Many of us were diagnosed T1 when we were children or teenagers still in school, so we know all too well how difficult it can be to navigate the social minefield of managing diabetes in a school setting with other kids around. What T1 families should expect, though, is to have a strong support system in place from the educators and administrators where you attend school. But for years, children in England and Wales have been excluded from many school activities, field trips, and other aspects of routine school life because of a school system that isn’t fully prepared to handle children with long-term care needs, such as Type 1 diabetes.

In 2012, for example, a young boy in Northern Ireland was denied admission into his primary school because the school wasn’t set up to administer insulin shots and blood sugar checks during the school day. Luckily the boy was able to enroll in another local school where the administrators were willing to give him insulin shots and check his blood sugar on a voluntary basis, but the lack of support for young kids who need assistance with long-term care needs can be stressful for both kids and parents in the UK school system.