Type 1 at school?

Hello and welcome.

I don't have answers for you as I'm not type 1 but I just wanted to acknowledge the fantastic work that teaching assistants do.

My teenage son has a teaching assistant who has helped him tremendously and has almost become his surrogate mum over the 2yrs she has supported him.

I am in awe of people like you who can care so passionately about the children they support.

Some one will be along shortly with answers for you I'm sure.

Hi Kneesey,

I'm a TA supporting a pupil with type 1 as well. Her parents are great in that they want her to be able to do everything her classmates do, and never want her to feel left out because of her diabetes. If she was offered birthday cake at school, I would weigh it out (as I do with her lunch) so that we can work out how many carbs there are/what the bolus for the treat should be. She is on a pump though, and I know it must be different if he is using pens. In any case, I'd have a chat with his parents about it - see if you can agree on a weight that his portion must be for a set amount of insulin, although I appreciate that it must be terribly difficult as he is so newly diagnosed.


In terms of sweets to keep at school, we have a treatment box. There are biscuits for if her BG is slightly on the low side or if we are going to do PE, and ribena as a hypo treatment. Apart from that, she eats the normal school snacks - as she has been diagnosed for years we have a long list of how many carbs are in each snack. Again, I'm not sure how any of this works without the pump!

Is he managing to tell you when he feels wobbly/might be going low or high? I've found it worthwhile to let the teacher know if she is one or the other - her schoolwork is definitely impacted by how she feels and how her BG has been behaving. If she is high, for example, she finds it very difficult to concentrate in class and so we either work in a quieter area or, if the hyper symptoms are extreme (she gets tummy aches, headaches and dizziness) we find the time to complete the work later. PE can be a lot to manage (especially after a 60-odd carb lunch as PE is typically on 'cake day') but we manage most of the time!

Please feel free to ask me anything - I'm not an expert by any means but I do know how type 1 can impact a child at school, and might be helpful somehow!

Kneesey said:

I'm here to ask if anyone can give me a suggestion of any 'sweets, cake bars, chocolate' etc that I can buy for him to keep in class so he can gave a 'treat' along with his classmates.

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Your best bet is to also ask his mam & dad.

@Kneesey I'd be guided by his parents too. Sending the cake home is a good idea as then he can have it if his parents plan it out eg if he's low or taking exercise.

If it was my child, I'd let them have a small bit at school then save the rest for later at home. That way you don't need alternative treats - he just gets the same but an appropriate portion for him at that time. On days he has PE, maybe he could eat some before that. Having a 'different treat' marks him out as different and might not be a good idea, especially as he's recently diagnosed.

@Mugwump Carb counting works just the same with pens as with a pump. The only issue is that you can't bolus decimals so need to round up or down as appropriate eg 2.5 not 2.75 or whatever.

@Kneesey . Total admiration to you for wanting to put extra effort and time into this young man.
It's so difficult to offer advice though.
You must discuss with his parents first and foremost. They will even in these early days be forming a team and strategy to control there sons diabetes. I'm sure they would welcome an extra team member, especially someone who will be such a big part of there sons life going forward. You'll have a lot to learn BUT the rewards will be fantastic for all of you.
Good luck and a gold star from me for being so caring.

Hi.
I myself was diagnosed as a child and I myself work as a teaching assistant/learning support assistant.
I found this very frustrating as a child so my advice would be to buy the 'little' pieces of chocolate such as chocolate coins and give the child one of those. Their blood sugar shouldn't rise a great amount and I can't imagine the child has these treats on a regular basis so his routine wouldn't be affected often. Trial and error is always good as long as parents are happy. It's best to 'test the waters' in the early stage as I was restricted from a lot of treats which I later realised I was fine to eat. Children are also active and will burn the sugar off at a much quicker pace.
Of course always check with parents first and don't let them restrict their child from a treat every now and again, he is a child still after all.
Hope this helps

I never had diabetes as a kid, I happened to get mine in the last of 9 years of medical training. So it must be tough on an 8 year old to turn down birthday cake, but IMO you gotta start somewhere. It's going to be a way of life. I have a niece who was diagnosed with celiac disease about age 6. She can't eat gluten or she can get pretty sick, unlike a diabetic who eats cake and has really high sugar. But hey, that's what she has so she eats something else. It's a way of life. You know what they used to say in Jolly Old England: "DON'T LET 'EM EAT CAKE!".

You're an amazing person for helping this young man through this difficult time of his. There really needs to be more people like you. To be honest, from my experience there aren't many foods with low carbohydrate content in it that are sweet. I like to snack on ham at home, but it's not quite the same. Maybe the sugar-free Polos are a good idea, I have some of those without needing to take insulin. Another option might be to suggest alternative rewards for the other kids, such as extra play time or some kind of special treatment/privilege, this could take the thought away from food. People have cookies in my tutor on Fridays and it's difficult sometimes to watch people eat when I know I can't. I can't imagine what it would be like for a lad of his age.

I hope I was of some help.

Hey there,

I wasn't diagnosed till I was 21 but nonetheless - T1 is T1! I think you're right to ask his parents, but as long as they're happy there's no reason why he can't eat cake, he just needs to inject for it so if people bring in cake to work, I will save my piece for lunch and bolus for it then. There's no reason why he should have to avoid all "sweet" things just because he has T1 - if anything being T1 means you have the freedom to eat what you like as long as it's reasonable and you're generally following a healthy lifestyle. I'd hate to think of the poor chap missing out!

Wow! I'm so glad you're a caring TA. Made me smile/fill up a bit I was diagnosed in '76 aged 7 and had to sit apart from everyone at dinner time as I wasn't having boiled cabbage and treacle sponge, I was eating 'my own food' (rebellious obviously). I would have loved to have been like everyone else but school just thought I was some sort of problem, despite my parents protests. My Mum used to make cakes using vanilla essence and Sorbitol for me to take on special days - tasted like loft insulation and gave you the runs but she tried. Keep up the good work - I'm so pleased you've posted on here ❤

Hi @Kneesey. I was diagnosed with T1 at age 4 so went through the whole education system with it. There is the medical side and there is the physchological side for the young lad. Back in my time it was a big bag of sweets and everyone lined up to take a handful except for me. There was always a big explanation as to why i couldn't have any and it simply made you feel different and sometimes quite angry. Bringing the cake home is a nice idea but it still makes you feel different. An 8yr old simply wants to blend in and be part of the gang. He doesn't want to be eating sugar free substitutes that taste like toothpaste while his mates are scoffing cake. For that matter he doesn't want to be eating anything other than what his mates are eating and he wants to eat it when they are eating it.

Medical side - Diabetes is a lifelong illness. Having a small piece of cake when there is a birthday party in the class is not going to have any impact on his overall well being nor his management of the diabetes. Work out the carbs and apply the necessary bolus. I appreciate he has only had T1 for 3 weeks so everyone is on edge (especially the parents.....been there!) but diabetes management has moved on signifcantly. Calculate the carbs and give the bolus. It's the exact same as if he was handed an apple or a sandwich.

Very important to talk to the parents first to get them on board but at the end of the day we are talking about max 30/40g of carbs - forgot the fact that it is a cake. It is the carbs that count.

So,as Marie-Antoinette once said, "let them eat cake!"

All the best.

Mark