School and diabetes

Sounds very frustrating. T1 can be hard to deal with on it's own without other factors to consider.

Without giving away any personal info about your son on here, did the school give any indication as to why they think it is ADHD? Or has there been any formal diagnosis by a qualified Clinical Psychologist?

If it is indeed ADHD there are options to help manage it via the NHS, but the school need to be considerate in how they communicate with you and help work with you and your son.

Hello @Rowlandadams You're absolutely right about running high BG levels affecting his behaviour so labelling this as ADHD without justifying his behaviour is associated with running high is unfair.

Diabetes UK has some good resources for parents with type 1 children in school which would be worthwhile showing to his school to increase their knowledge of his condition:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-t...Iof3tI-MBDAF7ub7UMkzDZW7Mn3M_Qy8aAn11EALw_wcB

What does he have for breakfast?

ADHD symptoms are only really similar to the 'Diabetes side-effects' happening when you are going too low.
So if said boy is going low in blood sugar, not when going high. All of course except if its all about becoming completely non-responsive etc which of course can happen when going high. But not just slightly high, it takes its really very very high, at the level where nausea, vomiting etc as present. And why all this focus on the diabetes anyway? Its is rarely if ever the cause for a IDDM child not to do well in school.

Of the top-10 typical signs of ADHD only 1-2 of them can be borderline considred similar to anything Diabetes related.
And why not accept the response from the school staff and take it head on? Be serious and find out if it is anything related to ADHD or not. I would think it would be common knowledge by now, but maybe not. All children are going to exhibit some of these ADHD behaviors at some point, during their growing up! That is normal!
However, you should start thinking about the next steps if:

• Your child regularly displays signs of ADHD
• This behavior is affecting their success in school and leading to negative interactions with their peers.

So seek help with a professional to get it investigated properly. And if diagnosed, ADHD is treatable. Review all of the treatment options. Then, set up a time to meet with a doctor or psychologist to determine the best course of action. Don't just blame it on Diabetes and let it keep lingering like this. Not good for the child and not good for the relationship with the school.

It may be worth getting a CGM and using it for at least two weeks while he is at school, asking the school to also record the times of any issues.

My 11 year daughter is vile when she is high..grumpy, shouts, storms off, slams doors, cant be reasoned with, cant concentrate....i can see that itmay affect him in school if it goes on. Thankfully half hr after a correction it settles so doesnt affect her at school too much

I admit i used to be like that back at school, Occasionally happens still college whenever my bloods high. Back at school the main problem was not may teachers knew i was T1D. So they thought i was misbehaving.

bobcurly said:

My 11 year daughter is vile when she is high..grumpy, shouts, storms off, slams doors, cant be reasoned with, cant concentrate....i can see that itmay affect him in school if it goes on. Thankfully half hr after a correction it settles so doesnt affect her at school too much

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Sounds exactly like my own 12 year old boy!

And he is not diabetic.

But just like any other teenager trying to come to terms with life reality while the hormones flushes up in the system.