with the ADA, got a state law passed to prevent future discrimination. The ADA and his mom, Kathy, continue to promote the law and to make sure it is enforced.
Some links to his story are below. The American Diabetes Association does a lot with advocacy and legal challenges. That would be the best place to start.
http://www.diabetes.org/food-nutrition-lifestyle/lifestyle-prevention/people-spotlight/ps-hunter-sego.jsp
http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=253&ArticleID=37967
http://www.in.gov/legislative/interim/committee/minutes/ICCI99B.pdf
I know ADA's membership magazine always has stories about students who have to fight to test blood glucose in school or police officers who have to prove they are fit to work. Students are usually interested to see a glucose test, and jobs have always been overly cautious with my blood sugar (giving me extra break time to recover from a hypoglycemic spell). One negative experience I had in middle school was during a low blood sugar. I was given special permission to go to the teacher's lounge to get sodas during these events and a teacher stopped to lecture me, even after I explained the situation and showed documentation. It could have been really bad, I was lucky I didn't pass out.
[quote user="John "]
Yes, I currently am appealing a grade change for an upper level Math class at my University. I was very sick at the time of the Final (DKA). I filed all the ADA forms, and still they are lockstep in resolving anything.
I have a severe history of Diabetes (2,390 mg/dl when I was first diagnosed), and I fight very hard to stay in good health. To date, I do not have any long term, or permanent damage.
I have tried very hard to work with my university, meeting with many officials to date, and only a very few of them (who I really appreciate) are understanding. Unfortunately, many of the decision makers don't have a clue when it comes to type 1 diabetes.
[/quote]
Hey John, I'm really interested in hearing the outcome of this. Something similar happened to me in law school.
How are you defining "discrimination"? If I were you, I would check out the EEOC's website - that's the federal agency that deals with workplace discrimination claims, including disability discrimination claims. They might have some statistics for you.
Oh wait, here you go: http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/ada-merit.html
Diabetes makes up the 4rd largest percentage of disability claims filed with the EEOC.
I had to serve detention for treating an insulin reaction while not in the cafeteria. There were so many things I learned about later...heavy sigh...
Detention?! seriously? wow that's just extreme. although if i were a teacher i would at least have you do it somewhere where, you and other people are protected from any problems. since i didn't have a school nurse that was at my middle school on a regular basis i was just told to do my BG in class, or at lunch. but i don't really remember having to take shots for lunch i might have still been on the do my shots in the morning and at niight at that time. but when i got into high school i would whip out my BG monitor and syring and "shoot up". at the lunch table there would be the school security guy walking around (he was a cop) and all the other hall monitor people. none of them bugged me about it.
I got FIRED from a job for being diabetic. I was told "the uncertainty of when I MIGHT get sick" was the reason.
I tried my hardest not to smile the whole way out the door, all I could do was laugh, call my lawyer & get a HUGE settlement agreement. Don't Human Resources people take COURSES on laws???
I would love to read your paper when you are done. =)
ok i am going to post just the text of the paper, so you can see it. it's not really complete because i could not figure out what my thesis was.
Well once one of my teachers OVERREACTED and said i can check in her class. she thought blood was going to spatter all over her class and did not want any messes. i was only going to prick my finger not stab my arm off!!!!!! it was annoying! discrimination........