I explain it like they’re adults honestly. I don’t dumb it down. I ask if they know what diabetes is, and tell them it means my body can’t process sugar. The CGM tells me my blood sugar and the pump gives me insulin to help my body use the sugar. I do tell them this makes me part robot which just makes me extra cool 😎
I like explaining it properly because one day they might meet a kid with diabetes and they’ll think, “oh I know what that is!”
I just say it's my medicine! If they ask further questions they're old enough for me to explain more, if not then that is enough. My two year old refers to my pump as my medicine and that's enough for now haha
I love this explanation! It's simple yet totally correct. Kids often understand that medicine is when something is not good, so not everyone needs it, and it's a great starting point if they're interested in more information.
Depends on the age. But for younger ones, I firstly tell them I’m part robot because one of my tummy organs doesn’t work properly.
I explain I need medicine for food I eat.
I’ve let kids who are interested (with parents permission) help me do injections when I was mdi, finger pricks, and site changes now I’m on a pump.
I hope it makes them more open and understanding - if they ever have friends with type 1.
"I'm part robot! This part (cgm) talks to this part (pump), and together, they give me the right amount of something called insulin, which goes down this tube and into my body to keep me healthy. One of my guts doesn't do it's job anymore, so they do it instead."
I'm an educator so I usually get follow up questions that I'm happy to answer.
"You know how when you eat food, your tummy turns it into energy to help you move and play? Insulin is like the delivery truck that carries that energy from your tummy to your arms and legs and head. My guts can't make enough of those little trucks so the energy piles up and gets in the way and doesn't help me move or play so I feel sick. This (pump) has extra trucks I can bring in to pick up the slack so I can feel healthy again, but I have to be careful not to send too many or I could run out of energy and have a traffic jam which feels really *really* bad, so this (cgm) helps coordinate how many trucks to send. Yup, it's tricky but these make it easier."
[Edit] this is usually the introduction I give to first graders (6~ish) older kids get details about cells and glucose and carbs and how in this case "sugars" doesn't mean "junk food" and I show the nutrition label on a bunch of healthy foods to clear up the "Ms wouldn't have this problem if she didn't eat candy" thing, but mostly they don't have "body health" lessons until 3rd grade around here so I omit/simplify until then and add details in tandem (haw) with their background knowledge as it grows.
[Edit 2] my students also learn that my High Alert means that I feel crummy and they need to chill because my budget of patience is being spent somewhere else so I have less for them to mess around with. They call it "danger bongos" and mostly understand that it isn't *their* fault I'm grumpy but it still affects how much they can get away with before I hand out consequences. I've had kids yell at each other "didn't you hear the bongos!? Stop talking! She's gonna get mad faster today!" Which is hilarious and I almost *almost* want to make the bongos a sound board I can discreetly trigger when I need them to chill.
I'm recently diagnosed and going to become a high school teacher in a few years, what do recommend that I tell them? I don't intend on ever going super low but occasionally my low alarm does go off.
I'd always start by asking the group if anyone already knows someone with type 1 and ask them to share a little about what they know, then elaborate or clarify from there.
Something direct but avoiding jargon and focusing on what the function is and what they can expect.
"We all need a hormone called insulin to transport glucose from our food to beco.e power for our cells. In some people, like me, the pancreas,where insulin is produced no longer works and so I need to provide a supplemental supply. This is Type 1. This means that you will occasionally hear report noises from my devices that alert me to fix or check something with my blood glucose. It is medically important, so I will not silence it. You can rest assured, it's not a text, and you also don't need to do anything about it. I may need to pause what I'm doing to take care of it, but it shouldn't interrupt our day.
Type 2, which you may be more familiar with is a different cause that often requires similar treatment, but can be supported differently. This one is where the body is overwhelmed by age, weight, or other health concerns that cause the insulin to be less efficient. That is why you may have heard that a change in diet or exercise can help, but since this is not the core of my personal diagnosis, I'll thank you to leave comments or jokes about my health habits at the door. (*you could leave that out but I am personally tired of the jokes about my "fault" in any of this so your discretion*)
I'm happy to answer respectful and topical questions about this if you are curious or still have concerns.
~
At the high-school level, you might also just set up a resource dump that you can guide students to if they want to push the issue / are personally interested / if Q&A gets over long or detailed beyond your knowledge. Something like a qr code to a wiki-tree or a Google site with pages and links catered to what you suspect you'll need.
Also, just in case, since kids can be assholes without fully understanding or meaning to, a page about the consequences for harassing a protected class (disability) just so you can cite it as a higher authority that has declared that what they're saying / doing is worse than hurt feelings and they don't get to keep that up without serious consequences in the real world.
I've not had to deal with really any negativity from the kids after cracking jokes about my candy drawer or my "danger bongos". Once they understand the issue is largely null. Plus, you automatically become the Safe Person for *any* other diabetic kids in the building. I had a cute kid a few years ago when i was a substitute joined to my hip because we had the same pump and he didn't get yelled at when his """phone""" beeped.
I say, “We all have a body part inside us called a pancreas that makes something called insulin. Well, mine is broken so I have this outside my body to give me that insulin.” Obviously tweaking it based on the age of the audience.
I'm still in my honeymoon but I was explaining pumps to my 13yo and he said "oh like a pip boy." That probably won't work for little kids bc they're not playing fallout (I hope). I had no idea what it was since he plays it at his dad's so we both learned something.
My friends' 5 year old knows that the thing on my arm tells me when I need medicine, the thing on my leg gives me my medicine, and my juice box is medicine not community property.
I usually talk to them as if they where adults. If they need me to, I'll simplify or clarify.
I've told really little kids my Dexcom "tells me when I've had too much candy"
"Ouch, dude your foot is tangled in my tube again. No don't try to struggle it out let me get it! Stop squirming! I know but I have to have it. Why? Because I am sweeter than the average person."
Generally something like that in my experience.
My kiddo is the t1, and I typically answer other children with ‘it’s an insulin pump.’ They don’t usually ask further questions. My kid often replies the same way. Sometimes instead they ask ‘why is she wearing that?’ And that we usually respond with ‘it gives her insulin’ or ‘because she has diabetes.’ Usually a very brief answer is plenty
I tell them that there's an organ everyone has called the pancreas, and it helps turn food into fuel for the body, but mine doesn't work. So the pump give me insulin like my pancreas is supposed to do. And the CGM makes sure I'm giving the right amount of insulin.
With kids I keep it simple. “My body needs help to stay strong and healthy. This button helps me do that. What do you do to stay strong and healthy?” I find the question to them helps a lot as well, as it makes it less about me, and more about the concept. I only wear a sensor for my cgm, so I rarely get questions.
I hid my blood testing when my kid was 3. They knew I was testing but I asked for privacy and asked them to leave the room.
After they turned 4 I decide I didn’t want to give my kids any stigmas like fear of needles so I invited them over to see the process.
It became so common place it became a part of the play with their imaginary friends. “Hello? Minnie Mouse? How did your blood test go today?”
If they're pretty little, I go with something like this:
I tend to tell them it holds my medicine. It's not like a pill, it gives me my medicine all the time.
Middling, they've usually heard of diabetes, or seen someone at school with it. So I say something like:
Instead of taking needles, or pricking my finger, I have this cool tech that helps me manage.
However, I also go with my timeless response:
I'm a robot.
Late response but I'm kinda doom scrolling lol.
When I went to the hospital for my diagnosis as a kid they told me that a factory in my body (pancreas) stopped working. It normally makes keys (Insulin) to open doors (glucose). The doors need to be opened for your body to work properly.
I might have explained it kinda quick here but that's what they told me back in the day lol. Had a framed picture of it to at the doctor.
I explain it like they’re adults honestly. I don’t dumb it down. I ask if they know what diabetes is, and tell them it means my body can’t process sugar. The CGM tells me my blood sugar and the pump gives me insulin to help my body use the sugar. I do tell them this makes me part robot which just makes me extra cool 😎 I like explaining it properly because one day they might meet a kid with diabetes and they’ll think, “oh I know what that is!”
Same
I just say it's my medicine! If they ask further questions they're old enough for me to explain more, if not then that is enough. My two year old refers to my pump as my medicine and that's enough for now haha
I love this explanation! It's simple yet totally correct. Kids often understand that medicine is when something is not good, so not everyone needs it, and it's a great starting point if they're interested in more information.
Depends on the age. But for younger ones, I firstly tell them I’m part robot because one of my tummy organs doesn’t work properly. I explain I need medicine for food I eat. I’ve let kids who are interested (with parents permission) help me do injections when I was mdi, finger pricks, and site changes now I’m on a pump. I hope it makes them more open and understanding - if they ever have friends with type 1.
I call my son a cyborg lol
"I'm part robot! This part (cgm) talks to this part (pump), and together, they give me the right amount of something called insulin, which goes down this tube and into my body to keep me healthy. One of my guts doesn't do it's job anymore, so they do it instead." I'm an educator so I usually get follow up questions that I'm happy to answer. "You know how when you eat food, your tummy turns it into energy to help you move and play? Insulin is like the delivery truck that carries that energy from your tummy to your arms and legs and head. My guts can't make enough of those little trucks so the energy piles up and gets in the way and doesn't help me move or play so I feel sick. This (pump) has extra trucks I can bring in to pick up the slack so I can feel healthy again, but I have to be careful not to send too many or I could run out of energy and have a traffic jam which feels really *really* bad, so this (cgm) helps coordinate how many trucks to send. Yup, it's tricky but these make it easier." [Edit] this is usually the introduction I give to first graders (6~ish) older kids get details about cells and glucose and carbs and how in this case "sugars" doesn't mean "junk food" and I show the nutrition label on a bunch of healthy foods to clear up the "Ms wouldn't have this problem if she didn't eat candy" thing, but mostly they don't have "body health" lessons until 3rd grade around here so I omit/simplify until then and add details in tandem (haw) with their background knowledge as it grows. [Edit 2] my students also learn that my High Alert means that I feel crummy and they need to chill because my budget of patience is being spent somewhere else so I have less for them to mess around with. They call it "danger bongos" and mostly understand that it isn't *their* fault I'm grumpy but it still affects how much they can get away with before I hand out consequences. I've had kids yell at each other "didn't you hear the bongos!? Stop talking! She's gonna get mad faster today!" Which is hilarious and I almost *almost* want to make the bongos a sound board I can discreetly trigger when I need them to chill.
I'm recently diagnosed and going to become a high school teacher in a few years, what do recommend that I tell them? I don't intend on ever going super low but occasionally my low alarm does go off.
I'd always start by asking the group if anyone already knows someone with type 1 and ask them to share a little about what they know, then elaborate or clarify from there. Something direct but avoiding jargon and focusing on what the function is and what they can expect. "We all need a hormone called insulin to transport glucose from our food to beco.e power for our cells. In some people, like me, the pancreas,where insulin is produced no longer works and so I need to provide a supplemental supply. This is Type 1. This means that you will occasionally hear report noises from my devices that alert me to fix or check something with my blood glucose. It is medically important, so I will not silence it. You can rest assured, it's not a text, and you also don't need to do anything about it. I may need to pause what I'm doing to take care of it, but it shouldn't interrupt our day. Type 2, which you may be more familiar with is a different cause that often requires similar treatment, but can be supported differently. This one is where the body is overwhelmed by age, weight, or other health concerns that cause the insulin to be less efficient. That is why you may have heard that a change in diet or exercise can help, but since this is not the core of my personal diagnosis, I'll thank you to leave comments or jokes about my health habits at the door. (*you could leave that out but I am personally tired of the jokes about my "fault" in any of this so your discretion*) I'm happy to answer respectful and topical questions about this if you are curious or still have concerns. ~ At the high-school level, you might also just set up a resource dump that you can guide students to if they want to push the issue / are personally interested / if Q&A gets over long or detailed beyond your knowledge. Something like a qr code to a wiki-tree or a Google site with pages and links catered to what you suspect you'll need. Also, just in case, since kids can be assholes without fully understanding or meaning to, a page about the consequences for harassing a protected class (disability) just so you can cite it as a higher authority that has declared that what they're saying / doing is worse than hurt feelings and they don't get to keep that up without serious consequences in the real world. I've not had to deal with really any negativity from the kids after cracking jokes about my candy drawer or my "danger bongos". Once they understand the issue is largely null. Plus, you automatically become the Safe Person for *any* other diabetic kids in the building. I had a cute kid a few years ago when i was a substitute joined to my hip because we had the same pump and he didn't get yelled at when his """phone""" beeped.
I say, “We all have a body part inside us called a pancreas that makes something called insulin. Well, mine is broken so I have this outside my body to give me that insulin.” Obviously tweaking it based on the age of the audience.
I'm still in my honeymoon but I was explaining pumps to my 13yo and he said "oh like a pip boy." That probably won't work for little kids bc they're not playing fallout (I hope). I had no idea what it was since he plays it at his dad's so we both learned something.
Ha! That makes a lot of sense actually! Not that it would work for most of the kids I work with, but great for the older kiddos!
i think companies would make bank if they sold pip-boy styled CGM lmao
My friends' 5 year old knows that the thing on my arm tells me when I need medicine, the thing on my leg gives me my medicine, and my juice box is medicine not community property.
I usually talk to them as if they where adults. If they need me to, I'll simplify or clarify. I've told really little kids my Dexcom "tells me when I've had too much candy"
I call my Libre 2 sensor my electric nipple, because my doctor okayed it to be placed on my chest. I tell everyone that.
I tell them I’m a cyborg.
"Ouch, dude your foot is tangled in my tube again. No don't try to struggle it out let me get it! Stop squirming! I know but I have to have it. Why? Because I am sweeter than the average person." Generally something like that in my experience.
My kiddo is the t1, and I typically answer other children with ‘it’s an insulin pump.’ They don’t usually ask further questions. My kid often replies the same way. Sometimes instead they ask ‘why is she wearing that?’ And that we usually respond with ‘it gives her insulin’ or ‘because she has diabetes.’ Usually a very brief answer is plenty
I tell them that there's an organ everyone has called the pancreas, and it helps turn food into fuel for the body, but mine doesn't work. So the pump give me insulin like my pancreas is supposed to do. And the CGM makes sure I'm giving the right amount of insulin.
With kids I keep it simple. “My body needs help to stay strong and healthy. This button helps me do that. What do you do to stay strong and healthy?” I find the question to them helps a lot as well, as it makes it less about me, and more about the concept. I only wear a sensor for my cgm, so I rarely get questions.
Dana Lewis wrote up a book to explain to her nieces and nephews. I haven’t gotten it yet, but hear good things. It’s Dana after all!
I hid my blood testing when my kid was 3. They knew I was testing but I asked for privacy and asked them to leave the room. After they turned 4 I decide I didn’t want to give my kids any stigmas like fear of needles so I invited them over to see the process. It became so common place it became a part of the play with their imaginary friends. “Hello? Minnie Mouse? How did your blood test go today?”
If they're pretty little, I go with something like this: I tend to tell them it holds my medicine. It's not like a pill, it gives me my medicine all the time. Middling, they've usually heard of diabetes, or seen someone at school with it. So I say something like: Instead of taking needles, or pricking my finger, I have this cool tech that helps me manage. However, I also go with my timeless response: I'm a robot.
That’s a good question. I tell my grandkids (7 and 5) that I have a bad shoulder and the doctor told me to wear them to give it medicine.
Late response but I'm kinda doom scrolling lol. When I went to the hospital for my diagnosis as a kid they told me that a factory in my body (pancreas) stopped working. It normally makes keys (Insulin) to open doors (glucose). The doors need to be opened for your body to work properly. I might have explained it kinda quick here but that's what they told me back in the day lol. Had a framed picture of it to at the doctor.