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August 9, 2007

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Question from Sidney, Ohio, USA:

My doctor says that my 14-year-old daughter should be responsible for all aspects of her diabetes care, that we parents should not help her. Do you feel this is appropriate? Shouldn’t we parents be responsible to make sure that she that she checks her sugar and takes her insulin correctly? The reason why I am asking is because her dad fails to supervise her and she has gone into DKA twice under his care. Our family doctor feels it is not his fault, but hers.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

There is good evidence from the psychological and diabetes literature that children and teens have better diabetes health when the parents are involved. This means having open communication, providing support and encouragement, and stepping in when problems are overwhelming for the teen. Allowing your teen to make mistakes, yet keeping her safe can be a delicate balance. And, while your teen will need to be independent in caring for her diabetes, she still needs support from her parents, family, and friends. Being independent does not mean being alone in managing diabetes. Most pediatric diabetes educators and diabetes child psychologists believe that managing diabetes is a team effort through the teen years, with the parents serving as coaches.

A great resource is the book The Ten Keys to Helping Your Child Grow Up With Diabetes by Tim Wysocki, Ph.D.

BS