Subscribe Feed (RSS)Your Diabetic Child - What Information Should You Give To Their School?
October 19th, 2010 by admin | Filed under Uncategorized.My daughter, Alissa, was eleven years old when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
At that time we knew little about diabetes, but realised that the staff at her school knew even less!
We drafted the following information which we adapted and changed at the beginning of each school year, providing a sheet to the school and requesting that it be handed to all her teachers and posted on the staffroom noticeboard.
Here are the key points that we included on the sheet:-
Photo - we included a recent photograph of Alissa so that visiting or supply teachers had a visual cue to help pick her out from the rest of the class.
Brief info about your child – how long ago they were diagnosed, whether they’re on injections or an insulin pump
Symptoms of low blood glucose levels – these vary from child to child. Put the main three or four symptoms in a bullet pointed list.
Sugar and snacks – ensure that the teacher knows that it’s essential that your child is permitted to eat snacks or sugar without drawing attention to themselves.
Feeling ill – if your child feels ill, the staff need to know that they should be accompanied to see the staff in the medical room.
How to help – usual location of sugar/glucose if your child is unable to locate it for themselves. Importance of giving a snack when your child is feeling able to eat it.
When to call an ambulance – this helps staff realise that this is not an overreaction to an unconscious child, but the right and appropriate response.
Contact information – for parents, also phone number of diabetic nurses in emergencies.
Your health care professional may be able to provide you with an information sheet like this.
We also talked about our concerns to the local diabetic nurse, who was able to visit the school and help inform them of the health needs and requirements of diabetics.
Most of all, we talked to the staff at the school so that they knew us and were happy to phone us with any queries.
Thankfully, both the staff and Alissa’s friends were all very supportive so that, though her school years were not without incident, she has nothing but happy memories of her time there.
Jen Carter runs the Diabetia website which offers diabetia.com/Diabetes_Blog.html Jen’s blog on diabetes.
Her daughter, Alissa, writes informative articles on creating a healthy diabetia.com/Diabetic_Diet.html diabetic diet.
