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Any teachers with Type 1?

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PotatoeMash

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi everyone,

I'm going into teacher training in September, teaching secondary science. I've been at uni, or at home since I was diagnosed last year, so I've not really had any experience of managing diabetes in the workplace. Therefore, I was wondering if there are any teachers with Type 1 who could share any tips or advice they've got for this? How you've approached diabetes with colleagues and the pupils, how you deal with hypos whilst teaching a class, where you go to test/inject or do you do this openly wherever you are, etc...

Thanks. 🙂
 
Hi. I'm not a teacher but a TA in a primary school. I'm sure there are teachers on here who can advise you of their experience. I was diagnosed 2 years ago and was open with my colleagues. I spoke about hypo symptoms and what they might notice if for any reason i wasn't aware of it myself. There have been times when i have had to leave the classroom and test/treat as i've felt hypo. Sometimes, i've been taking the class for the teacher when i've had one. Other TAs know if i send for them they may be needed to step in while i sort myself out so i've found it good being open with them about it. I have also spoken to the head about where i can go to inject privately and she's been really good so far, asking what they can do to help. I've not had a conversation with the children about it as they are y1/2, 5-7yr olds. The Libre sensor has been brilliant in class as i've been able to scan and spot any hypos before they get worse (hope i can keep it after my trial). Some children have asked what it is on my arm and i just explained that something in my body didn't work properly and it helped me. I'm not ashamed of talking about my diabetes (i'm actually quite vocal about it if asked) but i'm not sure about talking about it with little ones, although i would if a child was diagnosed. I do think that with the children it should be on a need to know basis. Thats just my opinion, there may be teachers on here who can advise you better. Good luck with your training.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
For someone teaching secondary science I'd have thought being open would be appropriate (if they're comfortable with doing that).
Click to expand...
I meant to word it that 5yr olds might find it hard to understand, secondary children would have no problem but it all depends on how much personal information someone might want to give and, i agree, whether it is appropriate.
 
Hi there @PotatoeMash. 🙂 I used to be a teacher, mostly children (aged 4 upwards) and I never hid my diabetes from anyone at work. I used the Libre, pricked my finger, treated low BGs, etc at the front of the class and explained what I was doing to every age group if asked. A couple of times I remember having to treat a hypo, so I stopped teaching and gave them work to do while I recovered. They behaved impeccably!
Luckily, my class sizes were very small - 10 kids tops - because I worked at a private language school, not a mainstream school. My experience would’ve been different with bigger classes I should think. I tried to seem relaxed about my diabetes so that my students were never upset by it. I think it worked - no-one ever complained and the little ones never got upset. Phew!
Good luck.🙂
 
Someone on a different forum was a senior school teacher and she just used to start off every new school year by introducing her diabetes with herself and answering any questions factually.
 
One thing that worked for a friend of mine when she was a teacher is she always explained to her classes and what could go wrong e.g a hypo.

She also had this card on string on the wall of the classroom which just had “HYPO” written on so if she needed to summon help, she would ask a student to take it to the nearest teacher they could find or the school office.

Everyone knew what it meant.

Please though, discuss it with your personal tutor at uni, ensure placement schools and mentors you work with are aware.
 
Firstly excellent a new teacher to the profession welcome @PotatoeMash

I teach in a secondary school. My school, due to previous management, took a while to get there but we now have plans in place to cover injections, cover a class if I need to go out for hypo or hyper etc. If I can treat easily I do so in the room if I need to step out I call for a colleague and leave to a pre arranged place close by and if someone needs to take over the lesson that’s sorted along with the ready supply of emergency work.

If it’s a placement I’d suggest talking to the teacher responsible for trainees or your head of department and highlighting it so they can work with you to make sure things are in place - like for injecting and if you have a hypo etc.

They’ll possibly have another diabetic teacher or child so may already have some things in place that can be adapted. Unfortunately not everyone understands or gets the things you may need to do etc so you may have to explain. Maybe write it down that’s what I did.

I like to inject 15-20 minutes before lunch so a colleague comes into the room for 2 min while I nip to the office next door and inject - the kids don’t notice I’ve gone.

I’ve explained to colleagues in the rooms nearest me about hypos and what to look out for in case I need help and all staff know just in case they ever come across me. There’s hypo treatments dotted round the school in case needed - they don’t tend to be eaten by others but worth checking at times!

From children point of view we have a few diabetic children in school so some know all about it because of that but I find been fairly straight up with them and saying there are times where I may be unwell and may need help or you to just follow what’s asked and they do. We often play guess the blood sugar number before lunch with the classes I know well. Generally they’re interested in a genuine way ! Especially with the libre sensor!!

I think just talk to SLT / line manager / trainee mentor and see what they say. They will I’m sure be helpful. I always felt a bit embarrassed about it and saying we need to consider this but the more you speak the more normal it feels and more helpful people are.

For the future think about after school events like parents evening, open evening and reward evenings in terms of planning food, snacks and injections and times.

Best of luck. Hard job (especially during lockdown!) but massively rewarding.
 
Welcome to the forum @PotatoeMash

I am a retired teacher. I was diagnosed with T1 just before retirement, but @Bexlee has summed up what I would suggest. I also involved my students and made them aware of my Diabetes, especially with regard to hypos. I openly tested in the lesson if necessary, and had a plan with neighbouring teachers around what to do. This was probably easier for me as I worked with my students over a number of years, and was a well established teacher in the school.

As others have said you will need to talk to the SLT and your mentor in the schools you go into. It shouldn’t cause any difficulties. I did do an awareness sessions on Diabetes for the staff, which was useful as a student was diagnosed a couple of weeks after me.

The college you are training with will probably have dealt with this situation before so also talk to them about what they have done before.

I was a Mathematics teacher so just before lunch I used to test and we used to work out my insulin dose based on my carbs (I had a packed lunch).

Welcome to the profession.
 
I am a Secondary teacher, have been for 20 years, but only diagnosed as type 1 a couple of years ago. Learning curve for me and everyone else at the school. The advice offered by others above is really useful. I have been very open with my team, telling them what Diabetes is, how it affects me and what they can do to help - they were very nervous thinking they would have to inject me or cease from eating sweets or cake in my presence. The vast majority of people at school are fantastic - only a couple of insensitive types, but you are going to have them in any workplace unfortunately.

I have an office next door to me with a couple of heads of year and pastoral coordinators. If I feel I am low and a quick check on the scanner tells me I am dropping or already below 4 I simply knock on the door and they know to come in and look after my group, whilst I pop upstairs and devour jelly babies. Most Science Departments I know of have 2 offices - one for teachers and also one for technicians, so there should be teachers available if anything were to happen. As you are training, there will always be another teacher present in the room and so it should be very simple to quickly sort out a hypo or hyper if you feel one coming on. It's actually very rare that I have a hypo at work as my body tends to get back into the swing of things quite quickly after returning to the routine of school. However, the pinch point for me has always been the end of period 2 (11 - 11:15am) - this is usually quite a while since breakfast and about 10 minutes away from a cuppa a biscuit and a sit down.

Good luck, and I hope the profession brings you as much joy as it has me over the years!
 
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