What accomidations / inclusive practices are the most important to you?

I was just mulling over my presentation and I thought I would ask here what accommodations are the most important to you?

We all have different ages of kiddos and they are all in different stages of independence, so I wanted to make sure I represent the broad range of possible requested accommodations.

What are your pet peeves when it comes to lack of proactive inclusive practices when it comes to your kiddo with diabetes?
My pet peeve is my daughters class winning a party for great behavior or some sort of school contest and being called the day of to let me know.
Letting the class have a treat and telling my kiddo to just take it home or wait till snack/lunch, while letting everyone else have it on the spot.
Forgetting that I am to be first asked if a family member can chaperone a field trip at no cost to me to go, making me feel like a bad guy if other parents are turned away.
Planning an special activity when my DD will be out of the class room and at the nurse.

that is just a short list but the above happen way too often IMHO, and she has a great teacher this year, would hate to know what a bad teacher would do to make her feel less included.

 

Based on your previous thread and this one I would just caution you not to try and include too much in your presentation. Most people are not as passionate about diabetes as we are and I think if you try and give too much information they are going to glaze over and tune out. I could be wrong but I am just giving some friendly advice. I hope it goes well for you.

 

Totally understand, I am just trying to be a bit more concise by grouping like problems and concerns together and be more general rather than specific.

 

Based on current experience, I want them to include in their sub plans that they have a child (or children) with Type 1 in the classroom and that if they have any questions, to contact the nurse and/or parents. Every single time this year that DS has had a substitute, we've had issues, ranging from giving everyone in the class but him a lollipop to take home to telling him that he cannot refill his water bottle that stays at his desk to referring him to the assistant principal for walking to his little corner of the room to check his blood sugar while the teacher was teaching (it was his scheduled time and he does it every morning, while the regular teacher is teaching, without saying a word).

 

Actually that will work great for this class, as many of them are currently in practicums at schools and/or subbing.

 

One thing they seriously irks me is the amount of bake sales that are at school. With type 2 at risk for kids of basically any age, the growing number of overweight and obese children, and an increased sedentary lifestyle, why encourage crappy food? Like, let's try some BOOK sales instead of eating cupcakes and brownies? My daughter can choose one thing, but there are other kids who are eating so much more crap. My husband always says " you wouldn't care if she didn't gave diabetes!" Lol, yea maybe not but at least it made me smarter to better food choices!

 

Ditto Kristen. How hard is it to get fruit and cheese instead of ice cream? Most kids love fruit, especially when it's their only option. Christopher's school rewards things with ice cream parties, cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, etc.

The biggest thing, though, for me, is advance warning. Then I can know what is being served and either take off work to be there or send in a list of carb counts for cupcakes and ice cream. And since I work, I can't always answer the phone if his teachers calls three minutes before they're about to eat cupcakes that a parent brought in for her child's birthday. Then Chris misses out and either brings home a crushed cupcake in a baggie because no one knew what to do with him. That absolutely burns me up.

 

My pet peeve is that they think that diabetes is the same for everyone. The "I already know about diabetes because I've been teaching for 12 years and your child isn't the first one" line drives me nuts. No two kids with diabetes are the same and they need to understand that what one family agreed to and what worked for one kid isn't going to dictate what is done for all other kids. I know it's a hassle and I don't expect teachers to learn all of the details of management (in our school there is a classroom aide for younger kids and a push for self-management or management with assistance in middle school) but they should have a list of numbers they can reference - like, "John's target is 150. He eats before PE and needs a morning snack. Anything under 100 or over 300 needs attention. Mary's target is 100. She does not have scheduled snacks. Anything under 70 or over 150 needs attention. Joe's target is 120. He tests before PE and needs an afternoon snack. Anything under 90 or over 250 needs attention."

For us, this is going to be even more of an issue next year. My son was diagnosed in 5th grade and my daughter will be in 5th grade. As much as the schools struggle to remember that my kids are managed differently than the other CWDs (only ones on CGMs, two of only 3 on pumps, no snacks, push for tighter control, etc) I dread what it will be like when they are in the same building and working with the same staff. And the teachers that dealt with DS in 5th grade will be surprised at how differently DD approaches diabetes and self-management. Even the district nurse struggles with this - when she fills in at one kids' school, she tries to manage them the same. I keep explaining that they may be part of the same family but that their diabetes is not the same. For example, DD's boluses seem "too high" because of what she sees with DS. Or she wants DS to check in because DD does. Same disease but different kids.

 

Does your son have a 504 or other type of plan/instructions? It sounds like the communication between you and the school personnel needs to be improved. If he doesn't have a plan then having one should improve things. If he does have a plan and they are not following it then maybe a face to face meeting with the school personnel to reinforce how you want him managed at school would help. Good luck.

 

Yes, he has a 504 and plenty of instructions. Communication is great between his teacher, the nurse, and me. My issue is when a parent unexpectedly brings something in and the school can't get hold of me because I'm teaching or in a meeting, so they give him the goodies to eat at home. I don't understand how a 504 would fix that. :/

 

You know, with allergies and everything, you would have thought school would have given up on bakes sales and food parties for rewards.

You want to raise money? Book sale. Arts and craft sale. Car wash. Charity drives.

You want to reward good behavior? Why not a board game party? How about a special field trip? Bring in a special instructor for painting or sculpting or science experiments. Or, you know, an extra recess or something fun.



As far as pet peeves, I was dx'd as a teen and so most of my complaints are from high school and college.
1. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to take away my medical devices.
Background: In order to prep for lunch, I would often check at the end of 3rd period and walk and correct on the way to my next class (then I'd be closer to normal if I was out of range...this was before CGMS). Apparently, this looked like I was texting, so jerk teachers in the hall would pluck my pump out of my hand while walking by and nearly rip my site out. Don't do that. You think a kid is texting and you have a no cell phone rule, double check. Triple check. Quadruple check that you are not taking away a medical device.

2. Just because I have diabetes does not mean I want to be your example for everything in biology
This happened in every bio class I took. I know you get excited because someone in the class knows about some stuff before taking your class, but don't make me stand up, don't point me out by name, don't make me some side show display to make your point. It's humiliating. People mock you outside of class. Just, don't. Not without permission, anyway.

 

Understood. Maybe you could give them a list of general items (a small cupcake is X carbs, a large is X carbs, a 2x2 inch brownie is x carbs, a chocolate chip cookie is x carbs, etc). That way they could make a good estimate on the number of carbs and dose him based on his I:C ratio. That way he could participate wth the rest of the kids. Just a thought.

 

But the problem is not that easy to fix for a lot of families, it is not that simple! The school can not "just dose" my dd without getting a BG check first. Some schools would have to call the nurse and have her come to the school to "dose". Some families would want to be called to let them decide. For my dd, her kit is in the nurses office so that means she would have to leave class, leave the special surprise moment.

This all rolls back around to every child, every family, every school, every event is different and no matter how well be plan we as parent can only ask that the person in charge of my kiddo for 1/2 of their waking hours does the same.

 

I didn't say it was simple. Not many things about diabetes are. I was responding to ksartain and her situation. I was trying to offer some ideas for helping her son be able to participate more fully at school. Obviously the school personnel would need to follow whatever protocol the parent sets up (first checking bg, etc). I wasn't going to list out all the things they need to do in order to dose the child. And I was not trying to encompase all the different situations at all the different schools there are.

The bottom line is that living life with diabetes is challenging and many times the spontaneity of real life doesn't synch up with all the stuff our children need to do to manage their diabetes. I was just trying to understand ksartains situation and possibly offer some ideas to help.

 

Well the easy fix is exactly what this thread is about, teachers being proactive and making inclusive practices. How hard is it for a teacher to send a letter home at the beginning of the year and ask parents/ tell parents that IF there is an occasion to that they would like to bring in a special treat that advance notice of the treat is to be given to make sure that all students may equally participate or an alternative treat be provided. Or that if a special treat is brought in without prior notice that it will be held off till the end of the day and or sent home with students. Because it is fair is everyone has to take it home, but not fair if it is only my kids or kids with allergies that has sit there and watch everyone else enjoy theirs.

For me it is not so much when parents bring something in, it is when the school or teacher rewards kids with a treat without prior notice, that just so rubs me the wrong way.

 

My son's teacher last year actually did this right after DS was diagnosed, halfway through the year. It's one of the many reasons I actually cried when he moved onto 3rd grade this year, because I knew things were going to be different. This year I've not had one single advance notice of any class party, celebration, or treat given out. Heck, on two different occassions, DS was completely excluded, with a teacher yanking a cupcake out of his hand in front of his classmates at another one of them. Like a previous poster said, they can't learn all the intricacies of D care; however, if they are going to be in contact with our children, they should know something. The teacher that yanked the cupcake out of his hand only knew that DS had diabetes, nothing else.

At his new school next year (we've already been in contact with the school and the nurse), they push more towards self-care and the nurse is there for situations he doesn't know how to fix. We've been doing more of that this year anyway, but if even half of what they've told me they will do and/or allow is true, it's a 100% improvement on where he is now.

 

It is an amazing thing how a teacher can make you feel like you never know when the other shoe will drop, or comfortable and at ease. Even with the mishaps that have happened this year, I love her teacher.

Teaching is such a hard job, and I really do think that the normal teacher is not well equipped to not only deal with differentiating their lesson towards common disabilities but towards all the food allergies and what Type 1 Diabetes entails. I could not do it, to be able to think about every single student and what they need to make a successful day. It is humbling to be in this class.

 

OK so today was very much like show and tell! My oldest had a fever last night and could not go to school, but she was feeling much better this morning after I got her on allergy meds, and I took her with me to school!

My presentation was a bit different having her there with me, but we brought cookies and they saw or didn't see how checking BG in the classroom can be. My presentation took a good half hour because of all the questions and interaction I had with the class. I think I made it real for them. I really hit home with how a child can feel excluded when something is not well planned for, compared to a child being fully included when things are planned for: IE our treat for the class of cookies. I think I also hit home the point that every child, family, school, and event can be different. Things are always in flux and no number is a bad number, it is just a data point that helps us lonely humans try to be the best pancreas we can be. And it is hard to be a pancreas.

My teachers husband is also Type 1, diagnosed at 18 years old, and it was an interesting comparison. She went on to talk about low blood sugars below 30 that she needed to call 911 for and passing out, compared to me saying, "knock on wood" I have never had to use Glucagon or call an ambulance. Although I was trying to recover from her comments I also was able to drive home the point that BG level is not a report card on success, there will be times that stress, illness, happiness, emotion and injury play for you or against you in managing BG levels.

I hope I made a difference today with future teachers, today.

 

I think the same thing about my poor peanut allergy kid. Why is everything freaking food?!?! Even things like pizza kit fundraisers and candy fundraisers, they all say nut facilities. No food fundraisers are ever nut free. Gah! I miss the wrapping paper fundraisers.

 

OMG, I hate the wrapping paper fundraisers! (only because everything goes in a bag from the dollar store, or has been recycled from the last party)

I don' mind the fundraisers, something that comes later, it the "here and right now " treats that bother me. I kills me that they let the kids spend their "bucks" on food items.( but there are teachers that do not allow it to be an option for their class)

I just wish that school would set a goal and express that goal to us parents. I would rather 'donate" $20 to getting active boards in every classroom than to "crazy hair days".