February 4, 2006
School and Daycare
Question from Murphy, North Carolina, USA:
My five year old son has diabetes type 1 for three and a half months and is in Kindergarten. His doctor gave orders to my son’s school, without telling me, to check my son’s blood sugar only once a day or if his sugar “seems” high or low. His teacher has only been trained by me and we had a schedule of checking his blood before morning snack and before afternoon snack to avoid lows and highs before they get serious. His low “signs” are subtle and I’m afraid that, with 15 other children in the class, it would be difficult for the teacher to notice lows.
I did not want to risk him falling into a coma so I asked if I could pick him up from school until I can resolve this. When I got to his school, they had packed up his entire desk and his teacher, nurse and principal said “goodbye” to us. I do not want him to miss out on school, but I don’t know were to turn to get help. I called his doctor, but he was no help and my son doesn’t see his endocrinologist until January 31. I am new to this town and state. What can I do to keep my son in public school and keep him safe?
Answer:
North Carolina has a law that requires school to provide care to students with diabetes. For more information, see the North Carolina State Board of Education web page.
In addition, federal laws require public schools to provide services and aids in order to keep our children medically safe at school and to ensure that students with diabetes have full access to participate in our school activities. For more information, see the ADA’s web page on School Discrimination.
It sounds like you need to work with your child’s health care provider to develop a health care plan and/or physician’s order that will meet your child’s needs. The recommendation is that you speak with your child’s endocrinologist and certified diabetes educator to develop an appropriate plan and then work with your child’s school nurse and other school administrators to implement your child’s plan.
CJ
