Type 1 diabetes and single room
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Anonymous
| Has anyone gone through this as a freshman ? Would love advice. My son wants a single as he has needles, vials, alarms that go off in night etc |
Anonymous
| What school? |
Anonymous
| Not sure yet - likely Clemson or U of Miami |
Anonymous
|
Is your question how to get him a single room, or are you concerned about him being alone?
Have you talked to his endocrinologist? I assume they write letters for this pretty often. I'm adult endo but seems like the kind of thing where the doc will write a letter/sign required forms from the school. The process probably depends on the school. For obvious stuff, easy handwashing access in the dorm and having a reliable fridge in the room for insulin would be good. If he's prone to hypoglycemia have a backup plan for his alarm if he's not able to treat himself. Probably needs a plan with the RA and individual training on glucagon administration. And he will need to have a good convo with his doctor about alcohol and how that can wreak havoc with blood sugar, reinforce carb counting/estimation when eating crazy college food, importance of adhering to a regular sleep schedule as much as possible, etc... |
Anonymous
| He’s also eligible for a 504 plan which can grant him any accommodations he needs due to his condition and protect those needs. Not sure if he had one in high school but they also do continue through college. There should be a disability office at his school that can help. |
Anonymous
| Most colleges now have the ability to respond to specific dorm needs through the college's accommodations officer. Also, you can request a refrigerator as part of this process, private bathroom, dorm w/ramps or elevator, etc. Look at housing options on website and you will see. |
Anonymous
| Fwiw, this would be very low on the list of roommate issues imo. Any reasonably good roommate could easily deal with needles and alarms. |
Anonymous
| He really doesn’t want a roommate and strongly prefers a single in large part due to Type 1 |
Anonymous
| Call the disabilities or Res life office (early). I don’t think it will be a problem. |
Anonymous
He needs to have that conversation with the school disability office, prepared to explain why his disability requires a single. A letter from his doctor would strengthen his argument. |
Anonymous
This is a sincere question from someone whose brother has type 1 diabetes: Why isn't your son using the pump? I thought that was a better option than regular injections? |
Anonymous
There no IEPs or 504 plans in college. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the law that provides students with these), no longer applies to them once they graduate from high school. You will have to seek new and separate accommodations at the university. While I do not have experience with a student or friend at either you mention OP, I do know of two families who were successful in getting singles at local universities due to medical reasons, by working through the student disabilities office and residential life. |
Anonymous
|
T1 qualifies as a disability so contact the school disabilities office early and request a single room. Also, not to tell you how to manage your sons condition but you may want to consider (if you have not already) one of the pumps that connect to the Dexcom. Omnipod has a new product about to come out that auto corrects highs/lows which would be useful for college (in terms of overnight issues). There are other tubed pumps that already offer this.
Good luck |
Anonymous
504’s are under a different law and absolutely apply in college. |
Anonymous
It is a good question. Usually a pump and continuous glucose monitor combo is preferred for type 1 but there can be reasons to choose to stay on injection therapy (or some people just prefer it). Is he using a CGM? Maybe the OP meant fingersticks for glucose monitoring? Or backup needles/syringes to inject insulin in case of pump failure? |