Knowledge and education is the key to living as a diabetic. In kid’s situations, they need help in understanding the disease. They don’t understand what it means to be diabetic. In kids groups, they only know they are different, they need to eat and act different. They sometimes need to take medicine others in their peer group don’t. But they don’t understand why. Sometimes, the overwhelming emotion is fear of being diabetic. In kids under age 8 or 12, analogies can help make it easier to understand.
You might try using an analogy of a car to help foster understanding. Use the analogy of a car needing gas to keep it running. You can explain to them that the food they eat is the gas that keeps their body running. Tell them that the motor burns the gas to make the wheels turn. Then compare the pancreas to the motor. But in this case, the pancreas, or motor, needs a little work done to it when it is diabetic. In kids with diabetes, the motor needs help getting the gas (or glucose) into the motor to help it run. This help is insulin. Just like we put things into our gas tanks to make the fuel burn better, an additive needs to be added to the blood to make the glucose burn better in the diabetic. In kids that need to use insulin, this will help them understand that they are just getting a little help with the medicine they take but it doesn’t make them any different in other ways. In fact, they can function just as well once they get this little bit of help.
Any analogy will work, so pick something that your child will relate to. Don’t try to explain the nuances and medical terminology in detail to them. Words they don’t understand just create more confusion.
Explain the Symptoms
Make sure they know the symptoms and side effects of being diabetic. In kid’s minds, if they expect something to happen, they won’t become frightened or confused when it does.
Make sure they understand they may become more tired than some of their friends and what that means. Be sure they know they will probably be thirstier than their friends and that they should get water when they are. Make sure they go to the bathroom before bedtime to help them get up less at night to use the bathroom.
Most importantly, be sure they know they might have to use insulin for the rest of their life as a diabetic. In kids with type 1 diabetes, the sooner they are prepared, the sooner they will develop coping mechanisms and good habits that will prepare them for their future. And then give them lots of love!
