As the number of diabetics continues to climb to beyond 18 million, it’s vital to combat skewed and misinformed views of diabetes and to help diabetics overcome tremendous challenges at school or at work.
To that end, I urge you to think about attending the Oct. 20-21 event, Fighting for Fairness: Ending Discrimination Against Students and Workers with Diabetes," to be held in McLean, Virginia.
It’s simply outrageous that people be discriminated against because they have diabetes.
You might be quite surprised, as I was, upon reading the ADA’s check list of huge problems that diabetics face at school and at work:
- Too many schools won’t permit trained personnel to help a child with diabetes who becomes unconscious because of a low blood glucose level. (This is simply shocking and scandalous!)
- Students with diabetes are still sometimes told that they’re not welcome at their neighborhood school. (Awful! How can that be?!)
- "Workers with diabetes face `blanket bans’ from some jobs," the ADA explains, "regardless of their ability to perform the job or how well their diabetes is controlled." (Another horrific situation!)
- What’s more, the ADA notes, employees are "denied job opportunities explicitly because they have diabetes, but then told they can’t object because diabetes isn’t a disability." (Really?)
Sign up here for the event, which is sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, and co-sponsored by the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Disability Rights, Education and Defense Fund, and the National Disability Rights Network.
I urge you now to take action to fight discrimination against diabetics — who have every right to be treated like the rest of us.
Naturally, bear in mind that if you do have diabetes, work hard to properly maintain your blood glucose level, exercise regularly, and eat right (i.e. limit those processed, low-quality carbs and try to get a handle on your sugar addiction).
For that matter, I also encourage you to be sympathetic to the plight of hypoglycemics, too, who, unlike diabetics, aren’t supposed to eat candy and other fast-acting carbs when they’re having a low-blood sugar reaction.
Need help kicking sugar? Join my free online KickSugar group.