Diabetes considered a disability in UK ad

Fredo

I am posting this message as I need to vent some anger about a commercial ad I saw on Virgin TV this morning. I was not quick enough to take the details of the website and author of the ad. But it was in relation to employers and adjustments they can do to ease working condition with people with disabilities in the UK and the DAA.

The ad shows people with various disabilities at work (visually impaired, people in a wheelchair ) and a builder with diabetes! I am shocked and angry to see that diabetes can be classified as a disability ! I have type 2 diabetes and I do not have a disability I have a regular life with its ups and downs. I am a senior engineer for a software company... but yes I do have to monitor my blood sugars and take some meds. So people with high cholesterol, migraine, ingrowing toenails, .... have a disabilitie? We all have some illness and disease.
It is not to take away the message from the add that people with physical and mental disabilities should ask their employers to make adjustment which is normal but my question is: what do people thing of classifying diabetes as a disability? What can we do to prevent those sort of labeling?

CathyMoran

Can see where you are coming from but I think that the "pc" version is that if it affects your everyday life then it is a disability. For example I am a type 1 diabetic among other things, if I do not have a lunch break then there is a chance that I could end up in a coma, the same with being able to test my blood sugar, if I am not able to do this then there will probably be problems. I have no problems with the disability labelling, but maybe that is just me.

Maryanne40

Hi Fredo,

This reply is not totally on topic but I feel I have to comment. You mention that you have a regular life with all its ups and downs despite your diabetes; I would like to remind you that many wheelchair users, visually impaired people etc. also live a regular life . I acquired a disability from a road traffic accident as a teenager and have worked and paid taxes all my life and reared a family. There is a slight implication in your post that people with disabilities do not 'live a regular life' and I take issue with this.

Having said that, I do understand that accepting the 'disabled' label applies to yourself is difficult. I had to come to terms with that overnight at 16.

Fredo

<There is a slight implication in your post that people with disabilities do not 'live a regular life' and I take issue with this.>
It is not what I meant and I apologize if it came across this way.

Maryanne40

Fair enough Fredo....it is something I am quite defensive about, I suppose!

I will be interested to see the other replies you get. I have a couple of family members with diabetes and while I know it is not a stroll in the park, I also know that managed properly life can still be lived to the full.

Sorry for hjacking your thread.

CathyMoran

The thing is that there is type 1 and type 2 diabetes - they are totally different in a lot of ways. Do I consider my type 1 diabetes to be a disability - yes...I have to adapt my life in a major way for it...having said that I am an oesphageal cancer survivor and also have sarcoidosis and other stuff...the fatigue is something that I deal with on a daily basis...having said that i still live my life as best I can...I have a 16 week 1 day old child...I was on another survivor site and was given out to just because I wanted to and suceded in having a child...rant over. I have been told that my illness is the "fat desease" by someone who did not have a clue. I can still live a full life but I need adaptations.

eilo1

Hi Fredo,

I have type one diabetes and it was not until I went to college that I realised that I do have a disabitlity. Yes I can do almost every physical activity that you or another person can. I can walk, talk, see, hear. But I can not do these things with out my insulin and meals. I also have regular low blood sugars, which mean that I must stop what i am doing and eat or drink something untill my blood returns to normal. I wear an insulin pump 24/7 so I am connected to a machine all the time. The pump malfuntioned on me 3 weeks ago and i spent 5 days in hospital with acidic blood.

With out my medication and regular meals I would be dead.

I believe the add you watched was to do with employment and I believe the point about the builder needing to eat at a set time or test his sugars is a very very important one. And I for one am delighted to see attention brought to it.

I worked in the equine industry for years. I can remember at least one incident when i was told to out and tack up a horse when i was on lunch. I had already taken my insulin and it was impossible for me to go out and work with out first eating my lunch. This resulted in a huge row with my manager. I was accused of being lazy!

I can also remember being a teenager in school and excusing myself to treat a hypo. I didnt mention the hypo to the teacher I just left as though i was going to the bathroom as I didnt need assistance. I went to the school vending machines and got a bag of sweets to bring my blood sugar back to normal and then sat back down in class and quietly ate my sweets. The teacher (who had been informed about my diabetes) asked me to explain what i was doing, so i said i was eating the sweets for my diabetes, she then said to the entire class "wouldnt it be nice to have an illness that ment you got to eat sweets all day*. This was mortifying to me as a teenager!

Employers need to know that people with diabetes have needs and address these needs appropriatly.

Fredo

Thanks all for your replies. It's really an eye opener, it kicked start a reflection on how I perceive my diabetes and how managing it should fit in the work place.
Anyway I'm on my way, tomorrow I'm cycling in the Tour of Meath. I'll wearing my TeamType2 jersey (T2 diabetes cycling team), if some of you are around come and say hello
Cheers everybody.

lucernarian

Maryanne40 wrote: »

Hi Fredo,

This reply is not totally on topic but I feel I have to comment. You mention that you have a regular life with all its ups and downs despite your diabetes; I would like to remind you that many wheelchair users, visually impaired people etc. also live a regular life . I acquired a disability from a road traffic accident as a teenager and have worked and paid taxes all my life and reared a family. There is a slight implication in your post that people with disabilities do not 'live a regular life' and I take issue with this.

Having said that, I do understand that accepting the 'disabled' label applies to yourself is difficult. I had to come to terms with that overnight at 16.

It is worth considering that for many people suffering with illnesses, they have to show just such a disruption of regular life before the welfare officers and evaluating doctors approve an application for disability allowance. That is certainly the case with some mental illnesses for example. Some other people with disabilities might equally be offended at someone expecting them to live a completely regular life when they may not be in a position to do what they'd like to do. Every person's going to have their own unique views on how they view their disability.

As for the topic itself, I would be uncomfortable with describing my T1 diabetes as a disability. I do not see efforts at controlling the disease as much of an imposition, barring the unpredictability with hypos I sometimes have. I don't think I'd mind someone else referring to their diabetes as a disability as I know that some people find living with it easier than others. Certainly, I would never compare my own illness to my friend who has a visual impairment. Completely blind since 14 years of age, to be exact. He has his own issues and I have mine. And in a purely subjective sense I would rather deal with T1 diabetes than total blindness IMHO.

Acapella

Hi all,

My two cents worth is I think its a matter of opinion. I am 23 years old and I am a Type 1 diabetic for the last 11 years. Yes, it can be quiet difficult at times but I would never want to be viewed as having a disability and would find it slightly insulting if someone said that to me My outlook is I have a defiency and in order to overcome this I have to eat at regular intervals along with taking injections.

I had a mini discussion about this with a lad I know recently enough. I am a Masters student so I have my degree done and have never requested any kind of assistance for exams during this period or even for my Christmas exams for the Masters for that matter. However for the Summer exams that just past I enquired about having extra time for each as the timetable was four exams four days in a row!!! :rolleyes: As they were final Master exams and there was alot riding on it I availed of the thirty minutes extra for each exam that I was entitled to for being Diabetic.

The only reason I availed of it was for tirednesss issues due to having 4 in a row and not because I was diabetic. I actually felt like I was conning the system!!!!:o But one of the lads asked why I never availed of it before and my thoughts were I see myself just like the rest of my peers and don't want any special treatment dished out especially if I am capable of completing the task without any special assistance. Of course on this occasion I played the diabetic card but I had my reasons :pac:

Anywho...my thoughts are its opinion and how people manage the illness. Good control, good doc, good food, good exercise and it should never disable you. But then if you have the opposite to this it can have a major impact on your way of life and therefore has the power to prevent you from stuff.

Sorry for the longish post and couple of spelling mistakes

All the Best

Acapella

Maryanne40

There is the makings of a wider discussion here about the difference between visible and invisible disabilities....whether one views diabetes as a disability or not, to the outsider it looks invisible and even if 'reasonable accommodations' need to be made, often they are not. Eilo1's story about working in the stables is a case in point.


I accept that people with mental health issues in particular can have a particularly hard time in the workplace and elsewhere. And that people with longterm illness often have to prove disruption to a regular life to get any allowances or accommodations.

But because my disability is visible, for me the opposite can be the problem...people make assumptions about my life and my capabilities without knowing me at all and 99% of the time their assumptions are completely without foundation. I suppose 'to be confirmed' your point about peoples' disabilities and their perceptions of them really are all unique.

CathyMoran

My husband has crohns and thus suffers from chronic fatigue, for me as a result of my oesophagectomy I am unable to eat large volumes and also suffer from chronic fatigue, my diabetes control has also been affected. I found that because I wanted to try for a baby I had to keep a tighet control of my diabetes which I found very difficult...so I will repeat that I consider it to be a disability, though not the worst one that I have...I do also have scars, the one on my back my brother kindly said that it looked like a bad shark bite but at least I am still here...I am thankful that I am allowed to eat and do blood tests when necessary (as well as take insulin), hardly the biggest accomodation going.

robinph

I think I would take great offence if someone told me that I had a disability, I just have something annoying that gets in he way of my life on occasion. However, I can see that it does disable other people in what they do, although if they were to get a disabled parking badge just based on having diabetes that would be streching it a bit IMHO.

Diabetes can be disabling, but I'd not view it on it's own as a disability.

Maryanne40

Robin, why is it offensive to have a disability? I realise you are not the only person who holds this view but this is the kind of stereotyping people in my position...wheelchair user...have to battle every day. For me it is just something that I have to deal with in MY life......I am not ill....I have a condition which requires me to use a wheelchair....

Not jumping on you Robin; just throwing it out there for you to think about.

robinph

I just meant that I would find it offensive to me personally in my current condition.

If someone were to actually meet me and see the various daft things that I get up to then they would certainly not consider me disabled in anyway whatsoever. If they were to just see a list of things that are wrong with me then they might, but I am more than just some medical condition that I happen to have to put up with.

I won't claim to be particularly skilled with language so I probably phrased it wrong. I don't mean that it's offensive to be calling me disabled, just that it's stupid to call me such because I'm most definitely not. I'm probably still saying it wrong though.

Maryanne40

Ok Robin, I'm just playing devil's advocate really and I do understand what you mean and I'm not taking offence. Believe me if you knew what I do in my life you'd say I wasn't really disabled either (apart from the wheelchair which can't be hidden or denied.)

ElBarco

I used to get offended when people referred to it as a disability but over time I've realised that I do have a certain set of requirements (food, insulin, etc.).

It's not debilitating by any means but I can't have a day without factoring in certain things that I have to address.

T1 using a pump btw

graflynn

I have type 1 diabetes, I'm a fully functioning adult and I would feel that if I was referred to as disabled that it would be a huge insult to anyone who truly is disabled (i.e. has a phyical or other impairment that effects how they function as a human being).

CathyMoran

I will give you examples why I see it to be a disability - if I do not have my insulin I would die, I need to be able to eat at certain times, I need to be able to do blood tests and take medication at certain times, it can make me tired, having a baby needs more planning for me...so what, I need certain accomodations to live but I do need accomodations.

I am an oesophageal cancer survivor so that brings its own things too but I fail to see why people are so caught up by the "disability" term.

eilo1

graflynn wrote: »

I have type 1 diabetes, I'm a fully functioning adult and I would feel that if I was referred to as disabled that it would be a huge insult to anyone who truly is disabled (i.e. has a phyical or other impairment that effects how they function as a human being).

I think its important to understand that you cant always see a disability. Some one with ME is still disabled even though they can walk and talk. To me a disability is something that interferes with your ability to function, That is not to say that you cannon fully function. People in wheel chairs in some respects can have a more normal lifestyle than a type one diabetic.

I like to think my diabetes will never stop me from doing anything. But this doesn't mean it doesn't greatly affect me and cause extra hassle and stress in my life.

I for one am very happy that diabetes is being classified as a disability because there is a lot of ignorance out there about our needs. As people have already stated we need accommodations and employers especially need to be aware of this

Diabetes may not be too difficult to manage in a retail or office environment, but try managing it in a high stressed physical job, where you spend 40 minutes out of every hour on a race horse. You cant just jump off because you are having a hypo you have to get the job done. That mean careful planning and being very strict with yourself.