My daughter was recently intentionally left out of a dance routine because they didn’t believe she “could physically handle the long & intense rehearsals that last up to 4 hours” with out having to “take care of herself”. My response after counting to 10 five times, was “what child could? they don’t get water breaks, bathroom breaks? what happens to the kid that may puke in the corner?”
Anyway, what I am looking for are success stories of normal children doing amazing things with diabetes. I can give them celebrity stories all day long. But I want the normal kids to shove in their faces how discriminatory they are being.
I know that my daughter can handle it, she just might have to handle it different than every one else.
If you could just post a story, I will leave your child’s name out of the story and replace it with something like Pebbles or Bam-Bam.
i could send you a photo of my oldest son (16), sailing a regatta, tiller in one, bag of skittle in the other. did they relent and let your daughter in once they heard the word “discrimination”?
I have found that most people belong to three groups where the largest does not really understand diabetes and does not care, the second largest is people who will do anything to make sure our children have an active, “normal” life and the smallest group is people who are scared and cannot see beyond their fear; the worst part is that they are not scared for our children, they are scared of the unknown and not being able to handle an emergency.
Let me know if you want the pix
They know it’s discrimination. They actually said, “We are not trying to discriminate, we are looking out for her health.” I said, “isn’t that my job?” But no, they did not relent, and I really do not want her in the routine if that is how the teacher feels. Keep her with the ones that know her and the ones she trusts.
My daughter (16) doesn’t let diabetes get in the way of anything. She sings, acts and occasionally dances-- she’s on stage for long periods of time. She knows what she needs to do to manage her diabetes (like not give herself insulin for the pre-stage highs caused by stress) so it doesn’t get in her way. She’s played sports and does Tae Kwan Do. In fact, she’s at practice right now.
Maybe a note from your daughter’s endo would help? And, I’m guessing this is a place you pay for her to go? Can you find another dance studio? Or, get other parents to sign a letter that they don’t appreciate the discrimination against your daughter? You may need to offer to be there during rehearsals so they know they don’t have to take care of your daughter should something happen. Also, they might want to read Zippora Karz’ book. She was a professional ballerina diagnosed with type 1 when she was dancing. If she can figure out how to deal with diabetes on that kind of rehearsal schedule, surely they can help your daughter. Good luck!
My 10 year old daughter, Chamberlyn, is also a dancer and competes on her studio’s dance team. Both directors work around the T1, even telling her when they think she’s running low. She tends to start forgetting corrections, and that’s when they know. They allow me to keep drinks, food, and other diabetes supplies in their back office. They usually give her about a 10 minute recovery time and never hold it against her! She is currently in all four competition pieces, along with a solo and duet piece. She practices on these pieces after she does her regular dance classes. This means that some days, she’s at the studio 3.5 - 4 hours. Last year, when she was diagnosed, she had a wonderful competition season because her directors pushed her, included her, and didn’t discriminate against her. She was usually first or second place for solo and all of her other pieces scored really high and won special awards. So…without sounding too much like I’m bragging on my T1 kiddo, I just wanted you to have a story to tell your dance instructors that there can be fantastic results when including a T1 dancer and not discriminating against them due to their possible constraints! I hope you get what you need!! Not enough ammo in my opinion - I would be fuming mad!!
YES!! YES!!! YES!! Thank you! My daughter was diagnosed last year as well and they NEVER had a problem with it before…
Oh I am more than fuming mad! Trust me they heard what I had to say and I was not on my best behavior.
I am so sorry that this happened - it drives me crazy when people think they know better. They are probably trying to mitigate their liability (and are doing an extraordinarily poor job of it). You mentioned a teacher, is this a school sponsored event?
In any event, my 16 year old son is a shot put and discus thrower, he spends hours at track practices and meets. His coaches are unbelievably supportive (one of them is T1 as well) and they have a very good understanding of how important it is for him to not only participate, but to excel.
The other dancers could learn a thing or two from your daughter, as athletes need to pay close attention to their bodies and the signals that they give off.in order to perform at high levels. If they are truly concerned for her well being, offer to educate them on what needs to be done, and make arrangements to help out if need be.
I wish you luck and success - don’t let them push you around!
Hi, my daughter Samantha is 15, she was diagnosed T1 last November & she has continued playing field hockey & fast pitch softball for the high school and in leagues. You can see her photos on my page. You know, I’m also friends with a college student-ballerina on TuDiabetes. I’ll look at my friend list & tell you her name. I just had a man tell me this weekend that he’s dating a woman who has a son with diabetes & the son is on a swim team, but the coach won’t let him swim unless the mom is at all the practices & meets. I thought that was so sad! Samantha’s coaches have been very good. They’ve asked us if they should carry anything around for her, so I give them all a roll of glucose tabs or tell them all they really have to remember is 1/2 can of real Coke if she feels low. It’s terrible that a teacher would treat your daughter as if she couldn’t perform! When Samantha was diagnosed, we immediately researched T1 athletes – and you’ll find them – so she could have some inspiration.
I can’t find the TuDiabetes ballerina! Maybe someone else will know her – she was a college student, I think in Alabama & she had beautiful ballet photos on her page. Don’t let those teachers give your daughter the impression that she is anything less than the other dancers!
I am not a parent of a type 1, but I am a type 1. I’m 28 and was diagnosed at age 11. She can do it! In high school, I played volleyball and soccer, lettering in both. As a child, I danced jazz, tap and ballet. And in college, I played rugby. Currently, I cycle. Show them the Team Type 1 website. Those cyclists bike for hours at a time. So yes, your daughter CAN do this. It may take a moment for her to figure out the routine, but she can dance!! And I second what someone said above about having a lawyer contact them. This is absolutely ridiculous and outrageous!
Although our DD has taken dance class, and is able to do it, she did need to bring blood sugar up to 180 before beginning, reduce basals 70 percent for the class (usually an hour) and often had to consume free carbs after. She did have to test every hour. If the rehearsal is four hours straight dance with no time to check blood sugar and drink free carbs when necessary, and no allowances would be made to allow her to do this, it would be dangerous for her. Likewise, it does not sound as if this dance group would allow her to treat a low and take ten minutes to bring herself up to a normal range. It sounds like a dangerous situation. And, yes, it also sounds discriminatory to me. I wonder if there is anything you can do about this. But this dance group does not sound like the sort of group I would want my daughter to be in. I would find another group. Yes, they can do what other children can do, but exercise needs to be monitored carefully. I am thinking of Gary Hall, the Olympic swimmer, diagnosed with Type 1 in the middle of his career. To my way of thinking few sports are more dangerous for Type 1s than swimming. If he could make this work at the Olympic level, your daughter could make it work for dance rehearsal. It sounds like an unsafe situation though because they may discourage her from taking the needed breaks. Shame on them!
Quite frankly, I think they would have heard a piece of my mind! My son plays basketball and baseball. We reduce his basal while on the court and then we do another temp basal for 4 hours after he is off the court. I can NOT believe that they would actually say this to you and your daughter. I wish your daughter the best.
Thank you Theresa. I did give them a piece of my mind…a very large piece. Pretty much told them it was MY job to make decisions regarding her health and that they were VERY uneducated if they think this will keep her from doing anything she wants to do.
I have not told Allie this is why she was excluded or that this is how they feel. I do not want her to start thinking like this. I want her to know and always know she can do whatever she wants.
Thank you everyone for your replies! It is working. I have combined these stories a long with a few others regarding diabetic dancers and professional athletes. I believe it is working because the people in question will not even look at me. I hope they are embarrassed by their own ignorance and by their discrimination.
I have chosen to keep the “reason” a secret from my daughter because I do not want her to get the mind set that this will continue to happen to her or that she is limited in anyway. When she is at school she is included in EVERYTHING and all the teachers are ready, willing and able to help her when/if it is needed. I do not see why dance would be different. My theory is the trophy they hope to win is more important than my daughter’s feelings. We will not be returning to this studio next season and when I am finished passing the word as to why we will not be back, I hope many others join me and there is a mass exodus.
Pretty much told them it was MY job to make decisions regarding her health and that they were VERY uneducated if they think this will keep her from doing anything she wants to do.