Type 1 Diabetes University is open

How are they excluding people? Just because their <i>main</i> target audience is Type 1 doesn't mean they are saying people with Type 2 can't take the courses (and, in fact, the language used on the website suggests that they are trying to encourage everyone using insulin to participate). You could go register right now if you wanted to and I'm sure there would be no problems. Just because they are using Type 1 in the name doesn't mean those are the <i>only</i> people who can benefit from it, only that those are the people <i>most likely</i> to benefit since Type 1s tend to be the ones using insulin pumps, intensive MDI, advanced carbohydrate counting, and have problems with managing exercise, hypoglycemia, and severe swings in daily blood sugars, which are the kinds of topics the courses address. But, as you said, there's no reason why some Type 2s may not also benefit from these topics, and I'm sure they are free to sign up if they want to. Aren't there any organizations whose services you use even though you might not fit exactly within the wording used in the title of the services?

I neglected in my response to thank Manny for posting this ...I would never have known otherwise .

Thank you Manny!! This is very interesting.. I am considering taking one course. This could be a great addition to a CDE.

Erm. Why would anyone work for free? This man put time, money and effort into his education. Why should we expect him to give his time and his knowledge for free?

Yes, people with breast cancer generally do pay for information on how to treat their diseases from their doctors. Speciality classes for women dealing with living with breast cancer are generally paid for by (most) insurance companies. My mother did not get extra free education when she was dealing with her two bouts of breast cancer.

I think some people just take issue with the terminology, Jennifer J. Which is kind of silly - people get their undies all bunched up over things like this.

It is hard for people who deal exclusively with type one diabetes and insulin based therapy to find more advanced information. It would make sense that since this is geared more toward people who use insulin to the exclusion of any other drug that it would be named after the group who is always put onto insulin-only therapy straight from the get-go. Just like it makes more sense for the American Diabetes Association to give more information out on their site about type two diabetes, since more of the diabetic populace seems to suffer from either type two or a fairly newly discovered subset of diabetes (LADA, etc). Heck, even my pharmacy offers lots of information that works best on type twos.

Now, that isn't to say that this information wouldn't benefit some type twos. I think that if a type two were to see these courses and find use in them, then they should definitely sign up for it regardless of the name. More information is always good!

Thirty bucks isn't so bad. I'm going to see about taking a couple of these. The topics are in-depth. I think these things are a really good idea. When I was diagnosed I was given a couple of books, taught how to give a shot and sent on my way. I'm very glad to see so many great educational opportunities. It is very true that a browse through the fora at TuD can give you a great deal of patient education. I hope the opening of Gary's T2University happens quickly so we can put the sibling rivalry down for a nap.

Why shouldn't professionals be paid?

People don't usually value or take to heart what they receive free.

There's no indication that these programs are being produced with tax-payer provided funds. I wonder if this is something you can submit through your FSA. $29.95 isn't so bad.

I think it's just to supplement what we're getting from our own docs/health professionals.

Christalyn -- I borrowed Gary's book "Think Like a Pancreas" from the library -- free! -- when I was taking insulin during my pregnancy and it was really helpful. The book doesn't discriminate between types. The intro says that it's just for anyone taking insulin. It answered a lot of my questions and helped me understand why I was doing what I was doing, which my nurses never explained.

Wow, this T1U looks awesome! I am re-reading "Think Like a Pancreas" right now, and trying to give my motivation some CPR after 15+ years of Type 1 diabetes. I think I'll try out one of these classes--the hard part is deciding which one as they all look good.

If you are going to do this, why don't you see if your insurance will cover this. My insurance (Aetna) fully covers doctor ordered diabetes education. Get your doctor to order every course and see if they will pay for it. The whole suite of courses probably costs less than like a visit to your endo.

If all the AIDS patients had to pay for free medical services and advice it would be super pan epidemic by know. I am not suggesting that nobody gets paid but insurance companies tend to pick and choose what the want to pay for. I think its time diabetes gets the same treatment as other more "popular" diseases.

No more silly than the club owner in Wisconsin having a sign on his door stating which customers based on ethnicity can enter his establishment. Terminology and marketing makes alot of difference to people. Maybe not you.

Why as a Type 2 should automatically think I am included with everything that mentions Type 1 diabetics? this is one of the areas where Type 1's think they know everything and Type 2's should just follow. I have been denied membership to several Type 1 only clubs because of my T2 status. Not all T1's are a accepting as you are. You are making plenty of assumption for yourself and nothing to do with Type 2's and the minority of us that are insulin dependant. Like I said before he is trying to cash in Type 1's which will bring him more money. If the roles were reversed Type1's would be howling as usual. If you believe the ADA doesn't offer enough information about T1 than please let them know. It is important to have information for everybody.

I don't think we can compare this to racism. Let's not even take it there.

My body has been dealing with type one diabetes (and the negative effects thereof) for 16+ years, yet I am still young. This comes into play in a very unique way - when my husband and I go to try to conceive this is going to come into play, I have been and will be dealing with body issues that most type twos are just not going to see for quite a few years.

I am willing to pay for classes like this because not many doctors are trained (even the endos) to deal with these types of unique issues. I don't feel like this is taking advantage of me monetarily because frankly it is hard to find this type of information. Why on earth take offense to the differences in the diseases? I think it is more foolish to pretend like they don't exist and don't affect us in different ways. The world doesn't have to be 'betes-neutral. It is ok to acknowledge them. And it is most certainly ok to give them different names, because guess what? Not everything about type one and type two and LADA overlap. There are differences there and it is okay.

I don't think the intent of the courses is to exclude other types of diabetes. It is true that most type 2s have a great deal of trouble obtaining support from insurance companies (and drs) for pumps and CGMs, so there may be limited demand from T2s for these courses. That may well change in the future. The name and focus of the site should perhaps be rethought, but I really could care less, I don't see anything in the description which excludes non type 1s. So I think we should just all get over the labelling and just move on.

Thank you! :) I agree!

It amazes me that I've had diabetes longer than a number of people on this list (almost 20 years)! I still remember being the newbie so clearly! :-)

While my insurance CERTAINLY won't cover it, I'm thinking of taking a couple of those courses -- trying to decide which ones would answer my needs best. The CGM one and Strike the Spike one look the best right now.

I've never read "Think Like A Pancreas", but I still think I could most likely benefit from those classes. Maybe see you there?

I signed up for 4 of them. Two of them are at the same time. This ought to be interesting.

I think I already mentioned that my insurance has a $50 lifetime benefit for diabetes education, which I exhausted long ago (I'm going on 20 years with diabetes). A LOT has changed since I was diagnosed, and if I hadn't kept up with it myself, boy would I be in trouble! But the idiots at my insurance can say they cover diabetes education -- what a joke!!

I agree that diabetes education should be better covered (I think the state of Ohio does not mandate coverage at all -- Nevada does, but you just saw what insurance companies can get away with), and I think the media needs to do their homework on it, but we are the only ones who will get them to do that. I am grateful for all the people who work on better resources for Type 1 (they just got a large federal grant for research on Type 1), but Type 2's are woefully undereducated, underorganized and often uninterested. The ADA is more interested in legal advocacy (again, most often for Type 1's), and some research, but not enough. NOT meaning to start another war, but reading widely in the literature, and considering what I've read.

No more silly than the club owner in Wisconsin having a sign on his door stating which customers based on ethnicity can enter his establishment

I don't think this is even comparable, at all. The site doesn't say ANYWHERE that Type 2s can't take the course. That is something you are reading into based on the name alone.

Terminology and marketing makes alot of difference to people.

Being legally blind I know a fair bit about discrimination and exclusion. It is important, I just do not think this site is an example of such.

Like I said before he is trying to cash in Type 1's which will bring him more money.

This isn't true. There are more insulin-using Type 2s than the entire population of Type 1s. So he would make more money aiming his courses at Type 2s. But these courses are aimed primarily at those who already have experience using pumps or advanced MDI, are young people, athletes, and so on. This doesn't even encompass the entire Type 1 population, only a niche subset of it. How many Type 2s fit that kind of profile? There may be some, and there is nothing stopping them from signing up, but that's just not who the particular courses are aimed at.

If the roles were reversed Type1's would be howling as usual.

If you look around there are dozens and dozens of websites and information geared for Type 2 diabetes, while there is very little out there about Type 1. This makes sense as Type 2s vastly outnumber Type 1s and so of course it would get more coverage and attention. If the roles were reversed I don't think Type 1s would be "howling" because I don't think Type 1s would even really notice, just another tree added to the forest of information already out there. The reason this has gotten so much attention is because it's a new Type 1 resources, the appearance of which is relatively rare and cause for excitement.