To ‘EDUCATE’ this teacher?

[Misinformation]

DS has Type 1 diabetes. He has to put up with stupid comments like ‘did you eat too much sugar’ regularly.

At school today, a boy asked him this. Teacher nearby started telling him what Type 1 is and he asked if anyone could get it and could you get it randomly.

Teacher said No which DS was quite pissed of about as it seems to imply he’s done something to get it or it’s in his genes (it’s not). He’s not the type to correct a teacher so I think I should?

Quite annoyed as if you’re going to educate someone, do it correctly!

How do you expect a teacher to know anything about your child's condition unless you've provided or your HCP has provided most up to date information on the subject.

There is no 't1 gene' there is no 'autoimmune disease gene'. Of course there are genetic factors - everything we are as a human is to some extent. However it is not hereditary. You can have predispositions to diseases of the immune system but the actual triggers for T1 are not known. If it was solely genetic, the huge rise in autoimmune disorders cannot be explained. Environmental triggers must play a part but the truth is no one really knows.
I hope you don't teach it as black and white as that. Perhaps ask JDRF for guidance.

Teachers already have enough to deal with right now

absolutely. And teachers have a moral obligation to be supportive of all the children they teach, to give out correct information, correct that which is incorrect and ensure that bullying doesn’t take place. Type 1 diabetics put up with all sorts in school and their lives are very, very difficult.

OP - send an email, don’t be combative, just say it’s upset your son and ask what happened.

Both type 1 and type 2 are genetic
I have type 2 which is also genetic ie both parents and 1 sister have type 2.
When i ended up in hospital with DKA without acidosis , i was also told it was genetic, mine might also have been bought on by covid, I went straight onto insulin but now 18 months later i am having another test to see how much insulin i am producing as my dose has halved since i was diagnosed 18 months ago

https://diabetes.org/diabetes/genetics-diabetes#:~:text=Type%202%20diabetes%20has%20a,also%20depends%20on%20environmental%20factors.
My neighbours two sons both developed type 1 within a couple of years of each other when they were around 5 after a virus.

You can have a DNA now test on the likelyhood of adult onselt type 1 as there are people diagnosed mistakenly with type 2 when they actually have LADA

I know this is totally missing the point but…….why do you educate in capitals and inverted commas in your title?

Weary teacher here.
This isn't about Diabetes, it's about teacher bashing (look at the thread title and the caps) and othering your kid by preciousness, because you are resistant to any comments posted.
Just three seconds into the new school year and here we go...

How do you expect a teacher to know anything about your child's condition unless you've provided or your HCP has provided most up to date information on the subject

ou’d think the average teacher would give a shit that there is a child in their class who has a life threatening condition…,

No.

I know several type 1 diabetics (including a sibling) and non 'inherited' it.

The causes of T1 diabetes are not 'proven' but it most commonly is linked to immune system issues that cause organ damage.

I know several T1 diabetics and non are in a inherited 'chain' of diabetic family members, they are all stand alone cases.

It could possibly increase your risk as there maybe genetic elements in families that could make pancreatic damage risk higher if you have a direct T1 diabetic family member but its not just 'passed on'.

I would me more upset if anyone suggested you could 'catch" T1D yes it is an autoimmune disorder and we dont know what causes it but it is not contagious and your phrasing suggests it is (realise that is not what you mean).

Hopefully the teacher did convey the message it wasnt from eating too much sugar.

I'm sure PP's have said this already OP but it most definitely is in your sons genes. T1D is an autoimmune disease and you develop it because you have a genetic predisposition to develop it.

Your sons genetic makeup undoubtedly affected his development of T1D as it will have been 'triggered' by something that would not have had the same result in someone without a genetic predisposition.

Teachers have enough to worry about! He felt 'othered' - maybe you should be teaching him to be more resilient. A complete over reaction.

So explain how DS has 3 siblings (all older) who don’t have Type 1. Parents without it. 24 cousins on both sides who don’t have it. Nor any other relatives on both sides going back 100 years who had it!

DH and I have 13 full siblings between us.

The link I posted stated there may be a genetic predisposition (but they don’t actually know) so again anyone can get it unless scientists manage to isolate a gene, test everyone for it and nobody passes it on!

Perhaps it's different in primary, I don't know, but if there was a child coming into our class with T1 then we would have some training on it somehow. We're 'lucky' to have a teacher with T1 so she was able to go into class and talk about it in a friendly way with the pupils and staff so they knew what to expect when a new pupil with T1 arrived.

However, despite working closely with her for 2 years I don't really have much understanding of the disease. As I don't work with any pupils with the condition I haven't had training. It should definitely be a whole-school approach, done at INSET or a staff meeting early in the term.

But please, OP, it sounds like the teacher was trying to do right by not wanting the other student to have the wrong idea. She almost certainly didn't realise her wording would offend your son. I'm sure the school have done a pupil profile for all staff to read and be aware of in case of an emergency (if they haven't, they should) but I don't think it's worth going in all guns blazing for a teacher not to know all the ins and outs of how someone develops a condition. There are so many pupils with many different illness and disabilities, it's impossible to hold exactly the right answer to every question in your head along with everything else.

You are being ridiculous.

i reckon this is OP: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4740606-ramifications-of-teacher-lying-about-a-training-course?page=6&reply=123868371

Shes posted a few times, always about her T1 child and always out for blood.

Random people who post on forums obviously know more about diabetes than the people who produced the Diabetes UK website!

How would you have liked the teacher to respond? Bearing in mind the DC was distracting your DC (and possibly the rest of the class) And that the teacher (reading the room as an adult and a teacher who knows both DCs) possibly judged the random catching question differently from you?
Are you suggesting you'd prefer they mentioned a link between Covid and diabetes?
Do you think your DC would feel less 'othered' if the other pupils thought your DC was the only one to 'catch' it from Covid when everyone in their class will have had Covid and not gone on to develop diabetes?
By all means, email the teacher and offer to send over information about diabetes that can be used in class. But I'd suggest lowering the outrage first.

You and your DS are being way too sensitive about this. There was no harm intended and the teacher was technically correct - you can’t “catch” T1 diabetes. You can develop it but you definitely cannot catch it because it is not contagious.

But for what it’s worth, I understand and sympathise with the sensitivity around it. DS has his own conditions that also cannot be “caught” and I can be quite sensitive about him feeling othered by it too. But it’s one thing to feel sensitive about it and quite another to go in all guns blazing over what was a factually correct conversation.

Obviously spontaneous cases can occur but having a genetic predisposition to T1D doesn't necessarily mean others in your family also have T1D, they can have other autoimmune disease in the same family like hypothyroidism, Reynaud's, pernicious anaemia.

It's the genetic predisposition to autoimmunity that is passed on, not a specific autoimmune disease.

Eg my mum has hypothyroidism, as do some other women in that side of my family. I am autoimmune free (touch wood) but my son has T1D. I have passed on the predisposition. No one else in the family in living memory has ever had T1D.

maybe you should be teaching him to be more resilient. A complete over reaction

Resilience? Ha! All type 1s have resilience in abundance. If they didn’t, they’d just give up and die.

Diabetes UK have a good explanation he could understand

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/research/research-round-up/research-spotlight/research-spotlight-what-causes-type-1-diabetes#:~:text=There's%20no%20single%20gene%20that,chances%20of%20you%20developing%20it.

"the genetics of Type 1 diabetes isn’t simple. There’s no single gene that, if inherited from your parents, means you’re going to develop Type 1 diabetes.
In fact, there are a number of genes involved in Type 1 diabetes. These genes don’t ‘give’ you Type 1 diabetes, but increase the chances of you developing it. The more high risk genes you have, the more likely you are to develop Type 1 diabetes.
But having several high risk genes doesn’t mean you will definitely develop Type 1. Take genetically identical twins as an example. There are pairs of identical twins where one twin develops Type 1 diabetes, and the other doesn’t. This means that our risk of Type 1 diabetes isn’t solely linked to our genetic make-up".

How the actual fuck is it ‘precious’ to not want my son to feel like shit by a teacher’s stupid remark about a life threatening medical condition when he is struggling to understand why it happened to him?

She could have just said ‘I don’t know’!

Yes, saying it can’t just happen to anyone and you can’t get it randomly does imply DS is somehow different.

I have absolutely no doubt DS relayed it as it was said. He has better comprehension that most on here.

Type 1 for 22 years get used to it and yes, educate them if you can. DS will be doing it himself in time

YABU. Saying you can “catch” it implies it’s contagious, which it isn’t.

The teacher told the boy it wasn’t caused by life style, which is correct.

If the boy was trying to wind your DS up, the teacher was probably trying to quickly diffuse the situation.

Teachers just can’t win can they?!

That's how I read it too.