Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

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ginx
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by ginx »

I've received the data collection form from dd2's gs.

I don't know whether diabetes is a medical condition - or a disability which affects her work. I don't get disability living allowance.

I don't know if it affects her work, a morning off once every three months for hospital - the occasional time out to check her blood sugars and eat if necessary - which fortunately is not often. But she has a habit of "holding on" at midday, if she feels low she waits till lunch break as she is too embarrassed (still) to leave the classroom. She has had to go to hospital once as unwell.

We are yet to have the meeting at school but I am really pleased - in a selfish way - another girl has just been diagnosed with diabetes at the same school. The nurse went in and said the school were really helpful and want to learn all about it, and are keen for my dd2 to meet this girl who is in year 7 now. I have the phone number to contact this girl's mother.

Back to the form. Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?
Pumpkin Pie
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Pumpkin Pie »

Check this out!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... bLY7fe8lGs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Tinkers
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Tinkers »

Grey area. All boils down to definition of disabled. Defintely a medical condition.

I would say that a fair number of medical conditions could be classed as a disability.

I think what is important for your DDs form is not whether it is a disability or not, (as it definitely is a medical condition), but how you, your DD and the school collectively manage it.
ginx
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by ginx »

Thanks, Pumpkin Pie and Tinkers.

I've read your info. Pumpkin Pie. Each case is individual, and I could describe dd2's diabetes in a way to make it sound like a disability, but that's if I describe what could happen if she doesn't look after herself. But she does look after herself and everyone around her helps to make sure she is ok. She is very independent though and on the whole she is ok. Gosh, I'd better touch wood now I've said that.

If she is high or low her learning may - or may not - be affected temporarily. Missing half a day of school every three months could be seen as a problem.

I think it's a condition but has to be managed. My dd2 would not like to be classed as having a disability. I'll see what she thinks.

Still unsure but thank you both.
Rob Clark
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Rob Clark »

Ginx, if your daughter has Type I, she will be covered by the 2010 Equality Act. If you want confirmation of this for yourself, call the EHRC helpline and they will ask you questions such as 'does she have to take medication?', 'how often?' and, most pertinently, 'what happens if she doesn't take it?' The EHRC helpline number is further down the link Pumpkin helpfully provided.

She is entitled to consider herself disabled should she so wish. We've never gone down the route of requesting any special accommodations but when DS did GCSEs last year the school said he would be entitled to extra time in exams if his sugars went too high or low. DD does some of hers this year and the school (different one from her brother's) seems to be on the ball – the only issue we've had with them is that sometimes her attendance levels drop below the 'required' level and we have had to gently remind them that she does have Type I diabetes.

Primary school was a bit of a headache at times, but at secondary school the children are largely left to manage the condition on their own, and that suits both of them, though there have been odd occasions when one of us has had to dash to school with a new insertion device or a syringe :roll:
Pumpkin Pie
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Pumpkin Pie »

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... lRt76Dfw2A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

What does ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ mean.

Substantial’ is more than minor or trivial - eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed.
Long-term’ means 12 months or more - eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection.
There are special rules about recurring or fluctuating conditions, for example, arthritis.


Progressive conditions
A progressive condition is a condition that gets worse over time. People with progressive conditions can be classed as disabled.

However, you automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day you’re diagnosed with HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis.

What isn’t counted as a disability
Some conditions aren’t covered by the disability definition. These include addiction to non–prescribed drugs or alcohol.
ginx
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by ginx »

Thanks, everyone. I feel I have good friends on here.

Dd2 says she does not think she has a disability because as long as she looks after herself she is fine. Hmmm. It's difficult. With diabetes, anything can happen it seems and things can go wrong - she could forget to have insulin/have too much, over exercise, under exercise, grow, feel stressed or tired, be ill, be brewing something, be excited - just about every emotion seems to send her up or down. I'm told a lot of this is due to her age.

She does have time off school, four mornings a year, and did once have a day off in hospital (frightening) and everyone has to know.

Sounds like she is disabled according to the Equality Act 2010. She does not want someone breathing down her neck all the time asking if she is ok (as I did at the beginning). I still do at times.

Rob Clark, thanks for the advice about extra time. I'm an exam invigilator so know all about extra time - of course, I requested extra time if necessary during the 11+. Fortunately it wasn't necessary, and I was told they wouldn't allow extra time anyway.

I expect she will be fine once she's settled in at her new school - like everyone - and however helpful school promise to be, I bet she too is left to manage herself. I expect that is what she will want to do, though, she is stubbornly independent. :roll:
Minesatea
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Minesatea »

Tricky.

I work with a lot of patients with diabetes and personally would consider the diabetes itself to be a medical condition and any permanent problem arising from it (eye sight, circulatory, sensory problems etc.) to be the disability but it is probably splitting hairs!
As others have said the Equality Act consider it to be a disability but an assessor for disability living allowance would probably not unless there is some significant permanent problem caused by it.

Another example is Asthma which can also be considered a disability under the Equality Act. Personally as a fit well controlled asthmatic who does 2 hours of martial arts every week I consider myself to have a medical condition and not to be disabled as it doesn't stop me doing what I want to do. However another person with Asthma may be only able to walk a few meters before getting breathless and thus I would consider them to be disabled.

So my view would be that you describe the diabetes as a medical condition, but if there is anything in the school curriculum that you feel she cannot do / would require extra help / supervision / monitoring because of her diabetes then this is the disability.
ginx
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by ginx »

Thanks, Minesatea. It's good for me to be reminded me there are problems other than diabetes!

I may be entitled to Disability Living Allowance but haven't applied for it. The form is pages long, very bleak, and I don't think we'd be entitled to benefits - because why exactly? All prescriptions are free.

I'm glad you don't consider it a disability, you are right, it is the problems diabetes causes. But probably not just the long term ones, but the risk of going too low/high - school would worry most about her being low as she might go into a coma. The word coma makes people panic. Myself included. But she knows when she feels low and needs to eat.

We are going to call it a condition, but when we mention various strategies that will have to be put in place, they may decide it's a disability. She does need some extra supervision and monitoring, but she can do this mostly herself. It's her life, her body, she has to look after herself.
Snowdrops
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Re: Is diabetes a medical condition or disability?

Post by Snowdrops »

If the secondary school are asking about this, I'm sorry to sound mercenary about it, but it's could be to do with the funding they can claim for your dd.

My dd is disabled. She won't acknowledge it and refuses the help offered, insisting she can cope, for the most part she can, but because of the condition, she doesn't know when she needs help . School asked if they could put her on their special needs register so they could claim the funding
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