How do I blend in at school?

[Little_Lucy]

When I do my sugars at school because the machine beeps everyone stares and looks at me and I don't like it and all the time get the words does it hurt are you okay I mean they don't mean to be annoying there just trying to be helpful but it gets really annoying and I'm not the most loud person and I don't like to make anything about it I just want to blend in a bit more can anyone help

 

[urbanracer]

When I do my sugars at school because the machine beeps everyone stares and looks at me and I don't like it and all the time get the words does it hurt are you okay I mean they don't mean to be annoying there just trying to be helpful but it gets really annoying and I'm not the most loud person and I don't like to make anything about it I just want to blend in a bit more can anyone help

Maybe @IceLover can give you some peer advice on this. As a 55yr old I'm probably not the best person to give advice.

 

[Little_Lucy]

Probably not @urbanracer but thank you for the recommendation

 

[IceLover]

just smile when someone sees you checking to show them your not uncomfortable and and you are okay with it and if you really dislike the situation(like i do) maybe try doing it a private place or somewhere your with your close friends who dont ask many questions also within time they will get used to it and what you do in your daily life and maybe you could tell them that there questions make you feel uncomfortable and you prefer not to answer them good luck x

 

[raybee]

Check your monitor. On my son's you can turn sound off .☺

 

[jakejayeden]

A little bit more context if you can.

If those asking you are in your close friend circle, then you can be direct with them and just heads up on that you're ok unless the "hypo circumstances", these people will be most understanding and will not think differently of you. If these people not are necessarily in your friend circle then they'll most likely have the memory span of a goldfish and will probably still ask you even if you tell them. However I believe after a while, they'll be accustomed to it. It'll just be a think that soso does occasionally.

 

[Little_Lucy]

Thank you @IceLover @raybee and @jakejayden very helpful advise which I will use in school and if it doesn't work I'll have to make my monitor blend in instead

 

[evared]

Hey Lucy,
I'm sorry that you feel uncomfortable about your diabetes at school. I'm 15 in 10th grade and I've had T1D for over 10 years. Having diabetes in school can be rough, especially when it feels like no one understands you. For me, since people in my grade have known me so long, it's just a normal thing for me to be a diabetic, so people know that this huge, loud rectangle on my waist is normal. But, before I got really comfortable, I had a rough time blending in too. It's important to know that people don't mean to hurt your feelings. Kids are interested in things that are uncommon to them. For example, some of my experiences were: stares when I needed to go to the nurse in the middle of a lecture, questions about what "that heart monitor thing is", and interrogations of my ability to consume sugar. The best way to help these issues is to answer these people's questions. Sure, it may be hard to hold in that scream and tell them, yes, you can have sugar. When people see that you're open about it, they won't become as interested. Imagine you're in class, and someone just suddenly drops their books and walks out. Everyone would start to stare at them and wonder what they're doing. But, imagine that they came back, and calmly said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to concern you! I have diabetes and I had to visit the nurse to check if I was OK." The next time they do that, people wouldn't really care as much, because its not anything new/different anymore.

 

[Little_Lucy]

Thank you @evared that made me feel much better about my diabetes and I hope people will come to terms with it as well however not everybody knows like the people in my classes some of them still don't know because I sit nowhere near them so they think the beep is something else but hopefully eventually will just be news of 2015 and they'll either get used to it or just forget

 

[CarbsRok]

When I do my sugars at school because the machine beeps everyone stares and looks at me and I don't like it and all the time get the words does it hurt are you okay I mean they don't mean to be annoying there just trying to be helpful but it gets really annoying and I'm not the most loud person and I don't like to make anything about it I just want to blend in a bit more can anyone help

Hello Lucy, can the bleep be turned off? I know my meter has a choice, so check the instruction manual

 

[SteveOsborne]

Hi Everyone
This is an interesting and very helpful thread. My son is nearly 3yrs old but will be starting school in September. He's been diabetic since 15months but I'm dreading the day I have to explain it's ok to be different. Great advice @evared. Good luck @Little_Lucy

 

[CarbsRok]

Hi Everyone
This is an interesting and very helpful thread. My son is nearly 3yrs old but will be starting school in September. He's been diabetic since 15months but I'm dreading the day I have to explain it's ok to be different. Great advice @evared. Good luck @Little_Lucy

Hi Steve, even though I am well over 50 I was diagnosed before school age and remember it well. AS with all very young children no one batted an eyelid, I was accepted for who I was and my class mates would tell the teacher I was going funny and needed some sugar.
The more fuss parents and other adults make the more the child feels different. My advice would be to sort things out behind the scenes make no huge announcements that JR is diabetic as he will feel different and that's the last thing you want.

 

[Little_Lucy]

Thank you @SteveOsborn you obviously have to explain to the teachers but just tell one and let him or her pass it on to the others and say don't make too much of a fuss about it I don't want him to feel different and you can't stop the questions from the other kids why do you always go out all the time? And you never know the kids might think it's cool for some reason the kids in my year think it's cool and I'm in year eight all you have to say to them is a schedule of when he does bgl and the symptoms of a hypo and a hyper keep an eye on him but don't fuss theirs nothing to be worried about your son is lucky I had to talk to the teachers and explain everything so they know that I know what I'm doing! And just to let you know he won't get bullied in school kids don't bully other kids that are different medical ways and I he'll be better at all the bgl and insulin than you are and me because he started off at an early age it's normal for him and everybody else

 

[CarbsRok]

@Little_Lucy I have read on another forum where youngsters use a card system in class So If hypo or needing to test a certain card colour is laid on the desk. This way no one else is disturbed and your class mates are none the wiser that you have tested or are eating a few sweets to treat a hypo.

 

[Little_Lucy]

Thank you that was very helpful I will definitely try it @CarbsRok

 

[Matthew-G-Bell]

As a 15 year old who has been living with it for 6 years now, I find the best thing to do (personally) is to explain what diabetes is to a person once, make sure they have a good understanding of the facts that:

• It does or doesn't hurt (your opinion)
• You are fine

If all else fails, just test elsewhere (ask to leave the room)

Good luck

 

[MasterDoctor]

@Little_Lucy
I was newly diagnosed a month ago and I just explained to my friends and everyone that I was fine and I just explained about my diabetes and they were just understanding. Also if your school has some kind of medical area, perhaps you could ask the school if you cou,do do your insulin shots there?

Edit: Sorry, messed up with the the tagging

 

[jasmine1616]

If they say something, say it right back. If they ask "are you okay", you should ask them right back. Btw, we should totally be friends.

 

[Geenadiabeater]

When I was younger (18 now) I used to go to the medical room and do everything there. I wasn't really good with checking sugars a lot so I didn't really check in class. Like a lot of people on this forum have said the best thing to do is to reply to the questions. If not you can do like a class presentation, so you explain everything and allow people to ask questions there and then and if they ever ask things people already have before then somebody else who was listening can reply. If you are quiet you can even ask your teacher to do the presentation for you (obviously go through everything beforehand in case they give the wrong information)