What Does the ADA Actually Do?
More Diabetes Daily Aug 15, 2011, 2:58 pm
It recently struck me that I don’t really know what the American Diabetes Association does other than fundraising. So last week, I reached out with other diabetes advocates to start a conversation about improving communication between the ADA and the diabetes online community. It was an energetic conversation packed with possibilities. Over the coming months, I look forward to sharing the results of this dialogue.
In the meantime, I’d like to share a few things that the ADA has worked on. It’s August, so the Safe at Schools program is in full swing. The goals of this campaign are that all students (1) be medically safe at school and (2) have access to the same educational opportunities as other kids. This is an important area not only for providing information and defending against discrimination, but also for political action. There are a number of states including my own state of Ohio that are looking at laws or policies that determine whether insulin can be given by those other than nurses. Few schools have full-time nurses, so this is a big deal. In many cases, laws or confusion about laws is causing kids to be sent far away from their homes (and friends and siblings) to schools that have a full-time nurse. The ADA is pushing to ensure that laws and policies about this issue favor kids with diabetes.
Last year was full of praise-worthy accomplishments. Here’s a round-up of their 2010 accomplishments:
… Read the Rest
Tags: full, laws, diabetes, kids, schools, nurses, policies, last, conversation, safe,
