Well, Casie will be starting middle school when school starts again. Everything I keep reading says that I need to start letting her do things herself. How do I know if she is ready? I can already hear the arguments when I pick her up and write down her numbers for the day and find out either she has not tested, or she did not test enough. She will be having PE everday this year, and in elementary school they had it only once a week and she and the teacher could not remember for her to test.
Then there is the problem of a 504 plan, some people I talk to say they did not have one in middle school, but made sure they had one in high school. What is the diffrence? The 504 I had for last year does not seem to fit anymore with going to 7 classes instead of staying in one class. Does anyone know of or have a 504 plan for middle schoolers (Casie will be going into the 7th grade)?
I am so afraid of how things are going to go next year, I can see her not doing what she needs to do so she can fit in with all the other kids. Casie cares too much of what others think of her. I keep trying to tell her it only matters what her true friends feel, and she found out who they were the day she was diagnoised! I know everyone keeps telling me they are just numbers, but I am sorry those numbers end up meaning something, maybe not right now but later down the road!
Well thank you for letting me vent, and if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I am open to listening to anything.
My son was diagnosed spring of his freshman year, so we never dealt with middle school issues. One very specific reason to do it in HS is you have to have a 504 in place that makes time allowances for checking blood sugar during testing and such if you want to seek having that in place with the College Board before taking SAT.
And if grades are important and if you want to have it in place to delay a test because of a low or a big high---that's really important in HS.
Hi Kathy....I'm sorry I'm just replying to this post now as I see you wrote it on 7/1!!! I just joined the group so I hope I can still help you. My daughter was diagnosed, going into 4th grade. She was diagnosed over the summer so I felt so overwhelmed when I was getting her ready to go back to school. I realize that my daughter was only 9 and yours is in middle school but the same fears and questions exist. As far as her blood sugar numbers - our school secretary (who also has to play "nurse" as my kids are in a small Catholic school that only has a nurse one day a week) keeps a book with my daughter's lunchtime checks in it and then any other times she might need to check if she feels low/high. Everything is recorded in a little copy book. What type of insulin is your daughter on? Mine is on the humilin/humalog so she only needs to do one check at school. PE days, my daughter checks after, and takes a small snack to eat before attending that class. Do you think they'd allow her to do that? I'm not familiar with a 504 plan but I'm sure someone at either her doctor's office or the JDRF could probably help you with that.
I wouldn't worry about her fitting in with the other kids. Most of my daughter's friends were very sympathetic and even argued over who got to go downstairs with her to check her blood with her! I assume it was more to get out of class but either way, my daughter felt extra-special! She is 13 now and going into 8th grade. Our school goes from kindergarten to 8th grade so this will be her last year there. Next year will be high school which will bring a whole new set of worries but she has a friend who is a year older (who will be attending h.s. this year) that she can stay in contact with and find out how she does. Ask if you can have a meeting with the principal or all teachers that will be involved with her so that they are aware of the possible situations that can arise (mainly low blood sugar) and the importance of letting her check her blood sugar as needed and required. A doctor's note would also be helpful. Best of luck, Kathy, and feel free to vent anytime. That's why we're here!