Keeping kids with diabetes safe in school

Pediatrician Jamie Wood, MD Clinical Diabestes, shares advice for parents on the most important things to do in order to help keep your child with diabetes safe when they are in school
How To Keep Your Child With Diabetes Safe In School
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Keeping kids with diabetes safe in school

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A large part of my day and our team´s day is working with a family in the school to make sure that a child with diabetes can be productive and safe in school. And the most important part is having the school, the teacher, everyone who interacts with the child know about the diabetes diagnosis. Diabetes takes time out of their day. It takes time out of their time in the classroom. So we try to do a lot of planning, a lot of education so that the child can spend as much time possible in the classroom with as little disruption as possible. Children with diabetes will have low blood sugars on occasion. They will have high blood sugars on occasion. And both of those will affect their learning in the classroom. If a child is low, they are not going to process. They are not going to be able to pay attention. They are not going to remember and retain things. It could be a medical emergency if they have a low in the classroom. Highs have the same effect. They may be distracted. They may not feel well. So all of the swings in the blood sugars can directly affect their learning. So of course we try to minimize those. Having them safe in school means they need somebody in the school who can help take care of their diabetes, whether it be a teacher, a gym teacher, the school nurse, the office secretary, principal. Everyone needs to be involved.

Pediatrician Jamie Wood, MD Clinical Diabestes, shares advice for parents on the most important things to do in order to help keep your child with diabetes safe when they are in school

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Jamie R. Wood, MD

Pediatrician, Clinical Diabetes, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Jamie Wood was born and raised in Vermont, where she also attended medical school. She completed her pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and her endocrine fellowship at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard University. She moved to the Los Angeles area in 2008 and is now the Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Wood’s specialty is the care of youth with type 1 and type 2 diabetes—a field she fell in love with during a medical student rotation at a summer camp for youth with diabetes.  She also enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, and playing with her husband and two children, Jackson and Olivia.

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Transcription: 
A large part of my day and our team´s day is working with a family in the school to make sure that a child with diabetes can be productive and safe in school. And the most important part is having the school, the teacher, everyone who interacts with the child know about the diabetes diagnosis. Diabetes takes time out of their day. It takes time out of their time in the classroom. So we try to do a lot of planning, a lot of education so that the child can spend as much time possible in the classroom with as little disruption as possible. Children with diabetes will have low blood sugars on occasion. They will have high blood sugars on occasion. And both of those will affect their learning in the classroom. If a child is low, they are not going to process. They are not going to be able to pay attention. They are not going to remember and retain things. It could be a medical emergency if they have a low in the classroom. Highs have the same effect. They may be distracted. They may not feel well. So all of the swings in the blood sugars can directly affect their learning. So of course we try to minimize those. Having them safe in school means they need somebody in the school who can help take care of their diabetes, whether it be a teacher, a gym teacher, the school nurse, the office secretary, principal. Everyone needs to be involved.