Diabetes advocate and YLD Western Pacific Rep

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 8.

When I was at school, the nurses did not understand how to manage diabetes. They would sometimes panic when my blood sugar was a little high. I often felt uncomfortable when I had low blood sugar in class. Classmates would watch me when I needed to get food out. Just the sound of taking a snack made me uncomfortable. I also did not want people to see me take insulin or check my blood glucose, so I sometimes skipped injections or did not test my blood sugar.

Sometimes, people would ask strange questions about my condition or be surprised to learn that a child could have diabetes. I believe these reactions came from a lack of diabetes awareness. However, I was lucky not to experience diabetes-related discrimination or stigma at school. Nonetheless, I wish that teachers and nurses in schools had known more about diabetes and its management so I would not have had to inform them as a child.