The throws of May/June and the end of the school year seems to have just happened……just nothing to do……right? Wrong! If you (and your child) are new to the diagnosis of T1D you might think the summer time is a long time and schools is a distance on the horizon, but it’s not. Know that your school is getting ready for a fresh new year where so many kids will have grown like weeds, boys will become young men, and girls have become young ladies. Summer brings many changes.
Know that your school personnel have got ‘it’ down to a science making sure the classrooms and school are ready for whatever 2025/26 has to bring to make your children successful. Now is the time to make an appointment to come in and talk about your child’s school year dealing with the new, or fairly new, asterisk in their lives; diabetes.
You are dealing with one thing, the school is dealing with 400-800 kids all at once, don’t think they are all focused on your child, who is now dealing with a diabetes diagnosis. It is not the pre-school mad-rush. Your school nurse and teachers, may have a little time to give the attention needed without a million other distractions………that will change shortly so NOW is the time.
There are many plans to help your child like a 504 plan plus many other possibilities. Talk about them now. There are many examples of 504 plans out there and make yourself familiar with them as you get ready to create the right plan for your child remembering that these plans are not just for the obvious, but for the not-anticipated.
Many times I have shared that when Kaitlyn started school, moms and kids rode the bus the day prior to the first day so they would know what was in store. With 20+ stops to drop off kids we were surely lucky that Kaitlyn’s stop was first in the morning and first on the drop off. But that is not what happened on day one. Bus driver came early and no one was waiting so they just decided to drop off every kid first and come back. Ninety minutes later the bus returned with a load of kids crying hysterically because it was not done as they were taught the day before. Kaitlyn’s blood sugar was a mess and so were all the families as no one knew where the bus was. During a pre-phone time-in-life, not knowing was just dreadful. There was no plan in place. By the school. By us.
We made up our minds right then and there that every possible scenario would be laid out as the plans in place are not for the obvious alone, but for the unanticipated and unlikely course events that will impact our children. THAT BECAME OUR RULE. And every year, binder in hand, we met with the school officials and the school nurse. Polite, knowledgeable, and with a humble heart we met thanking them for the extra attention.
Now in our lifetime, insulin pumps went from being the size of an astronaut’s backpack to the devices of today. So involved had we become with school personnel, imagine our surprise and tears-of-joy when one year the school nurse asked us if she could wear an insulin pump for a week so she could experience all that Kaitlyn was going through and be a bigger help to all of the children having ‘the same asterisk’ as Kaitlyn. I can tell you that 35+ years after, we still remember Mrs. Brandy.
The take-away here is to be ahead of the curve so your meetings are not last minute-rushed experiences. Thank them for meeting with you and above all, be ready with advice and to answer any questions they may have. Make them your partner, you will be glad you did. We surely were.
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Tagged diabetes, diabetes dad, diabetes inspiration
One reply on “Moms, Dads, Meet with Your School Now”
You’re the best diabetes dad !