the first day of middle school i tald all of my teachers that i had a pump and to make sure that they wouldnt think it was a call fone and i guess one wasnt listening and started yelling at me when she first heard it a i was so mad because she sent me to student addminastration
THE JDRF offers a school emergency kit for school adminstrators that explains diabetes and the do's and don'ts. From what I have read here, everyone should grab one and take it to their respective principals and asked that it be shared with the staff. It's sixty pages of wonderful, lifesaving information.
I have a copy on my other computer, I do not know how to post it here. -But it's a good booklet.
that reminds me of the time i was in the grocery store with my diabetic son (then, age 6). the looks on people's faces when he held up a box of something and yelled out, "THIS IS FREE!" hehehehe. people either assumed there was a major special on aisle 7, or my son was a kleptomaniac. and they were even more confused when i happily agreed, "you're right! it IS free!"
ahhh... people. :)
when i came onto this site it was the first time i had heard of a 504 plan. i kinda knew what an IEP is, but it's not the same thing. i found this out last week. in high school was the first time i ever knew i even was on an IEP. my education was a blur in my younger years. anywho an IEP is just the education part of it. 504 is a specified plan of treatment of the student. for example, with IEP i am partially blind in one eye and profoundly deaf in one ear and the IEP was the set up of how my education was going to be for each quarter of the semester in high school. i don't know much about the 504 because again i just heard about it here.
my 2 funniest diabetes school stories ever:
1) One time in 9th grade, I was having trouble w/ my pump and my blood sugar was somewhere in the 400s or 500, so I was complaining to my best friend (which mostly consisted of "I'm so high") I was also getting something out of my locker; right when I got my locker open, my glucagon kit fell out and opened on the floor. The giant needle fell out of the case and rolled on the floor a little ways. The expressions on everyone else's faces there were priceless.
2) senior year, we had a substitute in one of my classes--one of those classes where I knew everyone and everyone knew I was a diabetic. I wear my pump hooked on the pocket of my jeans. I don't really know how she saw it, because it was half covered by my shirt and I was sitting down, but when she noticed my pump she completely freaked out. She screamed for me to come up to her desk and threatened to send me to the office if I didn't put my iPod away. Now, I understand how pumps look slightly like cell-phones (or pagers :P), but an iPod?? I mean, for one thing, pumps don't have headphones...I told her that it wasn't an iPod, that it was an insulin pump; telling people this usually works. This sub didn't believe me, though. She thought I was making the whole having-diabetes-thing up, and when I asked her why she went on a mild rant about how inconsiderate teenagers were now-a-days (p.s. she was only somewhere in her mid-twenties, 30 at the oldest). At this point, about 3 of my friends were supporting my story; it took at least six of us to convince her that I had an insulin pump and not an iPod.
haha I say things like "Im high" all the time during classes. Everyone knows im diabetic and they think its funny so. It doesnt bug me at all. Dont let the ignorence of one person bug ya!
I've had a teacher say "Oh, my cat is diabetic! I know everything you have to go through!" when I informed her that I was a diabetic. This continued for months whenever I needed to treat a low, she wouldn't let me, saying "it will pass, you don't need to." The same with high bloodsugars. I eventually switched out of her class because I felt unsafe being in her "care".
I also had my grade 1 teacher *tell* my parents how to handle my diabetes. She would do research about type 2, and send them links to websites, etc.
are you serious? "my cat is diabetic?" wow some people are very ignorant! ive had things like that but never been denied treatment because "It will pass" wow thts dumb.
[quote user="Becca W"]
I've had a teacher say "Oh, my cat is diabetic! I know everything you have to go through!" when I informed her that I was a diabetic.
[/quote]
ROFL.
I'm sorry, but that's the most entertaining quote of someone saying they understand, I have heard...EVER.
[quote user="Amanda"]I have a 504 plan also. It basically says that on any standardized test (High school assessments, AP Exams, SATs, SAT2s, etc.) I can have "extra breaks as needed". I don't lose any testing time if I need to bring up my bg or do a correction to bring it down. I actually just took the SATs today (again) and I got to sit in the counseling center, just me and the test administrator, which is a lot nicer than being in a classroom (comfy chair, big table, peace and quiet). I tested at one of the breaks to make sure my bg was okay. Other than that I didn't have any problems. However if I had then the, say. fifteen minutes to bring up my bg if I was low wouldn't be subtracted from the time I had to complete the section of the exam[/quote]
My school district WILL not let me have one unless i fail an SAT or ACT TAKS ect.....which is really dumb. my mom wanted to fight it but she is a teacher in my district so they could fire her and we dont wanna take that risk giving the U.S. economic situation.So i am very worried about sat,act because if i fail because of blood sugars i dont get another chance.
Same thing happened to me when I was first diagnosed. Unfortunately, it was the science teacher who asked me, which never made a whole lot of sense.
That's still not any worse than the kids in my class that shook their heads and told me I'd be dead in ten years. It's been eleven years and I'm still alive and kickin'.
[quote user="Trevor"]
I know 504 plans are a specific reference to American laws. I'm not sure what (if anything) the Canadian equivalent is. I know IEP (Individual Education Plan) is tossed around, but I'm not sure if it's an alternate American plan, or if it is specifically Canadian, or better yet, is not country-based.
I've just never heard of them before coming here. 20 years ago when it was an issue for me, we just duked it out with the teachers on a personal level, and rarely had any direct issues.
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Unfortunately Trevor, there is nothing like the 504 plan in Canada. My 3 year old will be starting J.K. in September, when we enrolled her we were told that she is not allowed to check her blood sugar or do corrections during school time. Also our school board is changing all J.K. and Kindergarten classes from 1/2 day to full day's. So at this point I'm just collecting information and educating myself and I will try to educate the school and change the school's rules for her and others diabetic's safety.
I just read the entire thread and there are some stories that really send some sparks flying on my end. I definitely can relate to a lot of what you guys have all gone through. I think that the worst thing someone can do is to order you to check your blood sugar because "you're acting weird, your sugar must be high" or "you look pale". People who assume they know enough to make a decision for you drive me crazy. I like what it says in the "Educating Others" group: "I appreciate your concern, but I've been living with type 1 diabetes for some time now. Unless I've already asked you to watch me for specific symptoms and remind me to eat, I can decide when and what to eat on my own." I should have had that on a business card that I could hand out when I was in grade school.
When I was at 6th grade camp, one of the afternoons we we're all sitting around outside and one of the teachers was going around passing out candy as a snack to everyone. He got to me and had just about handed one to me, stopped and said "wait... you're diabetic, right?" I laughed it off because I thought he was making a bad joke, but he put it back, turned and walked to the next kid. I'd like to find the guy and give him a piece of my mind now.
If you're a parent and you're reading what everyone has written here and in other threads, make sure that you pay attention for these kinds of things happening to your kids. I went through a large number of situations like this, and when I was a kid I saw it as something embarrassing or felt the need to protect the people who did it, and wouldn't tell my parents. In hind sight, some of these people should definitely have learned a lesson about imposing their uneducated/ignorant beliefs on others. Your kid deserves to feel completely normal. Walking to the nurses office for ANYTHING other than a sugar that he/she can't control alone is embarrassing and possibly dangerous. Being forbidden from checking your sugar or eating in class is ridiculous, and if my kid was told that he/she couldn't manage a critical part of his health when and where he wanted to, raising hell is an understatement for what I would do. Don't think you're overreacting; in reality thats what the school is doing. Nothing is more important than your child's health.
Hi there! Your daughter is entitled to a plan for special needs children (we call it a 504 plan in palm beach county florida) You need to meet with your principal(and anyone in contact with your daughter during her school day including the school nurse) ASAP about this! This will entitle your daughter extra time for tests and classwork as well as needs such as going to the bathroom and snacks. She cannot be penalized for having diabetes- the school should be aware of this- hope this helped :)
Mina
Ive been a doabetic for a year and two months now and last year i was in my history class and we had a substitute. She was rather old and not very nice and i had a major low and i didnt have any of my stuff to treat it so i asked the lady if i could go to the nurse. She asked me y and i told her that im a diabetic and my sugar is really low. Then she said " your not a diabetic" and i just sat there Stunned that she just told me that. So that made me really mad plus the fact that i was low didnt help. Luckily my best friend was in the class with me and told her that i was and the lady still refused to believe that i was diabetic. She said that kids my age didnt get diabetes and so i just told my friend to come with me and we walked to the nurse. By the time i got to the nurses office my sugar was 32 and dropping. So i had to drink a big bottle of root beer and the nirse asked me y i hadnt come up sooner and i told her. She got really mad and she had to call my mom to let her know about me and she told my mom about the sub. Then that evening my mom called the school and told them about the substitute and i think she was told to leave. She wad supposed to be retired anyway so ya. I havent had any incidents like that since then.
I didn't have type 1 when I was a teen. I am just curious is it possible to carry glucose tabs or fast acting carbs on you so you dont have to go to the nurse to treat the low? Sorry if I am being completely ignorant
[quote user="Gina"]
I didn't have type 1 when I was a teen. I am just curious is it possible to carry glucose tabs or fast acting carbs on you so you dont have to go to the nurse to treat the low? Sorry if I am being completely ignorant
[/quote]
Well technically I'm not supposed to. But I do. I hate going to the nurse for lows because it wastes so much class time. At least I can keep taking notes or w/e while I'm waiting for my bg to come up, instead of sitting in the health room wondering what I'm missing.
Yea i can but back then i was a new diabetic and they wanted me to go up to the nurse to correct my sugar. Now i take tabs and juices to school. But i still forget to replentish them and i sometimes have to go to the nurse. So ya
haha yea there are time when u wanna stay and class and finish work when your sugar is low but there is a plus side, im a really smart kid so i pretty much finish my hw early in most of my classes, or sumtimes we are just doing review and it is boring so i ask to go to the nurses office and most of the time whne i do go my sugar is low but i like just sittin there just talkin to the nurse and eatin my snack w/o havin the whole class starin at me
Holy Cow! Thats terrible! But I totally agree with you! Its like the time when I was in fifth grade and in front of the whole class my teacher said, "So you do your injections in your stomach right? Because my husband had to take injections for a while and his stomach got all beat up-pretty black and blue! Is yours like that, all bruised?" and I had to nod my head yes. I was soooo embarrassed! My mom even had to write her note asking her to please not talk about my diabetes in class because she kept on saying stuff like that! What are some teachers, clueless?! :)