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"When my son was diagnosed, the principal told me I was not allowed to bring needles into the school and all the help she was willing to offer at first was to call 911. I diligently worked with the school and educated them about monitors and glucagon. The bottom line is that you don't ever feel that your child is safe when he attends school. We have no school nurses and I depend entirely on the school personnel who come forward voluntarily to learn about emergency care, I am forever grateful to the handful of teachers who take this on. My son has never needed any of this care, but there has to be trained adults in the school to answer in emergency situations."—CW, Champaign "I now have two children with diabetes. We have a 504 plan in place, and we are fortunate that the school district agrees to hire a full-time aide to oversee the diabetes management on a daily basis. She is a godsend! However, there is one other child at the school with diabetes, as well as other children with health issues, so the aide is kept very busy and things like fieldtrips and sick days (for her) pose a problem.We found an existing part-time aide who was willing to learn diabetes care as well, and this is a big help when the main aide is sick or when there is a fieldtrip. But, for example, the main aide was sick yesterday, and what if one of my kids had a fieldtrip and I was unavailable? My child would have to miss the fieldtrip, and this isn't right or fair. I'm not sure what the ideal solution is, but I'm all in favor of anything that helps our kids to have a more "normal" school experience. I think it is also crucial that our kids learn to rely on other responsible, trained adults instead of thinking that mom or dad are the only ones who can manage their care "well enough." —LC, Peoria "...the nurse and nurse's aide do an excellent job of making sure my daughter is well taken care of, but I have yet to hear a word from my school's principle or met with her and this is my daughter's 3rd year and 2nd year with a pump. Thank you we need this."—CR, Naperville |
