Made me think

[Pigeon]

Hi there,

Just got back from a weekend at Butlins with a large group, which was great fun!🙂

Unfortunately their bar staff aren't too good at dispensing diet coke though, twice I had to take back a full sugar coke and ask for another one! Although they were very apologetic, and gave me a replacement and another free drink to say sorry.

The second time this happened, I was explaining to my friend why I needed a diet coke, and she said that another guy with us was diabetic too, which I didn't know. He has learning difficulties, and apparently he'd said to her that when his carers aren't around he doesn't take his medication. 😱And she'd also seen him eat a bag of pick and mix on the bus too. I didn't get a chance to chat to him about it, wish I had really.

It just made me think, I wonder if any diabetes clinics run courses or information sessions for people with learning difficulties? This man's learning difficulties weren't that severe (he lives independently, with support visits), but he obviously doesn't understand the implications of not taking his medication, and I'm sure he wouldn't have been able to follow the type of course I went on when I got diagnosed. Has anyone seen any information or courses for this type of problem?

 

[Caroline]

I have never seen any courses advertised for people with learning difficulties or special needs, but I am aware there are people who need a higher level of help.

It is not always easy to find information, although I am luckier than most as I work in a large reference library, and there is help for everyone who needs it.

 

[aymes]

I sit on an nhs panel for people with long term conditions. We've had quite a few conversations on the issue and my understanding is that in a lot of cases there is some conflict between the diabetes team and the team supporting the learning difficulty over who has what responsibility for this, in some of the examples I've seen this means some fall through the net. In a similar vein I've also seen some examples of really good practice in this area, so I suppose it's another case of support being patchy across the country.

Interestingly, when I went to butlins I kept having issues with them giving the wrong coke too!