Do you think Universities do enough to cater for diabetics?

[MuhammadII]

Hope its the right place to post this.

General question, want to find out about personal experiences.

Want to know if diabetics (both type 1 and 2) feel that enough is done to look after them at university, considering that it has a major impact on control (physically, socially and psychologically).

 

[covman]

What can they really do to help?! All i could ask is for them to be understanding when it comes to exams. I have had hypos during them which really dont help! To be fair if your blood sugars are anything other than 4-8 during an exam you are already on the backfoot concentration wise.

 

[MuhammadII]

Lol, I'll have to agree to your exam problem. I guess it happens to me because I do all-nighters.

I personally feel that all diabetics should go on sum info course (like DAFNE) before they begin uni. Heard stories of many dropping out/loosing control because of the changes in routine, social groups, responsibilities etc.

Thanks for the reply. I'm struggling to go to sleep as am on an 18.7 (I can swear my novorapid isn't working). Grr, will have to w8 to c if the latest shot has an effect.

To make matters worse, I got a 9am prac tmrw. Will I be excused if I'm late?

 

[Fujifilm]

Want to know if diabetics (both type 1 and 2) feel that enough is done to look after them at university

I Would have thought that by the time they got to university, they would be old enough to look after themselves. :roll:

It has me wondering now, do you think the circus is doing enough to cater for unemployed diabetic clowns. :mrgreen:

 

[Angelc]

You can request extra time, rest breaks etc. in exams, this has to be arranged well before you do them, so there is no need to suffer any disadvantage.

 

[Lucie75]

I work in a Halls of Residence which houses over 400 1st year students. Every year we have one or two type 1 diabetics and we make ourselves aware of who they are and what they want from us in terms of support. We have a girl here this year who has admitted that she has quite poor control and is finding it difficult living away from home as she has night hypos quite frequently. We check on her every morning (as do her friends), and some days she phones us and says she's having a bad day so we check on her every hour or so. We do as little or as much as she wants us to do. Can't say what happens with regard to her lectures or exams, but at least in Halls we do our best. I know how frightening it is to know you are susceptible to night hypos and not have anyone know about it until hours later.

 

[jameshallam]

I used to be in halls at the university of birmingham (before I was diagnosed) and I remember that you got a free fridge in your room if you were a diabetic - I had to pay an extra £60 per term!

 

[MuhammadII]

Don't want to add spice to the topic, but I think this is an interesting read:

http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-i ... 97.article

 

[Fujifilm]

Dear oh dear, those poor students, they have diabetes and have to study and take exams and nobody to hold their little handys and wipe their little botty's.

GET REAL :evil:

How are they going to cope in the real world. University students are supposed to be adults.

Schools should cater for diabetics because the pupils are children.

 

[MuhammadII]

Dear oh dear, those poor students, they have diabetes and have to study and take exams and nobody to hold their little handys and wipe their little botty's.

How are they going to cope in the real world. University students are supposed to be adults.

Schools should cater for diabetics because the pupils are children.

I'm gonna have to disagree. Many students can't even wash their laundry, cook, wake up on time, drink sensibly and look after their finances. I think that University helps to make an adult. So many things to experience and so many choices to make. If we were adults beofre we made it to uni, part of the experience would be wasted. (No facts, just my opinion )

My intention was not suggest that diabetics be wrapped up in cooton wool and spoon fed, but I feel it would be nice for healthcare professionals and universities to consider and tackle the challenges we face.

I do however agree with the schools thing. Can remember how hard it was for me to inject as a child, refuse sugary foods (still can't ), trying my best to concentrate and refusing hypo treatment (becasue I didn't know what was going on). That coupled by a lack of understanding of diabetes by teachers also added to the troubles. Thankfully I'm past all that.

 

[Fujifilm]

People leave school, get jobs and have to cope with the same support as the rest of us.

What makes Uni students different?

 

[Lucie75]

Now now, c'mon guys. I think the main issue is that for many students at university, it is the first time they have been away from home for a considerable length of time. I know that if I had gone to university I would've hated the fact that there was nobody there to look out for me, particularly during the night. Where I work we don't go anywhere near looking after them, as it is part of university life that students learn to look after themselves. But if you are a type 1, at risk of hypos (especially with the change in routine), and people around you who are unfamiliar with it, it can be very daunting. We explicitly offer our support to our type 1's, and a lot of the time they don't call on us at all. We see ourselves as more of a halfway house between home and the real world.

I'm sorry Fuji, I disagree, it's not all black and white.

 

[Fujifilm]

I'm sorry Fuji, I disagree, it's not all black and white.

WHAT :lol: :lol:

You are of course right, its not all black and white, I have never been to Uni so have no idea what its really like. But like so many others I left home at 16 got a mortgage at 18 and had to cope with what life threw at me.

But on saying that I have never been daft enough to live on my own, always had a chick in tow to look after me. 8)

Maybe its a touch of jealousy missing out on all that drink and all those party's :lol:

I do appreciate though that as a type 1 leaving home and living on your own for the first time can be a scary business and its good that support is available to them.
.

 

[Useless Pretty Boy]

People leave school, get jobs and have to cope with the same support as the rest of us.

What makes Uni students different?

Hahahaha. Somebody's bitter. If a job/working environment is legally bound to make allowances for a disease (and let's be frank, if you're saying that you NEVER, EVER require a few extra minutes/allowance due to a lapse in concentration or some other circumstance, you're definitely lying), then why shouldn't a university?

Essentially, when I was at Uni,I just started ignoring all the 'No food or drink in the auditorium' signs. I simply ignored whatever 'rules' I felt like and booked the extra hour offered for exams. The only people who had a problem with this were the Library security guards (probably the only people working there without a degree themselves... I think they weren't particularly bright) who tried to stop me taking an open cup of coffee into the library. I made a small scene and promised to have them fired for denying me required 'medication'. They said it wasn't their problem and that I ahd to get a piece of paper. I told them to **** off and went in anyway. They couldn't leave their post at the front door and what were a couple of old men going to do anyway, drag me out? Unlikely.

Meh, it's not a problem. What I found worse was that I would occasionally get asked not to check my blood levels or inject by soe random stranger, or worse, people I knew, while in cafeterias or places like that. "**** off." was the standard response to that as well.

 

[Fujifilm]

Pleased to see your education was not wasted. Maybe you should have enrolled on an anger management course to help you stop telling people to **** off :roll:

 

[Debloubed]

Lucie - you rock! those kids in the halls are lucky to have you keeping an eye on them

Muhammed - good luck with your education! I'm all for us Diabetics standing up for ourselves so speak to your tutors about hypo's etc and how they can affect your concentration and see if they will make allowances should it happen - if you don't take the p*ss and have your Doctors support then you should get their support.

Fuji - I'm still laughing!! very funny posts :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[copepod]

How is an open cup of coffee "medication"?!? If you need sugar, then carrying an open container of hot liquid when slightly unco-ordinated due to hypoglycaemia into a place where the liquid can damage books, keyboards etc doesn't seem a very sensible idea, and it seems perfectly reasonable that security guards tried to stop you. If you need sugar/ carbohydrate, then there are plenty of other options, such as sweets, muesli bar etc, much less potentially damaging to books, keyboards etc. Or finish your coffee before entering the library, or at the very least, get a covered cup.
Even the DDA only offers "reasonable adaptions", not unreasonable / bl**dy minded actions. Having done 2 degrees, one before diagnosis, one after, I didn't need any adaptions, although did check that I was allowed to bring sweets into exams.

 

[shedges]

good points copepod.

Another solution would have been to just eat the sugar without adding the coffee. I've done that before. And it comes in nice 5g packets - perfectly quantified.

 

[Useless Pretty Boy]

Pleased to see your education was not wasted. Maybe you should have enrolled on an anger management course to help you stop telling people to **** off :roll:

I'm afraid I just don't have much time for people who would have me hypothetically endanger myself in order to satisfy either their comfort or 'rules'.

As for why the coffee? Well firstly, in a form such as a latte, it gives you a nice hit of about 15-20gof low GI carbs - good fuel for a morning which won't produce a massive spike of high blood sugar; and secondly, I don't know how many people have reasearched this, but a moderately high caffeine intake (such as four-five large cups a day) can increase your sensitivity to approaching hypoglycemia.

I call that, all told, a rather beneficial beverage.

 

[Debloubed]

As for why the coffee? Well firstly, in a form such as a latte, it gives you a nice hit of about 15-20gof low GI carbs - good fuel for a morning which won't produce a massive spike of high blood sugar; and secondly, I don't know how many people have reasearched this, but a moderately high caffeine intake (such as four-five large cups a day) can increase your sensitivity to approaching hypoglycemia.

I call that, all told, a rather beneficial beverage.

Is that true?! Blimey, need to tell my dentist, he goes nuts at me as all the coffee I drink stains my teeth! do I now have a reason to tell him it's medicinal?! hope so :wink: