Recently parents were invited to the elementary school to have a turkey lunch with their kids. My Daughter is in kindergarten and has t1d. Typically she goes to the nurse before lunch to get her insulin, but since I was at school that day I just did it myself. The school was not happy and asked that in the future I take her to the bathroom or to the nurses office. I feel like they are hiding her from other students and is going to develop a culture of shame for my Daughter. Am I over reacting?
Jennifer @Jenniferbennett,
You did exactly what you should do in providing care for your daughter with TypeOne Diabetes. It appears that the school might be acting contrary to United States law.
Public Law 101-336 [known as Americans With Disabilities Act of 1989] specifically allows for care, treatment, self treatment of persons with TypeOne Diabetes and for reasonable accommodation of and for persons with T1D; T1D is the only ādiseaseā specifically named in the Act.
Under no conditions should you administer her insulin [or do a finger-stick BG check] in a public restroom, an unsanitary place; that is a location often times used by unsavory characters āshooting upā purposes. Bringing her to a nursing station could be acceptable, but it also could deprive her of continuous and full participation in her class activities - something the law intended to eliminate. Bottom line, your daughter should NOT be taught to hide her condition and she must not be treated as a pariah.
Perhaps you could contact the JDRF and the American Diabetes Association for help in education this public school. Your local JDRF chapter may also have an outreach person who could visit the school.
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Wow Jennifer! You are certainly not overreacting! Kate (14) tests and injects very publicly at school, and sees it as an important part of who she is - unashamedly T1. It is also good for her classmates to see and accept Kate and to learn more about diabetes. I hope you manage to persuade the school that open management is a GOOD thing, and your daughter should never have to remove herself for the comfort of other people.
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Hi Jennifer you did good when I was 1st diagnosed with T1 I was in high school freshman and the school had a problem with me injecting no matter where I went they had no idea what the disease was and what I needed to do because I was the only student with the disease the I printed off and recited public law 101-336 and told them I would inject any where and anytime that is necessary and if there was a problem they would be in violation of federal law and criminal charges would be filed just keep doing what your doing and show your daughter that she has nothing to be ashamed of on her condition and teach the school about her disease
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Ditto everything everyone already said. Itās really important that your child never feel ashamed for being T1D. If you donāt have a 501 plan, please consider one. This is where you as the parent with the support of state and federal government get to state what the policies are. Now to be fair, that policy could say that even with you present your child should report to the nurseās station for dosing so that the nurse knows your child dosed and did not forget. But bathrooms are right out!
Itās good to not be ashamed, but I do understand people fearing blood exposure. I think patience and kindness with the education of school staff would help a lot in making your child and the staff/classmates comfortable with the process. Will help everyone see itās no big deal.
I feel like you did the right thing. I had to deal with this when I was in school and it can be a hassle with the workers of the school, but remain standing your ground and knowing your rights for your daughter. I was told that I had to go to the nurses station each time I needed to simply check my blood sugar and this caused problems with some teachers because I had to leave class. I talked with my endocrinologist and my on-call nurse and they both said that they canāt make me go to the nurses station and I have the right to check my blood sugar AND carry my blood glucose meter wherever I went.
Since diabetes is consistently increasing in children I wish teachers, coaches, etc. could be educated on what diabetes is and also the rights of the child. If you need to you can always have the doctor write a note and explain things. Hopefully this helps! We are all in this together!
Kelsie
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