Join Dr. Constantine Samaan, paediatric endocrinologist and Associate Professor at McMaster University and McMaster Children’s Hospital, Elizabeth Moreau, Director of Communications and Knowledge Translation at the Canadian Paediatric Society (where she manages the Diabetes@School project), and Amanda Sterczyk, Manager of Research & Public Policy with Diabetes Canada (and type 1 mom) as they discuss safely returning to school with type 1 diabetes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic for both students and caregivers.
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Constantine Samaan, paediatric endocrinologist and Associate Professor at McMaster University and McMaster Children’s Hospital
Elizabeth Moreau, Director, Communications and Knowledge Translation at the Canadian Paediatric Society where she manages the Diabetes@School project
Amanda Sterczyk, Manager of Research & Public Policy with Diabetes Canada (and type 1 mom)
so welcome everyone my name is brooks
roach i am a diabetes education
specialist with diabetes canada and i
would like to begin by welcoming you and
acknowledging that i am joining this
webinar from the traditional and
unseated territory of the mig people
uh wherever you're joining washington i
invite you to express gratitude and
reflect for a moment on on the the land
on which we live and acknowledge the
past inhabitants of the lands on which
uh which we now call canada
we are here today to talk about a really
you know timely topic which is returning
to school for people and caregivers
living with type 1 diabetes both during
and after the coca-19 pandemic
so we're joined today we have the
pleasure of having three wonderful
guests uh dr constantine simon who is a
pediatric endocrinologist and associate
professor at mcmaster university at
mcmaster children's hospital
welcome constantine we have elizabeth
morrow director of communications and
knowledge translation at the canadian
pediatric society where she manages the
diabetes at school project welcome liz
and we have amanda sterzick who is our
very own manager of research and public
policy with diabetes canada and a type 1
mom
so i want to welcome the three of you
and thank you very much for being here
today our experts will be answering some
key questions that they and diabetes
canada have been hearing on this topic
we'd also like to note that there is no
right answer to this and you should
always consider your own family and your
own situation around key decisions
relating to school
we will also be taking questions from
you our viewers so um
some questions have already been
submitted and you can ask your own now
uh by replying at any time throughout
the webinar in the comments section on
facebook live
so we're going to get started with a
question for uh dr saman which is at
this time given that many canadians
especially adults have received the
coping 19 vaccine
what risks are remaining from the
pandemic for individuals especially
children who live with type 1 diabetes
and what's the relationship there
right well uh thanks very much uh brooks
and again i'd like to acknowledge uh the
lands that
i live in
which
the indigenous people of this land have
called home for thousands of years and
uh i thank them for their stewardship of
the land
i think the
pandemic certainly uh has evolved since
we had a similar meeting last year and
one of the things that have changed of
course is the vaccinations that have
rolled out over the past several months
and it is so great that so many
canadians have chosen to get the
vaccines and
the current traits of vaccinations of
course has allowed us to open the
economy and and think about opening
schools as well however this is not a
time to let our guard down and new
variants including the delta variant is
something that has been watched very
carefully
the good news is that vaccines still
continue to provide protection against
this variant
and also the
children who are less than 12 years of
age are not yet eligible for this
vaccine of course which is something
that's very important for us to think
about so i think these are probably the
the main issues that we're considering
and watching at this point
thanks very much constantine and
now many folks with and without type 1
diabetes are nervous about returning to
in-person classes
so
i want to ask what your advice would be
to children and youth who are impacted
by type 1 diabetes or other complex
health conditions including for example
type 2 diabetes
yes this is a very important question
i think the goal is really to get kids
and youth back in a safe manner to
return to school and so
uh kind of talking to school now and
discussing the specific needs of
children and youth who are returning to
getting ready to what these needs would
be
to ensure a safe return is really
critical
i think school has many benefits for
children and youth really beyond
learning in some cases school is an
important place for nutrition sometimes
safety checks on children so i do favor
a return to school
and careful planning should ensure a
safe return
um
one of the focuses i think for us is
really those who are less than 12 years
of age or unvaccinated and the virus
circulation in the communities and
especially the delta variant data
perhaps and there are other variants
perhaps that will emerge over the coming
months that needs to be monitored
it is important to know that children
with diabetes don't have a higher risk
of getting covet
and even if they do the they're not at a
higher risk of getting severe infection
um regular sick day measures should a
child or youth with diabetes get covered
provided by diabetes team and
consultation with the team if diabetes
control
is not necessarily
moving according to plan is really
critical to try and address um you know
the management of diabetes at home with
a covet infection
infections of children are happening
this is a true however uh just to give
you some perspective uh only about two
percent of children who are getting the
infection are actually requiring
hospitalization and then even a much
smaller number is needing intensive care
unit admission and these are usually
children who have chronic
conditions we don't have the breakdown
for diabetes but the numbers would be
very very small at this point
most children either have no symptoms or
have mild symptoms and the risk of
complications is actually quite small
i think vaccinations continue to provide
really an important anti-transmission
strategy and of course they are
preventing severe infections so for
those who are older than 12 years of age
and for their caregivers uh considering
the vaccine is is really an important
strategy
um and this is important not only for
schools but
i think when extra curriculars are going
to be
[Music]
launching again
there might be any to to provide
vaccination status
those who are less than 12 years of age
then who are not yet eligible to get a
vaccine
there will be data available
by september we think at this point for
this age group and perhaps vaccine
rollouts at the end of the year or early
2022 the best protection we can offer
them is by really building a wall of
immunity around them by vaccinating the
people around them
and that
again
coupled with other strategies that have
been implemented over the past several
months
it's really important to stay home if
sick
screening should play an important part
in isolating
those who are
exposed to the virus i think isolation
if symptoms develop testing and contact
tracing remains crucial for us to limit
the infections
using masks
social distancing and and maintaining
air quality and proper ventilation and
air filtration and close this space is
really critical continuing to maintain
clean surfaces
um public health are critical partners
in this in terms of closed monitoring of
community circulation of covet
is really going to be important again
going back to school this year and again
uh following sick day management
protocols should there be a coveted
infection would be really important uh
this advice will apply for type 1 and
type 2 diabetes um in children
in my view and i believe it does offer
us a safe path to return to school
thank you
i think i i appreciate the
the framing of providing that wall of
protection by by vaccinating other folks
i think oftentimes people um people are
rightfully feeling a sense of sense of
anxiety around you know if my child
isn't eligible to receive a vaccine what
can i possibly do and i think that you
know mental image almost of building
that wall of defenses is a really
powerful one
our next question is for
liz and it's
as a professional and as a parent
what is your position on whether folks
with type 1 diabetes ought to pursue any
exceptions or accommodations in a school
environment especially given this public
health climate
okay thanks for the question
um
so i think any conversation about
exceptions or accommodations needs to
start with a reminder of
the rights of kids with diabetes which
are essentially the same as any other
student in school so they have the right
to be safe they have the right to be
supported and they have the right to be
included and so it's all of our duties
to do the things that ensure that those
rights are upheld
regardless of whether or not there's a
pandemic
that should not be a barrier to
participating fully in school so
you know parents need to remember that
schools have a duty to provide care
and to accommodate for disabilities
which type one is
so
like any other school year families need
to ask for what their children need to
be supported at school and expect those
rights to be upheld
and i think that this year you know more
than ever there was so much disruption
in the last school year
we know that kids mental health has been
affected parents mental health has been
affected so there's probably a little
more planning that needs to be done both
on the home front and in school
you know parents and kids who did a lot
of online learning there may be some
anxiety going back to school um in kind
of letting go of the reins a little bit
we're at home we have everything under
control
more hands-on support so it's really
critical that everybody be prepared to
to support kids at school
we also know that teachers and
principals and educators are going to
have a lot on their plate at the start
of this school year so
you know some kids are starting next
week perhaps the week after
it's really important to get in touch
with them sooner than later
and try to be understanding with their
situation
that you know time may be limited and
opportunities to meet in person may be
limited however
it's also really important that kids
with diabetes start school on time
that diabetes not be used as a reason
for delaying entry into school
particularly this year after all the
disruption
so you know those supports need to be in
place so that kids are safe from day one
we know that every student's needs will
be different depending on their age
their level of self-care
but even older kids kids in middle
school high school are going to need
things like accommodations for tests for
example um if they experience a low in
the middle of an exam they're going to
need time to treat and to recover so
some extra time to do their test
and regardless of where a child is in
any school environment where there's a
child with diabetes everybody needs to
know at minimum how to
recognize and treat a low blood sugar
and i just want to mention before i
before i close that
diabetes at school just yesterday
actually launched an online
teaching module for educators and school
staff so to help it's for them but it's
also for all of you as parents to help
facilitate that training process
so i will um
i'm not sure if people can see a chat or
if i could leave it in a facebook
comment but i'll provide that link so
that folks can go and access it and
hopefully make that training process a
little bit easier so that you as parents
can focus on the specifics of your
child's situation
thanks very much liz and on the note of
sharing uh resources and information
there's gonna be two ways we can leave a
facebook comment with some some links to
some interesting and helpful resources
as well it'll be included in the
description of the youtube video when
this this recording goes on youtube so
if you'd like to access it later your
year something over again and or access
those resources
you can check out our youtube channel um
our next question is for amanda and it's
essentially what's your take on this so
as not only an expert in science and
policy around the situation but as the
parent of a soon-to-be post-secondary
student
how does this change the situation does
it change it how does it change if so
ah thanks for that brooks
well it's it's been tough we can you
know everybody has the same
level of anxiety and exhaustion from
what we went through in the past year
and a half it's been necessary
but taxing on the students teachers and
parents
and speaking from our experience the
school closures have been quite
difficult for high school students
especially in their final years of high
school and just to reiterate what
elizabeth was saying about anxiety
the anxiety of not having done any
written any tests or exams for a year
and a half is a huge issue for
young people going into first year
university
our daughter who has type 1 diabetes was
relieved as were we to hear that her
university of choice will be open for
in-person learning this fall
that's as of now we don't know what's
going to happen in the future
in terms of elementary and secondary
schools all the provinces and
territories are currently planning for
in-person learning when school reserves
for the
2021-2022 school year
i just want to reiterate also what
elizabeth was saying regarding the
supports for students living with
diabetes
pandemic or not they need an individual
care plan that outlines their daily and
emergency diabetes management plan
and it needs to be supported by school
staff
across the country we know that there's
inconsistency with mandatory guidelines
for students with diabetes in school
diabetes in canada is in the process of
updating
our comparison document where we
highlight the gaps in the policies
across the various provinces and
territories
now a few months ago maybe june
ontario's covet 19 science advisory
table released guidelines and research
on children returning to school in
school learning in the fall
and i just want to quote what they had
to say about children with medical needs
the additional resource requirements to
facilitate safe return to school
should not be a barrier to meaningful
access to in-person education for any
child
and we at diabetes canada agree with
this assessment
our guidelines for the care of students
living with diabetes at school outline
necessary components of a comprehensive
diabetes management policy
this type of policy will ensure students
physical health and safety
but it also reinforces their right to be
full and equal participants in school
and all school-related activities
without a fear of being excluded
stigmatized or discriminated against
because of their diabetes
thanks amanda and i'm curious you know
this is
not a question we had discussed before
but i think we've all to some degree
touched on it and i'm wondering if if i
can gauge the three of your thoughts if
you if you'd like to share and it's
it's around you know pandemic or not the
importance of
developing the capacity to ever advocate
for oneself in a school setting
um
what you know i'm wondering if you could
just state a little bit of the some of
the resources that are out there
for from a student perspective if you
know if we have students who are
watching this tuning in if they're
wondering um it can be hard enough to
stand up for you know what what they
need if they live with diabetes let
alone adding a pandemic into the mix
what advice would you have and what
would be sort of
a next step or a piece of guiding advice
you could provide
you want me to go first
so certainly the diabetes at school
resource is is really beneficial and i
think
you know as our daughter went through
high school she became more independent
with interacting
with school staff around her needs and
you know at post-secondary level
she's an adult now so she has to take on
ownership so it's just you know making
sure you're having the conversations
with people understanding at a
post-secondary institution you need to
be proactive as parents caregivers of
younger students do when we're
contacting
school officials
and it becomes an even bigger issue
about
having the
permissions to be able to
take food and drink into classes and
exams to treat a low have your
you know
glucose monitor or your phone if you use
an app to read your glucose monitor that
you're able to use so that you're not
having it taken away during exams that
type of thing so it's just it's making
sure that you you know doing the
research and being vocal and
um and talking to your healthcare
providers your healthcare team because
they often will have the experience of
having other
people go through young adults who've
been asking for help with completing
forms that are required
in post-secondary so they you know they
will know what's needed for you to go
through and and make sure that you have
the accommodations you require
i i fully agree with amanda on all the
points that she raised and i would add
maybe for younger children again for
parents to advocate
with the school but also again to speak
with the diabetes team to have any
services that are available for support
in school like blood sugar checks or
insulin administration to be ready
you know to support the the child or
youth when they return to
i school the only other thing i would
add is
when i think of advocacy i think of you
know um kind of preventative advocacy
and
building that starts really with
building relationships right especially
when our kids are younger and we as
parents are kind of in control of the
whole school situation
um
we can help set the stage i think for
their own personal advocacy um by what
we model and modeling
um forging good relationships uh
relationships that are full of
communication with the the people at
school with the office staff with the
teachers
with the principal
um being very upfront about you know the
diabetes to the degree that your child
is comfortable of course but always you
know putting it forward as this is just
a part of this is a part of our lives
and you know we need to do what we need
to do to
to keep you safe and you know to keep
you healthy every day
but really thinking about those
relationships and the mutual benefit
always communicating that mutual benefit
so
um yes my child needs these things but
also by learning about this condition
you can prevent
you know the worst case scenarios that
people are so afraid of and fearful of
we never have to get to glucagon if we
have good processes in place on a on a
daily basis
thanks everyone i i really resonate you
know if someone lives with type one i
really resonate with that sort of uh
relationship based rather than uh
almost worst possible outcome based
because it's very understandable as
someone that's not familiar to be
fearful of having to use glucon or
having to engage when someone's
you know experiencing a crisis
and
i think that's just really a really
important message to to build it around
the relationship between the individual
and the care provider or uh teacher or
whomever it might be rather than saying
this person might experience a really
shocking traumatic event and you need to
be prepared that made that that can
still be true but it can be it can the
foundation can be the quality of the
relationship and the ongoing
conversations so i really appreciate
that
um
i'd like to open the floor to a few
questions that we've received now so um
the first one is
is from a viewer who asks
how do you quote unquote build a wall
surrounding your kids with vaccines
when the classmates surrounding them
aren't of age to get a vaccine
so i think this this comes back to that
that element of you know protection
within a family unit or within folks
that they often interact with but
recognizing that that may not uh extend
into the classroom
so that's an important point i think the
the issue of trying to protect the
children as you know as far as we can
until these vaccines are available to
this age group is really important and
um i think there are several approaches
that have been taken now uh today for
example the toronto district school
board has mandated that uh you know
the school's
staff will need to be vaccinated to
again prepare that return to school
the additional measures that are taken
within that those spaces that children
are and are going to also play a part in
a protection
but also remembering that actually
children also spend time outside the
school and then by providing community
supports and protections for them we
reduce the chance and we're not going to
eliminate the chance of an infection
this virus is out there and
some children will get infected this is
true
uh i think applying all these measures
again until we get to the vaccination
stage of of young children um
will reduce the the risk
and make it more manageable for us
um can i just jump in i wanted to go
back to what elizabeth said about
building the relationships and having
conversations in the school and i think
a part of this is also having
conversations with other parents
in your child's classroom because
they're all going to be in the same boat
with not being able to have the kids
vaccinated you know so making sure that
you all sort of have a common front
about reinforcing the public health
measures the mask wearing the physical
distancing the good hand hygiene keeping
your kids home from school if they're
sick
so that you know it can be sort of a
wall a community wall versus just trying
to
fight on your own in the classroom um
and the other thing i want to mention is
there was a great analogy in
epidemiology about
you know how to keep case numbers down
and how to minimize the spread and it's
called the swiss cheese analogy
and the idea is that no one measure is
perfect and when you look at
a stack of slices of swiss cheese each
slice has holes but they're in different
spots
so when you stack them up when you have
everyone who's eligible to be vaccinated
has been fully vaccinated you know
you're following the public health
measures
you're doing the contact tracing and the
testing you're staying home and
isolating if you have symptoms or if
you've tested positive
as you stack all of them up you close
all the holes so you're less likely to
have the community spread
that's a great point amanda thank you
and thanks for your answer councilman
um we have another question and it's uh
it's a little bit
extraneous to the the topic but i think
it's really interesting and timely
and the question is what government
party is doing what for diabetics
uh recognizing we're in federal election
mode right now now
full disclosure if you don't uh if
you're not fully up to date on different
platforms that's that's okay there's a
lot of pages to write through but does
anyone have any any thoughts on that
so seeing none i think i appreciate the
question and i would probably i would
direct you to to look at the different
party platforms um they're generally
quite searchable they would have a
section on health um to which a reviewer
asked this question
i would look through the platforms and
see and see where they specifically make
reference to
uh to diabetes care and
you know if if so to compare which party
is is proposing what measures or you
know what what they're proposing to stop
start and continue and that will help
you help you understand and if you if
you would like to ask more you can shoot
an email to
to us at info diabetes.ca and we can
do some
we have another question um
which is
it was submitted sort of at the
beginning of the webinar and it was
how long does it take to reverse your
pre-diabetes pre-diabetes diagnosis
um
so again not necessarily to do with with
returning to school but a valid question
nonetheless perhaps constantine do you
have any thoughts on this
um
i suppose the question is
related to perhaps children
who are dealing with
insulin resistant and perhaps being
overweight and are in the impaired
glucose tolerance phase which is an
intermediate stage between having
normal metabolism and developing type 2
diabetes i suspect that's what the
question is related to
um there isn't really a clear answer in
youth
and it is not a very well studied area
either
it all depends on the drivers of
the impaired
insulin or glucose tolerance and
targeting those specific factors through
specific strategies including things
like lifestyle intervention with healthy
nutrition and physical activity cutting
down screen time um maintaining a good
mental
health
but also more recently there has been
evidence to suggest actually using
medications like metformin which is a
drug that is used in type 2 diabetes
that appears to be quite effective and
improving sensitivity to insulin and
actually reducing the
risk of maintaining impaired glucose
tolerance and reversing that to normal
glucose tolerance so these are the
strategies that we would use in youth to
try and
reverse
the timeline for reversal if it's if the
program is followed and if medications
are effective because again there are
multiple drivers here um usually is
within months and maybe up to 12 months
before we see the full result
but again that's really highly dependent
on the
uniqueness of each person and and what
factors are driving that in soil
resistance in them
thanks very much for the answer um we we
have a question
uh and this this viewer says
my son and i are both type one with
asthma and fully vaccinated however his
classes at ceja are jam-packed with no
space between students at all
how safe is it to return to school in
this situation
and answer how old is
uh
your child
um doesn't
they would be probably seventeen or
eighteen percent
i i would
suggest that
the same kind of points and and elements
that we've highlighted really would
apply in this particular case um
if diabetes is well controlled and
if asthma is well controlled i think
the
uh and if vaccinations are in a place
uh the precautions for indoor activities
are applied uh that will reduce the the
risk of of acquiring the the infection
um
spacing
in schools
is going to be a challenge in some
spaces uh but again there are
multiple other ways that schools are
trying to deal with this and every
school probably is going to be unique in
how they approach that challenge because
no school is probably similar to the
other one
but again i think the the same elements
that apply to
diabetes that we've highlighted will
apply in in this particular case
thank you we have another question from
a type 1 parent
who says
my four-year-old daughter was diagnosed
with type 1 in the spring she's
returning to school this fall we've been
told that her ea educational assistant
will have eight students to manage
do you have any tips or advice on how we
can ensure
that my daughter receives proper care
throughout the day
and that's that's uh
an important stage
for your daughter to to go to school
which is fantastic and
the question again with with the younger
children um especially the
four-year-olds five-year-olds there are
going to be perhaps different approaches
to
um managing the the cohorts in a school
i think the conversations at the moment
are about younger children being more in
cohorts compared to older children
um and i suspect that eight unit i'm
suspecting this is the cohort that is
gonna be traveling around
um
again the the
question of spacing of students within
that space within the environment
uh
using masks if the space is limited
proper ventilation filtration of that
space
good hand hygiene
and this is again can be practiced as a
group with the ea perhaps
helping the young children do that
together and developing those habits
cleaning those surfaces keeping them
pristine for kids to use
all these things will help reduce that
risk
can i comment on the piece the question
about the diabetes care and
so if i understand this is a little one
who's going to kindergarten for the
first time hasn't been to school
and then there's an ea with other
students to manage and i think
typically i don't know where this where
this parent is but i know in ontario
eas are often
helping out kids with behavioral
difficulties or learning difficulties
and then a little bit of their time is
carved out to check a blood sugar and so
on so one can imagine
um the challenges for an ea with all
that on his or her plate and so i think
this is where i might engage in a
conversation with the principal
about finding someone else in the school
who can help out your daughter
because i would be concerned about the
level of care and also about the safety
um you know when it comes to just you
know checking blood sugars and and
treating lows and things like that
especially with a little one who is both
young and newly diagnosed and may or may
not feel lows i don't know what kind of
technology you have to work with if you
have a cgm or if she's on a pump but of
course those things would factor in um
but i really think that this is a you
know you're in a tough situation but
it's um a question of really kind of
communicating to the principal
what it is that your daughter needs
perhaps the principle is not entirely
clear on what that is
but it seems to me anyway unreasonable
to be one of eight
especially and kind of the
well i shouldn't even say especially in
the current environment in any
environment being one of eight um
doesn't seem very reasonable to me
um i know when my daughter was in
kindergarten she she was diagnosed in
april and started kindergarten in
september
and we were told we couldn't have an
ea's time which
is what's got me started in advocacy in
the first place
but thankfully the eces because we're
here in ontario and there are eces in
the classroom the kindergarten
classrooms the ec's agreed to be trained
to check her blood sugar and help her
out so sometimes there are options i
unders i realize that principals cannot
mandate anyone to do this work but it is
heartening how many people in the school
system in schools are willing to step
forward and volunteer to help our kids
and can i just jump in and i want to
mention to you that and brooks is going
to put the link in for this the diabetes
candidate guidelines
um for the care of students with living
with diabetes in school has specific
information about
daily and emergency diabetes management
that is sort of you know that is
required and that we really recommend
all schools ensure that kids with type 1
or type 2
have these plans in place it's part of
their individual care plan
and i just want to say i was thinking
about this
as um my daughter was eight when she was
diagnosed and the one thing i can think
of in terms of covid for parents of
children with diabetes the so there is a
silver lining
in that
there's no issues around
food sharing in school i'm sure those of
you who have kids with type 1 have had
issues with either kids being excluded
because someone's brought cupcakes in
or they've gone higher low
based on whether or not they've been
allowed it or it's been planned and the
timing has been changed so in my mind
it's a little bit of a bonus that shared
food in the classroom isn't happening in
the time of kovid so it helps a little
bit with management of diabetes they're
only eating the food that you send to
school with them
thank you all those are really helpful
answers um
we have a question that's that says a
side note uh this person is is an ea in
ontario and also a type one mom
uh and
she says that eas are not allowed to do
diabetes care as part of their role
which is
just i think worth noting um
we we have a question as well that says
uh
our our child with type of diabetes is
entering school for the first time next
week for a primary school
in their experience
the endo clinic and the school have both
told them to
quote unquote manage their expectations
regarding what they can expect for care
in school
wondering if if we have any advice
it's this person's stance that type 1
kids should have the support to be safe
and healthy and it doesn't seem like the
system is set up to offer both
yeah i think uh
elizabeth
highlighted this issue earlier um
yeah i think the expectations probably
needs to be recalibrated in favor of a
safe and and
effective diabetes management strategy
for your child in school
and you know um i completely agree with
um with you uh with this parent
um
that your your your child should be safe
and healthy i'm sure
this is um a time of anxiety for you
thinking about you know hearing that
from the school and even from your
clinic and and sending your child back
to school for the first time it must be
incredibly anxiety provoking um but i
think that you have the right attitude
that
your child should be safe and healthy
and one thing that's changed in the
years
since i think amanda's daughter was
diagnosed and my daughter is that
there are so many
experts and and strong credible groups
standing behind you
um you know
groups of experts like dr saman who are
saying
this is you know your all of our kids
have the right to go to school they have
the right to full participation they
don't sit on the sidelines anymore
because we're not sure what to do and
whether they're going to go high or low
no they have the right to participate
there are lots and lots of resources so
those barriers are gone um there's
diabetes canada's uh guidelines there
are guidelines from the canadian
pediatric society and the canadian
pediatric endocrine group so
you know all of the experts who care for
our kids are in agreement um that this
is what our kids should have so you're
not alone as a parent
when you go to school and you say no my
son or daughter has has the right to
start school on time um and let's work
together to figure out what we can do to
to make it happen and it may mean at the
you know at the beginning of the school
year if you can kind of set yourself up
to provide a little more support and be
a little more available
but just to get them off on the right
foot
and for them and to demystify it a
little bit so that they see that oh this
isn't as scary as i thought it was going
to be we can do this you know as a
school community
because more often than not
you know people come together and they
come they come through so
um
good luck
thank you folks and i think like you
know myself
um having grown up and gone through
public school living with type one um
it's been pretty amazing to watch the
the evolution and to look now and see
how many wonderful groups and experts
are
you know behind the cause and have so
much so many resources out there to to
be used and there there's such a wealth
of information and data and support
there is a lot of community behind this
too so it can feel
quite like a like quite a lonely
condition at times but there are a lot
of folks in the same boat and a lot of
folks that um have
you know
next steps and have
tools for you to make use of
um we have another question that says
what advocacy is being done to ensure
sports are not shut down this year my 15
year old daughter's insulin needs
doubled when ontario shut down from
november to june and we saw insulin
resistance
with the return to sports in this case
swimming she is sensitive again so less
insulin is required we dread another
shutdown
[Music]
well i can say that the canadian
pediatric society has advocated for
um a return to all extracurriculars so
um and my understanding in ontario at
least is that that's the plan
um is for sports and extracurriculars to
continue um you know if and when that's
pulled back uh we certainly will be
advocating and and we do have um info on
our website or our statements on our
website to that effect if anyone wants
to reference them in their you know in
their communities
and another resource is change for good
health diabetes canada's participated in
an initiative that came out of the
founder of good life fitness earlier
this year because
they were really concerned about the
reduction in physical activity across
all age groups so they have some great
resources as well
thanks everyone and i think that's
that's the end of the questions we've
received but i want to say a sincere
thank you to our experts for giving such
thoughtful advice um a lot of folks
expressing their gratitude want to pass
that on to to all of you that it's
making a real impact to to people that
have that care enough to attend this and
ask questions so it means a lot to get
this this level of of advice and to be
heard so thank you
um
so that's that's all from from our
viewers thank you for uh for your
questions and i'd like to just take a
moment before we wrap up to
tell you a bit about how diabetes canada
and a few other organizations are
helping to support this cause so as
mentioned uh there's been reference made
to the guidelines for the care of
students living with diabetes at school
there are interferential comparison
documents for kids in school with
diabetes so you can compare based on
your province how that stacks up and
what the current situation is for your
province or territory
we have resources specifically around
covid19 and diabetes
diabetes at school as mentioned
liz has done some wonderful work and
there's a lot of resources there
and there's also a an initiative through
mcmaster children's hospital and
hamilton health sciences foundation that
constantine has shared and that's at
www.covid19
childhooddiabetes.com and again all
those will be shared in the comments and
on our youtube videos so you can feel
free to visit our website our social
media at any time to stay up to date on
our work and resources and if you'd like
specific direction you can call the
diabetes canada helpline at 1-800
banting or email info diabetes.ca for
any questions and we'll do our best to
give you direction
um
i want to give another sincere thank you
to our guests for your time and and your
your thoughtful responses before we wrap
up is there anything else that you'd
like to share with our viewers
uh i just want to say for parents out
there
we're all behind you we've been in the
situation and we know it can feel lonely
but
we can't be in the classroom with you in
the principal's office talking to them
but
you know we've put all these resources
out there for people and we're there in
spirit with you so you know be strong
and be there for your kids because
you know you're their best advocate
and i would say actually it is really
important to connect with your diabetes
teams and have their support as well ask
questions look for information
and don't be afraid to reach out
it's really
an important time we understand how hard
these times are and if there are any
questions if there are any issues again
feel free to reach out to your diabetes
team
i can't say it any better than what you
both said
agree you're not alone and reach out for
for help if um
if you feel that your child's health
safety or inclusion is being compromised
in any way
thank you so much folks um to our
viewers please
again never never hesitate to reach out
to us diabetes canada or to
the other organizations that we'll we'll
share shortly
um you know personally i really hope i i
found this to be such a wonderful
conversation and i hope that this was
helpful for uh your viewers and uh
thank you again for for joining us and
being part of this conversation i wish
you all all the best in
the coming back to school season and uh
thank you and take care everyone
bye now
Category Tags: Children & Adults, General Tips, Just the Basics, Management, Research;