What should I put where?
That 504 is a critical first step to getting prepared for your T1D to go to school, but there are so many other steps, so many details to think through beyond that. Sure, there are a lot of resources out there — the ADA and Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) have some great information — but a parent recently pointed out to me that he still couldn’t figure out what to leave in the classroom, where to stock what, and who needed what training. Of course, these kinds of decisions need to be tailored to your child, the way you manage T1D, and the system you have at your child’s school, even the school district and state you’re in, but I thought I’d share some basic tools that I’ve used over the 15+ years that I’ve been stocking classrooms and training teachers, including some downloadables that you can use to help you get organized.
Once the 504 is complete, consider who you need to train to be diabetes literate. Often the person managing our kids T1D during the day isn’t the classroom teacher. But the teacher should still know and understand what’s going on in her classroom. Request a meeting: I would ask to include the person who is partnering with you to manage your child’s diabetes during the day, including the their classroom teacher, any teaching assistants and any special subject teachers, especially the PE/sports teacher. Let them know that you will only take about 15-20 minutes of their time — and then stick to that. I hand everyone a cheat sheet that has a photo of my kid, along with the basic information they need to keep them safe. (If you use the cheat sheet I provide as a starting place, select Download —> Word Doc to get an editable copy.) Remember: They don’t need perfect and complete understanding from this training. They don’t necessarily even need to know how to dose (unless they will be dosing for special-occasion classroom treats, something you’ll discuss during the 504 process.) You really just need the adults around your kid to understand what to do if your child goes low and how to respond if there are alarms on their tech. I also like to provide a two sentence explanation of what diabetes is so they have some context.
Depending on the size of your child’s school and their willingness, you might also ask to do an all-school training during a teacher staff meeting. I did these through elementary school and they took 10 minutes, tops. Focus on the goal: If your kid is low and acting strangely, you want any adult on the school campus to understand how they should respond and to help from your point person. That same cheat sheet is helpful. Mostly, you want any campus adult to be able to recognize your kid. (If there’s more than one T1D kid at your school, partner with their parents and put everyone’s photo on that sheet.)
Another “training” you might do — depending on the age of your T1D — is in your kid’s classroom. When my T1Ds were smaller, I would do a short in-class training. Mostly, I’d just explain that my kid had some different needs, that things might beep, that they might have to eat special snacks. I made it seem kind of cool. And then I’d hand out a glucose tablet for everyone to taste. Of course this isn’t strictly necessary — and some T1D kids don’t want to be “out” with their diabetes in this way — but I do think it helped create a classroom culture of support.
Next there’s the question of what to stock where. Of course, this can really vary based on the school and the age of your child, since older kids tend to move through more spaces at school during the day. I always had a tackle box at the office with all the big supplies — back up pump supplies, syringes, CGM, plugs, test strips, etc. And then I kept insulin in the school fridge. (Yes, my amazing school helper could do a pump change, if that was necessary.) In the classrooms, I would just leave a ziplock bag with my child’s name on it and a variety of low supplies. In addition, my kiddo would carry low supplies and a glucometer in a fanny pack or purse or backpack. (Remember that what you choose to stock may vary. Most kids never check with a glucometer anymore, so feel free to adjust. You know your child’s needs better than anyone.)
So much of this shifts as your kids grow. By high school, I wasn’t deeply involved in training: For one of my kids, I organized a training of his freshman teachers, which he ran, but for my other, she just sent an email to each teacher. I talked to my daughter’s volleyball coach, but my son worked out details with his frisbee coach on his own. I stock supplies in many places on the high school campus, but mostly I am counting on my kid to have the supplies they need in their backpack.
Good luck! Reach out to me if you have questions or other suggestions. It’s a big job — so much bigger than we want at this hectic time of year — and it takes a village.