I would love your input on this. My son is type 1, sophmore in HS, 5’10" 170 lbs. He is in fantastic shape due to football and weight training. The situation is this - he went to track tryouts on Monday, due to the urging of his football coaches (he’s a great sprinter), and informed the coaches that he was a type 1 diabetic. As the training was going on they had to run a mile and half way through Jake felt his blood sugar effecting him so he stopped. The coach asked him why he stopped and Jake told him he felt his blood sugar dropping. Then the coach said “get back on the track it has nothing to do with that - it’s all mind over matter”. My son said he almost punched him he was so mad. After that he saw this same coach talking to another and the other coach came over afterwards and told him if he saw a nutritionist like his sister did then he could “get rid of” his diabetes. Jake walked off the field and wont go back. My question is I want to write a letter to the Athletic Director and the two idiot coaches but I’m wondering if I’m just being overprotective and also I’m not sure how I could word it without the venom I’m feeling. What would you do? Thanks for your input - marybeth
Mary Beth,
I would write several letters, say 10, throw the first 9 away and send the last one.
I had a situation with my daughter in High School (non-diabetic situation) and decided I would let the school know just how dumb and insensitive their volunteers could be. I wrote and wrote, it was very therapeutic, I finally came to a point that I could get my message across without spewing the venom.
I think you need to take this opportunity to educate the “Athletic Director and the two idiot coaches” so that they do not make this mistake with any other children.
Well I’m not sure about the wording but I would write to the coaches, Athletic Director and possibly the school board/principal. The coaches’ ignorance sounds very dangerous. And I would do everything by certified mail just to have it all documented.
Idiots! You would think that them being coaches, they’d know a little bit about the human body. They probably assumed your son was Type 2 and judged him based on their preconceived notions of T2.
You are right to write a letter, if you can, get a statement from your endo and his/her recommendation
I would be writing a letter to anyone in the school that would listen. I would also make sure the school board is aware of this.
Doesn’t sound like discrimination as much as it does ignorance. I would write to the athletic director and ask him to call you about the situation and provide a written response, I would also copy the principal, superintendent and your rep on the school board. Also ask that that your letter and the written response be put in your son’s permanent school record.
I might also drop in some pamphlets that explain the difference between T1 and T2, then tell them there will be a test on that later! Oh, and tell the one coach maybe that they should have covered all of this at medical school where he learned how to “get rid” of diabetes, he probably shouldn’t have slept thru that class!
Make sure they understand that your son, who IS covered by the ADA, is not participating in a school activity because of the remarks made by the coaches. Remarks made about his “physical disability” (not that it really is one, but the ADA says it is), one that does not normally effect his performance of required activities in anyway. You just want “reasonable accommodations” made. Once they realize the potential for litigation in this matter, this type of behavior can be stopped dead most places.
This is a prime example of one of the problems that gets talked about alot. The media tends to group all diabetics together, in the T2 camp. I really wish that T1 and T2 were not all called “diabetics”. Lot of the same symptoms and effects, but really two different diseases. Oh well
I hope your son is willing to go back out there if it all works out. I don’t blame him for walking off tho, granted he was upset, but these guys could have put him at serious risk. It’s great that he knows when to ignore those in authority and do what needs to be done to keep himself well.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Scott
I like Samantha’s advice to write 9 letters and send the 10th and i agree with Scott that this sounds more like ignorance than discrimination.
It might be a good idea to also ask the football coaches to educate the track coaches, especially if they really want him to be a sprinter. That, of course, depends on whether your son is remotely interested.
One consideration you might have is to educate rather than irritate. If you can find a way to give the track coaches the benefit of the doubt there’s more likelihood that they’ll understand the situation of the next T1 who tries to train with the team.
Good luck,
Terry
Yes, educate not irritate, you have to keep in mind your son will be living his days at this school for 2 more years. And no matter what anyone says, what moms do at school makes a huge difference in how your child is looked upon.
I did get permission from Jo before I sent or said anything about her situation. Not sure what size school your son goes to but I live in a very small town and her school population is the size of one class in most schools around us. Needless to say we live in a very small fishbowl and if I don’t use my turn signal in town everyone knows about it!
Nurse, lead counselor, and include the offending coach/teacher - Does your son have anything in writing about his diabetes? a 504 or just an Individual health plan? IF so it should state in there how your son is to manage his diabetes at school, and or at extra circular activities. I have dealt with similar issues with my DD. We just had an SST / 504 meeting w/all of her teachers, the psychologist, and the lead counselor. WE discussed all worries and concerns and I Feel so much better. DD had a substitute teacher tell her “Oh you are one of “those” kids.” I could have blown a gasket. However it didn’t seem to bother DD as much as it did me. I personally would write a letter to the people I mentioned about the situation and make them all aware, if you have not had a meeting maybe you need to have one. Any and All teachers dealing with your son should be aware of his condition and know how to tell any and all symptoms. If you like you can email me.
I do also however agree on writing more than one letter (vent on the first few), then send the last one. Just make sure to include everyone who really needs to know. Nurse, teachers, principal.
I would definately write the letter. It’s just crazy how they made those comments.
This defiantely sounds more like ignorance than discrimination. It doesn’t make it right, but it’s far less severe. I think that you should request to the Athletic Director that all of the coaches become more educated in Type 1 diabetes so that if your son decides to still go for track, the coach will better understand his needs. Unfortunately, people who know someone with Type 2 think they know diabetes through and through. They are similar, but still different. Of course this man sounds like he knows very little of even his sister’s diabetes if he thinks a low blood sugar is simply “mind over matter.” I would just be careful about how I went about this because if the coach gets angry for getting in trouble over the situation, your son may still have to deal with him. It’s a tricky situation, so make sure you get your head and your words clear before you take action and let the director know that you don’t want to cause trouble (even if you really do) but help the coach understand your son’s health needs so that he can participate in the sports he wants to without putting himself in danger.
I don’t know how he just walked away! I would be screaming at them, but then again i have been told i have a short temper! i would definitely write a few letters. That’s no way to treat anyone…would they rather him keep going and pass out? then what would they do? I would definitely make someone of high power aware of this!
It is important to make sure the school is clear. If your son had listened to the coaches instead of using his own good sense he could have had a medical emergency. You could prevent a problem for another child in the future. I hope your son receives some acknowledgement that the coaches were wrong and that he returns to track or at the very least does not allow this to keep him on the side lines in any way! He is doing everything right!
Wow some of my post is gone! It doesn’t really make sense now.
I guess the main thing is to bring the instance to light. Make sure people know it happened and if you DS is going to do sports the coaches and other staff need to know he is Type 1. It is very improtant, as someone else said, he could have had a Major Medical Emergency had he continued on like the coach suggested. Most of my post is correct. Sorry.
Wow, I got mad just reading your account of what happened. I can only imagine how infuriated you’ve been over this! Definitely write some letters, maybe offer to provide some education or link them with some educational resources. Maybe request a meeting. Ask them to explain their actions and responses, and then point by point, respectfully correct them. It’s a wonderful lesson for your son because he’ll encounter that level of ignorance throughout his life, and it won’t always be in a situation where he can flip out and/or storm away. I totally understand his anger and why he responded, but now is the time to take control of the situation, allow your son to feel empowered, and use the opportunity to educate them since they clearly haven’t got a clue about T1.
Thank you all so much for your input - I knew I could count on you. I am so happy I posted here first before going off and writing the letter. I will take some time and compose a letter worthy of all your suggestions. And yes I agree it was more ignorance and lack of education vs discrimination…I just couldn’t think of any other word this morning due to my anger :). Thank you all again! I will keep you posted.
I had a similiar situation in my second year of highschool as well. I was sitting in class eating a bag of chips ( I know its far from the best thing but the only thing available in the vending machine at the time) my teacher was writting on the board and made a remark somthing like this, “do you really need to be eating that in class”, I was slightly surprised because he had already been informed of my situation, and knew I had to eat if I was low. I told him that If I did not eat them I would pass out. He then replied that I didn’t need to be eating them anyways because there is no sugar in chips. needless to say he was a complete moron, not to mention MY SCIENCE TEACHER. I then continued to explain to him that carbs are in chips and that was what I needed to bring my blood sugar up, not pure processes sugar. He then got all flustered and looked embarassed, I do not in any way feel bad for making him look stupid in front of the other students either because it is part of his job to understand the medical conditions of his students.
I find it so amazing how many people do not understand. especially teachers But we have to give them this, they are not trained, most of the time they have no clue. 
I work for a school district (no not a teacher) and my husband is type 2 (not sure about all of that stuff, whole other story). and did not understand Type 1. So sometimes we have to give them that training and help them to understand. I am kinda shocked that a science teacher didn’t know.
I wouldn’t be writing a letter I would be marching down to the field and calling an emergency meeting to educate, educate and educate, and I would follow that up with letters confirming what are meeting was about and the outcome. I would also see about bringing a diabetes educator with me, and i would follow all of this up with a meeting of the principal and staff, to again educate. I would also put a 504 in place that dealt with the situation.
Lots of good advice here. Yes, write letters to educate while pointing out that you know your rights. But don’t make life a living hell for your kid by making it a personal attack against the coach, especially if your son does plan to run track. And Scott is right, the school district has a lot of liability here based on the description of what happened, and the AD or school superintendent will realize that.
By the way, I think that if your son’s bg was dropping he did a very good job controlling himself and not throwing a punch. I can’t say that I have always done as well at controlling my anger when I am low.