CHAPTER 24 · GROWING UP WITH DIABETES
SCHOOL, COLLEGE & WORK
Support, accommodations, and your rights, at every stage.
Balancing diabetes with school, college, or a job can feel like a lot, but there are support systems and protections in place to help you succeed.
🇺🇸 U.S.-specific information
The information below is U.S.-specific. If you’re outside the U.S., your country likely has similar protections, check with your school’s accessibility office or your local equivalent.
School
Students with diabetes may qualify for school-based support services that ensure equal access to education. Applying can feel complex, but most schools have staff who help with the process. Two main school-based support plans are important for students with a chronic condition.
📘 Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- Offers tailored educational services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech/language therapy, or classroom aides
- Helpful if you have more complex needs, usually when other health conditions are also present
📋 Section 504 plan
- Can help with extra test time, front-row seating, modified homework, or permission to carry and use medication and monitoring equipment in class
- Unlike IEPs, it doesn’t include special instruction
- Can allow adjustments in PE, bathroom breaks when needed, checking blood sugar during class, eating snacks, and using your phone for CGM readings
More information: American Diabetes Association, Section 504 Plan
📝 Your diabetes management plan
Your diabetes team should write you a diabetes management plan for school. Check that yours covers:
- Your target range, and when to check your blood sugar
- Your insulin doses and how they are worked out
- What your own lows look like, and how to treat them
- What to do about high blood sugar and ketones
- Where your supplies are kept
- Where your glucagon is stored, and who at school knows how to give it
College
What changes after high school.
🎓 At college
Heads up: 504 and IEP plans don’t automatically carry over to college. Once you start college, you’ll need to register with your school’s Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office and request accommodations there.
- You can request accommodations such as a single room to better manage diabetes needs, or extended test time
- Application information: College Board SSD Requests
Work
What’s worth knowing when applying or starting a job.
💼 Applying for jobs
- You don’t have to disclose your diabetes during a job interview, focus on your skills and qualifications
- Once you’ve received a job offer, you can request accommodations if needed
⚖️ Your rights are protected
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, schools and employers are not allowed to discriminate against you because of your condition. Schools also cannot exclude you from trips or activities because of your diabetes, or require a parent to come along in order for you to take part.