Case Study: Thomas becomes unwell
Tom has been settling well into term 2 of year 4 when he became unwell and soon after diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He is keen to get back to school to see his friends and play weekend sport as soon as he could.
When Tom’s parents contacted the school, the principal made them feel at ease as they have supported a child with type 1 diabetes before. At present, there are no other children at the school with type 1 diabetes. The principal and family arranged a meeting to talk about what support or any adjustments in the classroom or school may need to be considered.
The clinical treating team worked with the family to prepare a diabetes management plan for the school day. This outlined when Tom needs to check his glucose levels and what level of support he needs to take his insulin. The plan also has an easy to follow action plan if Tom’s glucose is too low or too high.
The meeting with the school was a little overwhelming for the parents as they are only learning about type 1 diabetes themselves. The school was so supportive and thankful for the diabetes management plan. The diabetes management plan highlighted to them just how much Tom would need to do each day to manage his type 1 diabetes. The principal also acknowledged that his current staff has little experience in type 1 diabetes and they would require training.
It was agreed that Tom’s parents would come into school at lunch time to help Tom until the teachers had completed their training and felt confident to help Tom. The school arranged online training for the whole staff group to complete as soon as possible on type 1 diabetes. Several key staff that taught Tom booked into additional training to learn more about daily management and his individualised diabetes management plan.
>> More information on returning to school after a new diagnosis
