Hi Adrienne
I hope you have worked out the problem with injections–what about blood testing? Where does david do that? My daughter was diagnosed when she was 7 years old–about 20 years ago. Even then I was told that it was illegal for the school to not come up with a plan.Is there a nurse in the schol district? If so, and the staff refuses to give shots, the nurse has to be there every time he needs one. I believe that once the principal hears that they will delegate someone. In my daughter’s case, they didn’t even want to do blood testing. That changed prety quickly because they had to be in compliance and soon everyone in the front office knew all about diabetes and what they needed to do.
I have also been a special ed teacher for over 25 years and now all about IEPs as well as 504 plans. Be sure that each teacher he has class with–gym, music, art, etc. knows signs of lows and highs, and has juice or glucose tabs in the room–you probably have to supply that. Also, if he needs to go to a specific place to test his blood and he’s not feeling well, be sure that someone goes with him. If you contact the ADA or JDRF they will send you a school information packet… I would be very surprised if the school never had a child with dibetes go through the system. If so this is your opportunity to educate them. They will probably be less anxious if they learn about the disease–most people think that blood testing and injections are the worst part of having diabetes, because thet is all they can see… Catherine is right–504 plans don’t solve everything but it is best to get things in writing from the start. People have 504s for all kinds of reasons. be sure there is anote in the plan about some kind of flexibility with expectations after a low BS–like participation in gym. He’s too young for testing situations, but you’ll need that later. Also, David’s needs will change as he grows so you just need to be in touch with the 504 coordinator to let him/her know about changes.If you need to you can request a meeting.
I also have had diabetes–since 1969. It is quite amazing how far technology has come! At that time they expected you to collect your pee in a cup and put a certain number of drops into a test tube with a pill that made it fizz–like alka-seltzer–and then try to match the color to some chart. I was 11 years old–that lasted about a week with me and I was done.
Believe it or not, as an adult working in a high school as a special ed. teacher for 25 years, I was discriminated against, harrassed, and retaliated against. I had a couple of doctor letters in my file and there was never a problem before. It never occured to me to have a formal plan put in place. My needs were just met until there were a lot of administrative changes all at once. I’ve had eye changes so I needed a bigger computer screen and someone to input info. on IEP forms for a day, once a year. It’s a long story but things got very nasty which caused my diabetes to be way out of control for almost 2 years. I’m currently on medical leave. Unfortunately, I had to hire a lawyer and the issues are not resolved yet…
However, if your son had to get this disease he was born in the right era as far as research goes. There will be a cure in his lifetime. While we wait for that to happen there are many new technologies on the horizon to help us cope with the everyday stuff. In the mean time try to be sure he is David first, with al lof his wonderful traits, and just happens to have diabetes, not the DIABETIC…
Good Luck!