r/diabetes_t1 • u/superdupercass69 • 1d ago
College + Newly Diagnosed
Hello! I’ve been “officially” type 1 for about a year now from being 1.5. I just started school again to be an engineer and was wondering if anyone told their professors that they’re t1d and if so how did you go about it? Our disability office highly encourages me to tell my profs as does my mom. I was thinking of making a little note card w some information just in Casies. I have an Omnipod + Dexcom and my main concern if if my pod runs out or expires while in class and makes that annoying ass noise until I deactivate it or if Dex yells at me for going low (as we know it just gets louder). This quarter my teachers seem relaxed and don’t have a no food/drink policy that they’ve mentioned but in the future if they’re strict my school (disability department) can intervene if I don’t feel comfortable telling my profs or they refuse to let me have food in class.
3
u/FuckThisMolecule 1d ago
I got my diagnosis during graduate school, so I get all the concerns! Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal for the most part when it comes to higher education, at least not compared to K-12 schooling where there are so many restrictions and rules. I’ve never had anyone fuss about anything — though it did become a running joke to tell me to “die quieter” when my alarms would go off during lab meeting (there were a lot of false lows with the early G7).
Personally, I just told professors in person when it was convenient if I thought it would be necessary. Something like, “Hey, just wanted to let you know, I’m diabetic and my insulin pump and glucose monitor are controlled by my phone. You might see me using it on occasion during class.” I also sometimes would add something like “I have candy/juice/low treatments/whatever with me to treat my blood sugars when they go low.” — usually I only mentioned this in lab settings because that was the only time having food was ever an issue. If you’re concerned about having someone in the room that could help you in an emergency, you could let them know enter it keep your glucagon or snacks.