Growing Up with Diabetes: What Children Want Their Parents to Know (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Library) [Paperback]

Alicia McAuliffe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Library | Publication Date: October 1995

Using personal experiences, both her own and those of the kids with diabetes that she counsels, the author covers the issues that often lead to strained relationships and even battles.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"I am a 21-year-old chiropractic student who has had diabetes for over 10 years," writes the author, who has been working with children and teenagers with diabetes since she was 15 and founded a camp for young people with diabetes. This slim book is "what children want their parents to know" about dealing with the social and emotional issues of diabetes, a perspective lacking in most books about this condition. For example, "My parents were worried about the long-term impact of diabetes and how it would change my life and my family's life. I was worried that I wouldn't [miss] my school field trip."

McAuliffe teaches parents important concepts like not blaming yourself if your child has diabetes, accepting that your child will have diabetes forever, not transmitting a negative attitude, and letting your child be a "normal" kid. She also teaches strategies for dealing with daily life, such as including siblings in diabetes education and emergency training, educating your child's teacher and classmates, and giving siblings without diabetes some extra attention. McAuliffe gives no medical advice--plenty of other books do that. She shares from her heart and experience what it was like being a kid with diabetes and how parents can make it easier or more difficult. --Joan Price --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Managing childhood diabetes is essential to avoid short- and long-term complications. At the same time, the child must be able to enjoy normal activities despite the condition. This balancing act frequently results in overly protective parents and a child who rebels against the regimen of shots, tests, and meal plans. McAuliffe, a 21-year-old chiropractic student, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 11 and is a peer counselor, support group leader, and founder of a diabetes camp for young people. Her book explores the disease's emotional and psychological aspects with the hope of making diabetes management less of a battle between parent and child. Notwithstanding her personal experiences, there is little of substance here to help struggling parents. McAuliffe writes of the need for educating the child's teachers and classmates about diabetes but does not explain how parents might do this. The few quotes from young people on a child's view of diabetes, e.g., "Get an attitude of determination and get on with life," are too generic to be either revealing or helpful. The scant bibliography consists almost solely of materials from the publisher. A better choice is Pat Kelly's Coping with Diabetes (Rosen, 1998).AKaren McNally Bensing, Benjamin Rose Inst. Lib., Cleveland
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Chronimed Pub (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565611500
• ISBN-13: 978-1565611504
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Book that Offers Much for Children and their Parent, June 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Growing Up with Diabetes: What Children Want Their Parents to Know (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Library) (Paperback)

This book is what every parent should get for their child with diabetes. It is a guide for children, written by someone diagnosed at age 11, it describes the emotions children go through after their diagnosis, why it is so important to go on living a normal life, and dealing with the pressures of doctors, relatives and friends. It even includes a chapter on how parents can give children independence as they grow up through adolescence. Written by someone who has been there, it is a unique book that offers much. Five stars!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a MUST-READ!, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Growing Up with Diabetes: What Children Want Their Parents to Know (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Library) (Paperback)

A wonderful combination of accurate info, humor, and sharp insight into what it's like to be a child with diabetes. Parents will see themselves somewhere in this book (if not everywhere!). Parents get so caught up in the medical end of things - numbers, dosages, shots, carbs - this book really helps you see things from your child's point of view. There are helpful suggestions, often delivered with a description of a real-life situation the author has experienced, to get you thru rough spots. A great book!

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an encouragement!, June 27, 2000

By 

Susan L. Meisdalen (Malta, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Up with Diabetes: What Children Want Their Parents to Know (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Library) (Paperback)

This book was very informative and very encouraging for me as a parent with a newly diagnosed 18 month old child with diabetes. Not only did the author address the concerns of children with diabetes, she also zeroed in on some of my own fears, concerns and misunderstandings involving diabetes and how it affects the day-to-day activites in my family. I would recommend this book to anyone feeling overwhelmed and frightened with a newly diagnosed child with diabetes.