Caring for a child with ADHD and type 1 diabetes
Helping your child stay organized and on top of their type 1 diabetes (T1D) routine can be challenging. Get information and tips on how to manage your child’s T1D and ADHD.
ADHD can make T1D harder to manage. In turn, unstable blood glucose can compound these challenges. ADHD affects people differently, but some of the main issues that might affect your child’s T1D management are:
- Impulsivity
- Sensory issues
- Difficulties in knowing how their body is feeling (interoception issues)
- Difficulties focusing or hyper focusing
- Organizational/executive functioning difficulties
- Becoming overwhelmed and/or burnout
- Emotional regulation challenges, particularly stress and anxiety
- Difficulties working with their diabetes healthcare team
ADHD may be underdiagnosed in people living with T1D, because some of the signs of ADHD might be attributed to type 1 diabetes and the effects of both high and low blood glucose levels on executive functioning.
When assessing a child for ADHD, it is important that the assessor understands the complexity of T1D to ensure that the diagnosis is appropriate.
What can I do to better manage my child’s ADHD and diabetes?
Talk to your healthcare provider about your child’s needs. This will allow them to try and make appointments as effective and engaging as possible and allow for tools or sensory accommodation to make the appointment easier.
ADHD often presents as breaks in the typical pathway of thought – intention – action to accomplish a task. A child with ADHD may therefore intend to do something for their T1D management (checking blood glucose, or asking for a snack), and then get distracted before doing it.
It’s important that your child’s healthcare provider knows they have ADHD as this may be significantly impacting the daily management of their T1D. Consider working with your healthcare providers to minimize the number of individual tasks that your child has to perform each day – for some people, this may be a contributing factor to selecting hybrid-closed loop systems to remove some of the task burden associated with T1D. Open and transparent conversations with your healthcare provider can lead to a better and more collaborative relationship.
Other tips:
- You may want to ask for shorter appointments so that your child is not asked to focus beyond what they are capable of.
- You can ask for an email follow-up after the appointment, which outlines what you talked about at the appointment, or take notes yourself. This can help if your child is not able to process information in the moment.
- You can also write a list of things you want to talk about and email it to your diabetes care team in advance of any appointments. This can help direct the conversation while keeping your child on track.
Using technology
Diabetes devices like advanced glucose monitors, insulin pumps and automated insulin delivery systems can help children with ADHD manage their T1D. Alarms on their tech and reminders on their phones can help a child with ADHD if they’re struggling with organization and focus.
It’s important to remember that children with ADHD may also resist, ignore or be distracted away from alarms and reminders. Talk regularly with your child about what is working for them and be open to changing how you manage their T1D when needed.
Following instructions and learning
Children with ADHD can struggle to follow instructions. As well as making T1D management more difficult, this can be distressing and lead to feeling overwhelmed.
Breaking instructions or tasks down into smaller chunks over much smaller periods of time can help.
Accessing support
Speak to your child’s diabetes healthcare team about what additional resources and support they can offer.
Some further resources for managing ADHD can be found at:
https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder
https://www.caddra.ca/
This content was created by Dr. Jacq Allan, Psychologist: Children’s Diabetes Team for Breakthrough T1D UK and has been reviewed by ADHD UK and was adapted for Breakthrough T1D Canada. It does not constitute medical advice. Always speak to your child’s diabetes healthcare team if you need support with their T1D care.