#1971 Next Person Who Speaks Loses
Next Person Who Speaks Loses
Jackie Waldie is a special education advocate, a former teacher of the year, and a mom of a kid with type 1. She and Scott take apart the 504 meeting — what to ask for, and how to actually get it.
Jump to a moment
- She has been on all three sides of the table. Jackie Waldie is a non-attorney special education advocate, a former classroom teacher of twelve years and her state's teacher of the year, and the parent of a child with type 1. Her most useful admission comes from the teacher years: she once had a fifth grader with type 1, got handed a 504 plan, received no training at all, and was told the girl could take care of herself.
- A 504 is not one-size-fits-all, and that's the point. An elementary plan should look nothing like a high school plan. A building with a full-time nurse produces a different plan than a rural school with none. Her test for any line item: is it reasonable, and does it provide equal access, health, safety and protection? The right answer is neither a bare-bones plan nor the entire circus.
- The crystal ball line, and how to beat it. Administrators tell parents they can't answer a hypothetical because they don't have a crystal ball. Jackie's counter is to arrive with history instead of hypotheticals: we know a fifty on the playground is going to happen, so who is trained, what supports exist, and how does it get written down so it follows the child? Scott's framing pairs with it — you aren't building guardrails to stop things going wrong, you're building a response for when they do.
- Scott's negotiating tactics, stated plainly. Make the ask, then stay silent — the next person who speaks loses. Put yourself slightly below the other party and let them feel in charge while you move them where you need them. Open by thanking them and sharing good outcomes. And every year, hand back something from the plan your child has outgrown, so it feels like you're lightening their load. It isn't a contest to win; it's about getting what your kid needs.
- Three ways parents walk in and lose. Guns blazing and angry before anyone has spoken. Completely uninformed and grateful for whatever they're offered. Or overwhelmed and in tears. Jackie's blunt version: you have to get yourself right first, because this is your child's life and it's their fortieth meeting of the week. She also notes the step most parents skip — writing up your own notes afterward and sending them to the school so they land in the file.
- 504 plan builder — The free tool Scott describes building in this episode — toggle the accommodations you want, with explanations and pushback responses.
- Jackie Waldie — Inspire Education — Jackie's advocacy practice. She is also on Facebook and Instagram.
- Diabetes Pro Tip series — Episodes 1000-1025 — the management foundation behind everything you'd ask a school to support.
- T1D Exchange registry — US residents 18+ with type 1 — take the survey and support research.
Every word of the conversation
Cold open & sponsors0:04
Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Juice Box podcast. Hey. At juiceboxpodcast.com, there's a five zero four builder. Go to juiceboxpodcast.com. Go up into the menu and choose five zero four builder.
After you listen to all this, you might wanna check out. While you're doing other things on the Internet, t1dexchange.org/juicebox. Take the survey. US residents 18 or older who have type one diabetes, when you complete that survey, you're helping to move type one diabetes research forward. T one d exchange dot org slash juice box.
I hope you enjoy this. On today's episode of the podcast, there will be nothing that you should take as advice, medical or otherwise. So please, please consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. I've got two OG sponsors for you today, Omnipod five and Dexcom. That's right.
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Teacher, advocate, and type 1 parent2:03
Well, good morning, Scott. I am Jackie Walde. I am a non attorney special education advocate. I am a mom of two awesome children, one of which has type one diabetes. I am a wife of a soldier who is getting ready to retire.
So that's very exciting. And I'm a former classroom teacher. So I really have so many unique experiences to bring to the table when we're talking about type one diabetes from a parent perspective, from a teacher perspective, and now from a non attorney advocate's perspective.
Alright. I can't wait. And this is very timely. I'll explain why in a second. But real quickly, who told you those kids are so terrific?
I just know they are because I'm a professional.
You ever tell them that? I'm like, I know you're good kids because I was a teacher once.
I do.
Yeah. Yeah. Do you I it's not a terrible thought. Like, I've seen bad kids. You guys aren't doing you're you're not doing terribly.
Thanks for being in the fight. So I'm gonna start by saying, I listen. I have a ton of conversations, and I don't know where all my thoughts come from all the time. Right? So I'm I've been very worried recently that I heard something somewhere and didn't realize I heard it.
How the 504 builder got made3:25
I'm actually gonna reach out to the person to make sure that that's not the case, but I've done some double checking. I don't think that's what happened. I just think there's only so many good ideas in the world. But I was doing an an ask me anything, but that sounds dumb when you're older, doesn't it? I was doing an ask me anything the other day on my on my Facebook group where, basically, I'm editing the podcast.
And on a different screen, people are asking questions, and I'm sort of going back and forth editing and answering questions and stuff like that. It's a way to keep me from wanting to throw myself out of a window while I'm editing the show. So, I'm answering a ton of questions, and this one person says, I need help with a five zero four plan. Okay. And I I clocked it in my head, but it was not a it wasn't a quick response.
So I kinda let it go by, and I thought, oh, I'll come back to it later. And so I'm going back and forth, and then it just hit me. I have my old a number of my old five zero four plans. And now that the world has changed, couldn't I just give them to, you know, my assistant, Claude? He's French sometimes.
Yeah. And and asked Claude if he could maybe just turn them into a document that people could type into and put their names in and then make changes to if they wanted to. Right. And so I I had that thought. And then I was like, why am I limiting myself to that?
Like, how did I make my 05/2004 plans? I went to all these other websites, ADA,
three
all these places that had that this stuff, and I read like a lunatic while I felt like I was gonna cry for days at a time.
Absolutely. Right.
Right. And I'm making notes, and I'm saying, well, that seems important, but this one doesn't. That seems ridiculous. I I, at one point, looked at, like, some people's five zero four plans, and I was I'm surprised there's not a Ferris wheel in one of these. Like, you know, like Mhmm.
Johnny can't be happy if we don't have a Ferris wheel for him to ride on. Like like, some of this some of this stuff seems silly to me, but then over the years, I've heard people say how things that I thought were silly were very, like, kinda poignant to them. And then I just I just said to my assistant, I was like, why are we limiting ourselves to my five zero four plan and my ideas about what this is? Like and I had it, like, deep scrape the Internet for, you know, all these, like, five zero four directions. And before you knew it, I had, like, rules that exist in every state.
And then I was like, what am I doing? I was like, just build this up so that people can just go through and choose which ones they want and which ones they don't. And and give them explanations for each line. And don't even make them write it down, like like, I don't know, make make it like a like a toggle switch. Like, yes.
I want this one in. No. So you can go down and and read and click. And then before I knew it, was like, and what if they push back? And what if they have questions?
And what if like, how do we prep them? And I just turned it into a a really, I thought, pretty cool web page. And then I turn on the machine here this morning, and I'm like, oh, Jackie's here. And these two things are, I think, completely detached from each other that you're here today and that I did this last week. But I don't know because I don't know how the subconscious mind works.
Why there is no one-size-fits-all plan6:38
So Right. I think it's serendipitous. I mean, that's usually what I use. You know? Yeah.
I feel like things align. And I think what you're doing is fantastic. It's such an interesting conversation. So from my perspective, I completely agree. We don't want to limit ourselves with a five zero four plan, but it's also not a one size fits all.
So a child that has an elementary five zero four plan is going to have a very different five zero four plan than somebody in high school. Okay. Maybe somebody has a full time nurse in their building or they have a one to one aid. That five zero four plan is going to look different than somebody who is maybe in a rural area. They don't even have a school nurse.
Yeah.
Right? And so I think that understanding what's reasonable kind of when you were talking about, you know, having, like, the the the entire circus inside your five zero four plan. Right? You you always wanna say, hey. What's reasonable?
But you also wanna make sure it's providing your student equal access. Mhmm. And it's there for their health, and it's there for their safety, and it's there, you know, for their protection. And so I think that's why five zero four plan seems so complicated because parents will often go in with their initial diagnosis of type one diabetes. And just like you said, I cannot tell you how many people sat in my office crying their eyes out
Mhmm.
Just with that fear of we don't know what school's gonna look like. We're barely surviving this ourselves. We're a new diagnosis. And they go into the school, and they kinda trust that the school knows what they're doing. But, really, the school is operating from, well, this is what we've always done with our students from with diabetes.
Yeah.
They're maybe not necessarily operating from a place of training, knowledge, and firsthand experience.
Maybe. Some schools are. Jackie, that was very kind when you said maybe. Well,
some schools might be. I have a a school nurse that is, you know, fantastic, and they're doing a book study on it. They're doing the Pink Panther book, and they're bringing people in to talk about firsthand experiences. And, you know, so I have those stories of excellence. And then I have those nightmare stories where, you know, you're sitting across the table from an administrator and they say, diabetes shouldn't even qualify for a five zero four plan.
Oh. And it takes everything you have. Don't it out. Yeah. Don't forget too that you could have a scenario at an institution that's a fit a fantastic situation, and then someone loses a job, changes jobs, somebody moves up over top of them.
And before you know it, you know, you're out there telling people like, oh, you know, that school, that's great. And then they get there and, like, it's not been my experience. They don't seem to understand. It only takes one person to move out of a job, and that's it. I you know?
I say that in the opposite all the time when I'm in these meetings. I say it takes one person to be dedicated.
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It takes one person to believe.
It should be in positive. Yeah. Okay. I could I could have gone at it from that perspective. Yeah.
No. But I I'm gonna tell you, like, I have a a lot of experience with this, and I'd like to make this if you have time to really, like, have a nice conversation, you know, I'd like to give some background and get your feelings, see how things have modernized or changed since, you know, I've been at it. So Sure. I'll just start with you know, my daughter was diagnosed when she was two.
Mhmm.
And I had all the fears and all the things were going wrong that everybody else experiences, generally speaking. And by the time she was four, I was already thinking, oh god. Next year, she's gonna have to go to school. Mhmm. And at that point, Arden was, you know, MDI and not even like a like a pen.
Arden's actually never even used a pen. We had, you know, syringes and vials of insulin and a meter. Mhmm. And that was kind of it. So I had two focuses getting her to to school.
One, I wanted to get her onto a pump and because I just couldn't if I'm being honest, I couldn't stomach the idea of someone else stabbing her. That was really sort of just it. Right? I didn't I don't even know if that was a real legitimate thing I should have cared about it or not. I just know that I couldn't I couldn't make myself right with it.
And and I wanted them to be prepared. I wanted to have a five zero four plan in place. So I go into the school at the end of the year previous to when she's going to begin. And they and I'm not joking, laughed at me in the office. Ugh.
Because I'm like, I'm here to work on getting my daughter's five zero four plan set up for next year. And they were like, we don't we don't do that ahead of time. And I was and I my first thought
was you do.
I go I go, what are you gonna do on the first day? Like, it like like, let's say that you have me in on day one and we get this thing set up and everybody understands. In a couple of weeks, everybody's, like, right on, and they know what's going on. What happens in those two weeks? Mhmm.
And I think they thought I was out of my mind.
Mhmm.
Like, sincerely. And Mhmm. So they they refused, then and I acquiesced. And then we started doing it at the beginning of the year. And I had been working the whole summer, like, know, on all the different websites that were available at the time, pulling information, trying to like, other people's five zero four plans to look at and trying to be reasonable.
Like, I didn't wanna go in there and ask, you know, for you know what? You know, she really would be more comfortable if she had a tiger. You you know what I mean? Like, any anything yeah. Right?
I was trying to be I was trying to be measured. And I came up with a document that was a couple two, three pages long. And I showed up for my meeting, and then the guy laughed at me again. And he said, no. We have a five zero four plan that you can use.
And I actually thought, oh, good. That's great.
Yeah.
And he left the room. He came back in with a sheet of paper that looked like it had been, I'm gonna say, you know, photocopied. And it had five bullet points on it. And I looked at it, and I said, if you try to keep my daughter alive with these five things, she's not gonna live long in this school. Yes.
And he went right to all the stuff you said. Oh, there's kids that we've had kids in the school before with type one diabetes. They're fine. Everybody's fine. Like, doing that, like, don't worry.
Be happy. Like, you know, it's Yeah. And and I just I fought back and I fought back and I tried so hard. And I finally got them to accept her five zero four plan, and we worked on it together. But the one thing that they wouldn't do at the time, I asked for, like, an aid to be with her on the playground.
Mhmm. That was pretty much it. I was like, I'd like somebody, like, before recess to just sort of collect her at the because she's gonna go to the nurse's office before recess. She's gonna get her blood sugar checked. I for everybody using a CGM, you try to imagine, like, she goes to the office.
They check her blood sugar.
Know. It's hard for me to
imagine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To see if it's gonna be okay.
And, and then I just wanted someone to go out there with her, hold her bag, and just kinda keep an eye on her. You know? Because she because, you know, she was five. And and they said no. They were adamant about no.
And I'm sorry this is a long story, but
No. It's not. I love listening. This is what I do.
Well Yes. So some months later, I being an listen. I trust humanity as a whole. Like, you know what I mean? Ish.
But
But you're skeptical.
Well, listen. I I'm not losing a kid because I trusted you. Okay? Right. Right.
So my phone was littered with timers, and my timers were set to bring myself back to reality a few minutes before she was going to have something done to her at school. Because part of my five zero four plan was you check her blood sugar, then you call me and tell me what her blood sugar is, and then we decide how to move forward together, and then we do the thing. And I did that all day long every day. So one day, my alarm goes off. I'm vacuuming because I I don't know if you know this, Jackie.
I was a stay at home dad. And ahead of my time, by the way, back before they were doing it, That's neither here nor there. And I'm vacuuming. My alarm goes off. And so I just I I write myself.
I'm like, oh, someone's gonna call in a minute. Then they didn't call. And I thought, well, I'll be a reasonable person. You know what I mean? I'll wait another couple minutes.
I'll wait a few more minutes. I'm like, It's enough. I call the school. The school has to put me through to the nurse's office. The phone rings.
Someone picks it up. The voice says, nurse's office. And I said, hey. I'm calling to see about and I didn't even get it all out of my mouth because I don't know if you can like, I have a fairly recognizable voice. And the person on the other end yells, oh, damn, Arden.
And then they hang up the phone.
Oh, no.
And that was it. So now I'm just standing in my house going, oh, damn Arden. Like, what's that mean? What? Yeah.
Yeah. And and but, okay, there's I I recognize the nurse's voice. She's now thinking about Arden. I will stand here quietly and wait for my phone call. So I do finally get that phone call back, and all that happened was that another child in the school had a medical emergency right before they were supposed to grab Arden for her blood sugar check.
And so no one did. And now imagine what that means back then is that some someone was supposed to go to Arden's room, collect her, take her to the nurse's office because she was, again, five, and then check check her blood sugar, then call me, do the thing, push her out onto the playground by herself, like, through a door Right. And blah blah blah. Except right before that, a kid literally needed to be put on a heart monitor, and everybody just got super focused on something.
And they forgot her?
Well, not only did they forget her, but ask yourself, six, eight months into a school year, how does her teacher not know Right. Why why is no one coming for Arden? So look at all and by the way, the teacher's a lovely person. I just saw her at the Costco the other day. Okay?
Right. Yeah.
And But the system failed. Yes. Right. The protocols failed.
And a lovely person who cared about Arden, enough to ask about her seventeen years later in a Costco. Okay? Mhmm. But in that moment, even though they had done it day after day, week after week, month after month, no one came to get Arden. Nothing fired anybody's brain.
They sent her out on the playground. That nurse went and collected Arden, I was told, off of the top of the monkey bars with a blood sugar of 50.
Oh my gosh. Okay. That's so scary.
Yeah. So they they get her back inside. They fix her up, send her on her way, all that stuff. And then they call and explain it to me. Now where most people I don't know what most people would do.
I put myself in my car. I drove to the high school.
I would yeah.
Mhmm. Where the superintendent's office was, and I sat outside of the superintendent's office. I said to the secretary, I need to speak with the superintendent. They said, you don't have an appointment. I said, don't care.
I'll I'll wait. Okay? So I waited for a while. They tried to shoot me away a couple of times. Eventually, I made my way inside.
And there we are having this conversation. It's the same one we've been having before. We don't understand why Arden can't take care of herself.
She's five.
Yeah. Well, I said that.
And educators do not understand
child development? I said,
am I asking that question?
I said, well, I barely understand how to take care of her, and she's five. Five. Right. Okay? Right.
So I went over and over again, and I said, look. I tried being nice. I tried to explain to you what could happen. I asked, you know, kindly. I didn't put a tiger in here or a Ferris wheel or anything like that.
I asked for somebody to be with her in this one situation. You said no. And today, my daughter with a 50 blood sugar is crawling around on the top of a monkey bar. And I said, I wanna be completely clear. If you kill my daughter, I will spend the rest of my undoubtedly very sad life trying to pay you back for that.
And I will do it through attorneys and any other thing I can think of until my name's on the front of that goddamn high school. Okay?
Right.
And I said, and and for no reason other than I will have nothing to do except be angry at you and sad and miss my daughter. Or could you just have a low level person stand and stare at her for twenty minutes once in a while? Like, I'm not asking for the person to have six PhDs. Right? Right?
Right.
Well, we can't afford that. We can't afford that. We can't afford that. I said, I swear to you.
That's not a law.
You better I'm
not an attorney.
Uh-huh. I said, you better reassess your thinking, I said, because you definitely won't be able to afford it after you hurt her. And that was it, and I left. And they called me four hours later, and Arden had an aide. And that was it.
Good for you. Yeah. Good for me. None of that shoulda happened.
And none of it should've it shouldn't have happened. Right? And that is something that is so terrible that still happens today.
That's my point.
Until that they know that the family knows that a law has been violated, a child's life has been put at risk. It's like in some schools, I'm not saying all, but in in many, you have to push them and push them to the limit to get them to give you what is reasonable because so much gaslighting goes on. Right? You are the difficult dad. You are fighting.
You are making this a problem. We've got this. We're educators. And you leave those meetings going, maybe I am. Maybe maybe I am crazy.
Maybe I am a problem. Maybe I am asking for too much. Yeah. And and you just start doubting yourself, and then you have these moments where your child is 50 on a playground, and you're like, no. I wasn't.
It was you guys. It wasn't me. You know?
Well, it's diabetes, but Yes. Let's all just, you know, maybe try. Like, why are we why are we throwing it up to god all the time? It'll be we've had other people through. It'll be fine.
By the way, I learned my lesson on that when I I found those other people who'd been through the school. And they're lovely people, and I like each and every one of them. But most of their kids are walking around that school with a 250 blood sugar so that nobody will get low. And everybody's happy with that because they go, oh, you know, if we keep their blood sugar higher like that, then they don't get low at school. Well, awesome.
And then they don't have to deal with it. Right? But then what's the long term effects of having your blood sugar that high all the time just because you're afraid to push the adults to get some training and do what's right.
Why am I educating my daughter so that twenty years from now, thirty years from now, she can suffer serious medical conditions? Like, why don't we all just go sit on a beach and stare at the the sunset until it's over? Like, I mean, like, what what what's the point of all this? We're gonna educate her, make her a, yeah, make her a thoughtful part of society. And then when she's 30, she's gonna need laser treatment in her eyes because, like, what what kind of and then you say that, and they go, that's not gonna happen.
I'm like, who are you? What do you got? You got a crystal ball over there? So oh, Jackie, I can tell this conversation is gonna make me upset, but go ahead. Go ahead.
I know. Yeah. You know, I'm so passionate as well about what I do, and I face situations daily that just infuriate me, make me angry from the standpoint of I was a classroom teacher.
Mhmm.
And and I wanna share this story because every time I see this student, I feel like I need to apologize to her. I had a type one diabetic in my fifth grade class. And this was years ago, probably fifteen years ago now. And I didn't get any training. It was like, and she was a fifth grader.
“I had no training”24:17
Mhmm.
And I was like, nope. She's good. She knows how to handle it. If she starts going low, she'll ask you for a juice. And now that I have a type one diabetic, I am appalled at how that was handled for me.
Mhmm. Here's her five zero four plan. Just read it. And I remember saying to this student, there are times I'm like, you don't look okay. Do you need to check your blood sugar?
Do you need like, why am I asking her? Right? I didn't know that it's maybe not the best to ask someone when they're going low. You should just know how to treat it and how to handle it. I had zero training.
And I think what you said with the word crystal ball, I hear that. I've had administrators say that to me, excuse me, in a meeting. Say, well, we can't answer that what if we don't have a crystal ball. And I think parents need to do that. I think parents need to sit down before their five zero four meeting and, like, listen to your podcast, talk to other diabetic parents, and think about these what if scenarios, and then have an answer for it.
The crystal ball problem25:22
And be able to go into that five zero four meeting and say, I know you can't answer what if, but here is what history tells me. Here is what experiences tell me. Here is what I know. We are going to have a moment where that child is gonna be on the playground and has a 50 blood sugar. We know that is going to happen.
How are we going to be prepared to deal with that? Who has the training? What supports are in place? And how are we gonna get in get it in writing so it follows this child throughout their school career? So I think it's it's really those pointed questions.
And I think it all comes down to trust, and it it connects with so many other fields in our life. Right? We trust our doctors. We trust our law law enforcement. We trust our educators.
And I think when it comes we just naturally trust. And when you have a child that has any kind of disability, I think that parents learn the hard way that that trust is false and that you need to go in prepared and educated and not trusting that other people know what's best for your child. You need to be engaged. You need to be the one that knows what's best for your child. So
Trust, and why it isn’t enough26:38
Yes. My god. Yeah. Jackie, you and I are are are separated at birth. Listen.
I'm I'm it's diabetes. It's not if it's gonna happen. It's when
it's gonna happen.
Yeah. We're not Mhmm. We're not and we're not prepping to stop things from happening. We're prepping to respond when they do. This is this is a very important little nuance around the whole thing.
They all think that we're setting up guardrails to stop anything from ever going wrong. That's not the case. I don't I don't want the diabetes. It goes wrong every time. Something's constantly going wrong.
Okay? So
Right. Like
But on those moments when they go wrong and they lead to dire situations, how do we either get in front of it or rectify it quickly without a problem? Have you heard the have you heard the episode of the podcast where the school nurse gave gave the kid, like, two hundred units of insulin?
I have. Yeah. Yes.
That that, I'll use a line from an old, Julia Roberts movie. Did it did it did it shrink your testicles to the size of raisins when you heard it? Does does anyone know that? What's that movie with the Julia Roberts? She's a famous American in England.
She meets Hugh Grant.
Naughty Hill.
Nah. Thank you. Yeah. There's a great line in that where the guy says, I'm gonna tell you a story, though. Shrink your butt.
To to sign and Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's unthinkable except there it was happening.
And it's not, by the way, and it's not because I'm gonna tell you. It's not because the person didn't care. It's not because they weren't trained. It's because sometimes things happen. Right?
Yeah.
And sometimes things happen that maybe it's it it could be the school nurse. It could be stress. It could be a testing scenario. It could be PE. It could be that somebody brought treats for a birthday party, and, you know, my kid decided I'm just gonna have that cookie and didn't know how to dose for it.
I mean, there's so many factors that potentially these five zero four teams don't understand.
Mhmm.
And and our need to be diligent and proactive and on top of it. One of my favorite strategies when you were talking about having your five zero four plan and they wanted to do it the first day of school, and I'll just share this. I find out when teachers are contracted back to be in the building, and I email the, either the principal or the special ed coordinator or the five zero four coordinator, you know, whoever is your go to person, and say, hey. I know teachers are back on contract. Let's have this 05/2004 meeting before school starts.
Get the meeting before school starts29:13
Jackie, you're what they call a pain in the ass, but in a good way. That's awesome. I like that. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Such pain.
I know.
That's awesome. I love that.
And I'm just it's such a great strategy because then you're not putting a 504 plan into place in May or June where people are gonna forget about it.
Mhmm.
And you're meeting with your five zero four teacher, you know, your five zero four team in typically in August. Right? Depends on if, like, you're East Coast. Sometimes that's, like, after Labor Day, so sometimes it's, like, September. Right?
And so you're meeting with them before that and you're you're laying it out and you're giving them time to digest it all, to look over any resources you give them. But here's the other thing that people forget. The 504 is the first step. I can tell you how many five zero four plans and IEP is the teachers get, and they spend three seconds looking at it, and then it goes in a folder in their desk.
Yeah. Because they don't think anything's bad is gonna happen because it's human nature to believe everything's gonna be okay. But Right. Right. Right.
Right. Yeah. What they need is to be woken up at 02:45AM by something going and their wife yelling, hey. Is Arden okay? I don't know.
Hurry up. I think she's gonna die. Arden. Oh, Arden's having a seizure. Jeez.
Okay. That'll get you right. Then somebody will hand you the 504, except they're not gonna have that experience. They're not gonna ever have that experience. Okay?
So And
I think that's why, like, your podcast is so important. Like, we have to share these experiences. And when you go to your five zero four meeting, you have to tell your story. Right? Don't let them bums rush you and say, oh, we have thirty minutes for this meeting.
Tell your stories. Tell them about how, hey. This last month, my kiddo or this last week, my kiddo's been having Lowe's every night at 2AM. I'm exhausted. My kid's exhausted.
Let's talk about how that's gonna impact them at the school day.
Yeah. Also, they're gonna be late, and I don't wanna see you market. When
Oh my gosh. The truancy fights I've had over diabetes.
Oh my god.
Like, not even. That will make me so angry.
I I just Because Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because
it
I
have to miss school. Mhmm. Not just because of doctor's appointments, because of high blood sugar, because of low blood sugar, because of feeling terrible. And I'm like, you better not send truancy after me because we're gonna we're gonna have a problem.
Yeah. Here's the thing. I I wanna be kind, but it's likely I won't be. I I just sat the other day in my in my kitchen where I make food and and people congregate. And there was one of, like, Arden's new friend Arden's, like, lifelong friends who's a new teacher.
She's graduated from college. She's gone through student teaching. She got a job. Right. And in a couple of weeks, someone's gonna walk in a room and go, hey, missus and she's gonna be thinking, oh my god.
What am I doing? Because she's 22 years old. Okay? Right. And and she six months ago, if you would've I I would tell you she's a lovely person.
I would tell you she's thoughtful. I would tell you she's kind. I would tell you all kinds of lovely things about her. I wouldn't tell you I'd put her in charge of my eight year old's diabetes. But now all of a sudden, she's a teacher, and we go,
oh she is.
Yeah. And so she's in charge, and we all just go, well, she'll be okay. No. No. She's the same person who sat in my kitchen six months ago and didn't know the answer to a very simple life question.
And and and if you all think about yourselves and be honest for a second, most of us, I'm including myself and everyone else that I've ever met in my life almost, are not prepared for something like this. Okay? Like, gosh. No. Yeah.
We are not prepared. Like, becoming I listen. I know 50 cops. They're great people. They do an incredibly hard job.
They're also nudniks, and and some of them have weird, things they like to do with their free time. And, you know, like, hobbies where you're like, really? That's your hobby? That's insane. They have good relationships and bad relationships, and then some of them get divorced, and some of them don't.
Some of them have children, and some have never had a kid before. But when when push comes to shove and something goes wrong and a guy rolls up in that car, I think, oh, finally, the guy's here. The lady's here. The one who knows what to do. They just showed up.
Yeah. I know them on the other side of their life. You you all know teachers and nurses and doctors and administrators and people like this. And Jackie's point is not lost on me earlier in the conversation. I I've been saying this on this podcast for years.
There are some professions that we are raised to just kinda bow down to. And Mhmm. I don't think that's a good idea, first of all, but I think it's a really bad idea when it comes to putting my kids' life in their hands. That's why I make them train the school bus driver. Right.
But, like, but they when when I was like, I I want the bus driver to know how to use glucagon and to recognize signs and symptoms and to get a training. And they were like, well, she's only on the bus for twenty minutes. And I said, seems like a long twenty minutes if she has a seizure on the bus, don't you think?
And Yeah. And that's the kind of questions you have to ask and point out. Absolutely.
Right. Yeah. You have to keep explaining to them, like, the what could but by the here's the other problem. You point out the what could go wrong, but at the same time, you don't want people are I'm not even gonna use any, like, words. I'm just gonna say people, and then I'm gonna move on to my next thought.
Okay? You start telling people all the things that could possibly go wrong with you, and suddenly, you're an albatross around their neck. And they and they see you as broken or problematic or making their day harder or they walk out of that room thinking I don't get paid enough to go to this. Like like that kind like, yeah. People are terrible inside.
Inside in the middle. Okay? Not everybody can be a podcaster. My life is light and airy. You understand?
I can I can afford to work out here on the fringes of what wouldn't it be nice? But it's because I
life is not life, Neri, because, you know, it is personally outside of what I do. But with what I do in the trenches, it it really kinda makes you a little jaded.
I'm not overstating this. Right?
Trust people. Yeah. Right.
I'm I'm not overstating this.
Mhmm.
Yeah. You get in those meetings, and you're like, I am sitting with three idiots. Or I or
I would never say that.
Jackie, no one said you would say that. I was talking for you in a podcast scenario. Right. Okay. Where you sat across I listen.
I'll put it on me. I've sat in a room and thought, oh, that person seems like they've had a head injury. Or I've looked across the room and I thought, Why are they not understanding what I'm saying? Or this nurse has an ego the size of, you know, Manhattan. And and she thinks she knows everything.
I had one lady tell me one time, she goes I said, well, listen. Here's how we have it set up. Because I don't know if you know this, Jackie, and I'm gonna take credit for this. I am the originator of the idea of texting diabetes. That's how old I am.
When you hear other people talking about how texting is, like, the four like, the best way to manage your kid from distance and blah blah blah, that's Scotty Right. From twelve years ago.
Okay.
Okay?
Okay.
I did that. You're all welcome. That's awesome. And I'm the I'm the I listen. I'm a say it one more time.
I'm the one who stood up and said that texting is, like, literally the diabetes tool no one is using. They're using it now. But when I said it, ain't nobody was doing it. Okay? And so I I go into Arden's five zero four meeting at when she moves from the middle school to the high school.
High school.
Yep. And I say, listen. Lucky for you guys, this is Arden. Her a one c is in the high fives. She is fantastic, knows what she's doing.
We have a system like no else. It's actually used around the country by other people. You'd you're never gonna see her. I'm gonna use the nurse's office as a place to source some supplies because every once in a while, she's gonna have to swap a CGM or a pump at school or something like that. And by the way, if that's even gonna happen so infrequently, we're not even gonna leave insulin with you.
If that happens, I'll run insulin over to the house to the school because I live that close. Okay? And the nurse, offended, sits up straight in the chair. She goes, no. No.
No. I'm gonna see Arden every day. And I looked over at Arden, and Arden was like, what is going on? And She wants to see her every day. Yeah.
She I I said, I'm sorry. She goes, well, I I like to have a good tight relationship with all my type ones, so I know what's going on with them. We'll sit and chat. She don't know Arden. Arden ain't looking to sit and chat with her.
Okay? I don't know if you can tell from my personality. I also wasn't looking to sit and chat with her. So and so, like, we're like I said, no. And she said, well, that's gonna be a problem for me.
I said, well, that'll be a problem for you. It isn't gonna be a problem for me. And that's not what we're doing. I was like, you are the nurse. God bless you.
I'm glad you're here. I want you to hear all this. If my daughter should have an experience that is unforeseen, Please react as if she was anyone else. But in all those other moments, leave her alone. I don't want her down here sitting in the sick room with people.
I don't want my daughter's high school experience to be that she was best friends with the nurse. Okay? Right. Like like and and even though I hear what you're saying, and I by the way, as you're hearing me say this, you're like, that's kinda you're I know what you're all saying. It is lovely.
But, like, it wasn't necessary. But the point is is that when I said it, you know, I didn't say it to her the first time that way. I was like, oh, no. Don't worry. We have a a she'll probably never even see you.
It'll be great. Blah blah blah. She was offended. And then she got her spine up, and then she went on the offensive to defend the way she does things. She started, like I don't even know how to describe it exactly.
It's almost as if she had a little thiefdom, and I was telling people it wasn't necessary. Does that make sense?
Yeah. It does. It's almost like you know, one of my favorite I'm gonna connect to this. Sorry. My thoughts are scattered.
But one of my favorite advocacy books to read is five dysfunctions of a team. Right? And it talks about different personalities within the team. And it's almost like she had her own agenda, her own personality that needed to come out, and she wasn't considering Arden, and and she wasn't considering the parent input. Does that make sense?
Oh, a 100%. She was like, no. No. No. I've been doing this forever.
I know what I'm doing. This is what we're gonna do. And by the way
And you and I have really bold personalities. Now imagine being a person that doesn't have that kind of personality.
Why I'm having this conversation because what I've learned making this podcast is that most people aren't me. Most people most people just walk out and they say, well, I you know, she made a good point. Like, it'll be nice. You'll see her every day. But yeah.
Yeah. I don't know how you all end up getting pushed around like that, but that ain't happening to me. And so Yeah. And and when I don't know what I'm doing, I will also go, oh, okay. Well, that sounds great.
Like, that's I'm I'm glad to have thought of that you thought of that. Like, I'm not just out there, like, running forward with my idea and not listening to other people.
Right.
You you know?
Well and and I think what happens to those people that like, when you said, oh, hey. I'm not out here getting pushed around. I think that it goes back to what we're talking about. Those people have, like, an inherent trust in their nurses and their school staff, number one. Number two, they don't know what to say.
I hear that in my office all the time
Mhmm.
That people will say to me, Jackie, you have all the words. You have all the language. You know? And for me, I've always kind of been able to think on my feet and and be able to say what's appropriate. Yeah.
But at the same time, you know, I have all of that jargon training from either education or diabetes or from advocacy, or from the ADA. So I know the things to say. And so people get into those moments where somebody is coming across authoritative, professional, and it's like they freeze. They don't know what to say. Mhmm.
And then the emotion comes out, and then they get frustrated. And I see this time and time again in every meeting. And and then you're trying to get empathy from that person. Like, that's our default. Like, if they could just know how hard this is for me, they will be empathetic.
And and a hard truth that I've learned is that our world lacks a lot of empathy. And that you may be sitting in that chair crying, and you may be sharing your story about your daughter, your son, and the seizures and the struggles you're having. And that person is just likely probably sitting across from you going, like, are you done yet?
Yeah. Wow.
And and Yeah. Yeah. And that's sad. That that's really sad that we live in that world that and and I often have to point out when I see the deadpan look on people's faces in the meetings and and this parent is pouring their soul out. I have to remind people, and I'll call them out on it.
I'll be like, and do we have any empathy? What can anybody relate to this? Because it seems like this team is just kind of waiting for her to finish.
Yeah. Yeah. This is uncomfortable.
Just kinda goes quiet.
Well, that's beautiful. I this is uncomfortable. I don't know what to do. I have no context for this. I'm gonna sit.
I'll make my I'll make my best funeral face, and then we'll get out of here. And then we're gonna go in the coffee room and talk about what a lunatic those people are. Oh my god. They're out of their minds. You see
yeah. I'm sure everybody talks about how crazy I am. Like, I am I am Yeah. Sure it happens.
Because they lack they lack context.
Right.
Right. Empathy and the ability to imagine the thing that isn't their thing. And they don't know that the kid walking around with a two fifty blood sugar by the way, let's build a bigger picture. You put a kid with a bit a two fifty blood sugar in a school and you let him walk around, you go, well, at least they're not having a seizure. Well, now you've traded today's problem for tomorrow's problem.
That's the first thing. Well You know?
And the other thing I'm sorry to interrupt. Don't. The other thing is that when your blood sugar is at two fifty, let's talk about how that changes your brain.
Yeah. You can't learn.
Affects your learning. Yes. Let's talk about how that affects your test scores. Let's you know, I have that's one of my things in our five zero four plan is to really monitor that blood sugar, and we're not taking tests if it's above a certain number. We're just not doing it.
Can I can I tell you? I think back sometimes on my life growing up in school and how bad I was at school and then learning as an adult that my iron was low. And I think, I wonder if my iron was low when I was a kid. Like, I was always tired for no reason. And Mhmm.
And I was always heavier for no reason. And now, you know, as a 50 how old was I? Like, 51, 52 year old a few years ago shooting a GLP into me and watching my brain wake up and my body go back to the way I imagined it was supposed to be my whole life. I was like, what what all was I battling through that I didn't know? And Right.
And take that aside, but lay diabetes in that in that sphere and talk about that like that. High blood sugars, swinging blood sugars, low blood sugars, worrying about your blood sugar, worrying that somebody's gonna find out you have diabetes, not wanting people to see your thing. I could sit here, probably rattle off a 100 things that that kid's worried about walking around, half of them conscious, half of them subconscious. Yes. And then say and then they're like, wow.
Look how sad she is. Her kid doesn't have a pancreas that works. I can't wait to go to lunch and Sorry. I'm laughing. Scroll my TikTok.
I see you out there. I see in every don't worry. Every walk of life, there are wonderful people. There are dedicated, thoughtful people doing their best Mhmm. And there are not.
And I don't know how you're supposed to tell the difference. Like Right. Like right? Like, who's the one who's gonna fight for your kid, and who's the one who's gonna go, No one came for Arden. Oopsie.
And, like, that Mhmm. You don't know who's who. Also, by the way, they got lives too, and they got children and health issues and husbands and and floors that creek and all the other things that happen to people. You think they're sitting around thinking about your kid? They ain't thinking about your kid.
Like, I Right. Like, I listen.
Oh, I hear them. They say it in meetings. They say, you know, I have 30 other students I have to worry about.
Yeah. Okay. I've had
that said to me multiple times.
You know what you should do? Think about them because it's your job. Like, it's like when a doctor says, oh, you know, we do better, but we only have fifteen minutes. I'm so sick of that. Oh, I almost cursed.
I'm so sick of that excuse. Like, if that's the if that's the problem, could you offer me a fix instead of a a throw your hands up in there? Go, oh, there's 30 kids in here. Oh, you know what you want me to do? Yeah.
Like, I mean, I mean, here's what I'd like you to do. Don't let my kid pass out. Could you handle that?
Right.
Apparently not is my point. Yes. Okay? Right. Oh, Jackie, you and I turn this microphone off.
You would say terrible things about people. I will enjoy that conversation when we're done recording. Go ahead, Jackie.
I can say that right now because
Go, Jack.
You know? Yeah. I have I have awesome stories, and I have terrible stories. I truly have awesome stories when it comes to my own daughter Mhmm. And the nurses that she works with.
And I am not just saying that because I fear any repercussions. If anybody in our school district knows me, they know that the repercussions are gonna get addressed if there is any because, technically, that's illegal, and I'm not an attorney. So I always have to disclose that. Right? You can't have any kind of retaliation or repercussions.
And our school has done a fantastic job with reading the Pink Panther book and and bringing in parents to talk about their experiences and training their staff and letting sugar pixels in classrooms and following CGMs, and sending you know, making sure that if the nurse is gone for that day, the sub nurse is trained or the the secretary is trained. So I have no personal complaints that way. But other people that I have advocated for, horrific, horrific stories Mhmm. Of and and they have been trained. They have been talked to.
And then, you know, things like, well, we've already had a 504 meeting. I'm sorry if you're not following the 504 plan. We can call a 504 meeting whenever we want. We can we can be a thorn in your side and have a five zero four meeting once a week to make sure you are following this five zero four plan if we need to. You know, we can also file a complaint with the office of civil rights, and then you're being investigated.
So what are your choices here? Are we gonna follow this plan? Am I gonna be a thorn in your side where I'm at this meeting and I'm bringing my advocate and I'm asking you for documentation and I'm asking you to write everything down that you're doing to prove that you're doing it, or am I filing an office of civil rights complaint? Like, I can go there. You know?
That's what I tell people. You know, I go into these meetings, and and I try to be collaborative, and I I try to be friendly and build bridges and be positive. But, you know, my family's joke, there's a moment where I take my glasses off and I put them on the top of my head, and I'm like, alright. And then they know, like, oh, she's had enough.
I thought you were gonna say and try to build bridges and all that bullshit. I thought that's what you're just saying. I I again, I I I'm talking to people whose kids have to go to school with, you know, diabetes or something similar to that. Right? You are the only one that cares.
Okay? Just put that in your head. Don't be sad about it. Don't wanna fix the world. Just say this is true, and we need to move forward.
Because, also, I don't want your kid becoming a poster child for, like, we fought the system. Because trust me, you fight the system in one place, and it just needs to be fought in 10,000 other places. You don't want the talk. It's not gonna it's not your fight. It's your thing to, in my opinion, navigate, negotiate, get through happily.
That's it. Right. So I'm gonna kinda tell you the other side of this whole thing. When I started to realize what was happening like, you know, I I don't wanna go back too far, but you're born and you have a nice feeling about the world. And when you're young, you're like, oh, everybody's everybody's out there trying.
And then you get a little older and you go, that's not what's happening. Everybody cares. Everybody's nice. That's not true too.
Right.
Well, a mean person wouldn't be a a principal. Not true. A bad person wouldn't be a cop. Uh-oh. Not true.
Like, you know, school teachers care about kids. Some of them just want the summer off. And, like, when you and you go through the whole thing, right, you realize, okay. Mixed bag. This is the world.
I gotta get my kid through this world. Like, that's when I became, a ninja about it. I was like, this is what she needs. It's all here. All this stuff's here so I can call a meeting or sue you or whatever I have to do if you don't do it.
But let's be honest. I don't want that. You don't want that.
Here's want that. Right.
Here's the really important things. Let's do these things. You'll never hear from me. And then I would do this thing every year. I would thank them at the next meeting.
Give something back every year50:23
Everything went great last year. I really appreciate it. I'm so glad that we focused on this, this, and this. Those are the only things that matter to me. Made Ardens, like and then I would share her health outcomes.
I'd say you guys would be thrilled to know her a one c has been this. Her stability has been great. Like, make them feel like they're a part of it. By the way, they're not a part of it, Jackie. Just make them feel like a part of it.
Like, okay. We're winning. She's winning. We're all in this together. Blah blah blah blah blah.
You're all married, you know, when your wife's telling you stuff and you're like, I don't I think she's just trying to keep me taking out the trash. That's what she's doing. She just wants wants you to take out the garbage. Okay? Like, so you give them the rah rah.
Everything's going good. And then I say, hey. And you know what? I know how difficult this is. And I looked at the five zero four planning.
And, you know, there's a couple things in here that were for when she was younger. Let's take them out. Let's make it easier for you. I give something back, Jackie, every year. I go in there and I go, here's what I'm giving back.
By the way, what am I giving back? Nothing. It was a thing for when she was four that's never gonna come up again, but it makes them feel like I'm lightening their load. You have to it's like you're buying
have be strategic. Yes. Right. You have to be strategic. And and here's what I see.
Three ways parents get this wrong51:30
I see parents go in two different things. I see parents go in, like, already angry, guns blazing, and they haven't even met anybody.
Not gonna work.
Right?
Yep.
That's not gonna work. I've seen parents go in completely uninformed, completely not ready, and just say, okay. Thanks. I'll take what I can get and go.
Oh, you're gonna get run over. That's like buying a car without understanding what the car cost.
Right.
Yeah.
Exactly. I've seen parents go in just really overwhelmed and really emotional, crying, fearful. I mean, it it's terrible to say, but we have to kinda put this back on the parents. You have to get yourself right.
Yeah.
You have to go in there strategically, objectively. You know, this isn't emotional for them. This is just another meeting. They have 40 in a day. Right?
And and so I think that's what you're doing. All of these years, you've gone in really strategically. You know, a thank you goes a long way. Taking something off somebody's plate goes a long way. You can disagree on certain points, but then also saying to someone, you know what?
You're right about that. I agree with you. Yeah. Goes a long way
Give some
when it comes to advocating for your kid.
Apply self deprecation to this. Like, right, you always like, and I always kinda put myself on the like, I I can't. I'm gonna tell you a couple of my negotiating tactics, Jackie. Okay?
Negotiating tactics52:55
Please do.
Thank you. When an ask when an ask is made, the next person that speaks loses.
Okay.
You have to be very comfortable in the silence. Mhmm. You just make your ask, and you sit there because the next person who speaks loses because it's always to give up. That's it. Mhmm.
So sit and smile and stare and look thoughtful because when they open their mouth, you just got what you wanted. That works when you're buying a car or anything else, by the way. Mhmm. That one to me, big deal. The next thing is is I always put myself in a slightly subservient position in the conversation.
Running it from the lower decks53:38
I I how do I say this? I run things from the lower decks. I let the people think they're in charge, and I work from people like to feel like they're in charge. So let them feel like they're in charge, and then move them in the direction you need to move them in. There's no this is not a contest.
It's It's not a thing you're trying to win or lose. You were trying to get what you need for your kid. And who cares how it happens? Right? Mhmm.
Remember how
As long as you get there, I don't care how you get there as long as you get there.
You remember how Faris Faris Gump's mom got those leg braces?
Oh, yes.
I do. It's me in one of those meetings.
Doing any of that.
You know, don't I'm gonna listen. I you know? But big picture. You know what I'm saying? Like, I I go, oh, I'm you know, it's I didn't understand your job is a very difficult one.
Blah blah blah. Like, you know, I you make people feel important, and then you and then you let them you let them feel important by giving you something. Because that's the other thing is what they give you in that room is free to them. They're not the one who's gonna do what the teacher has to do. Right?
They're the person who gets to bestow it upon you. Let them feel important, like, when your grandmom comes up to give you a check. You know what I mean? Right. And and and you just let her feel it.
Like, oh, I'm giving them a $100. Is that still the number? And, like, you know yeah. Right? I mean, how how much is it?
How much is grandma at the a $100?
I know. Right.
You know, the grocery store, it's $600. Leave with a bag. I I don't know what just happened. So Yeah. But but, like, you know what I mean?
Let them feel important. Let them feel in control. You don't need to feel like you beat them. Let them feel like they beat you as long as what happens at the end is what you need. Who could possibly care less?
And just walk out of that room and smile because you got what you wanted. That's it.
Right. And, you know, I try to approach it from, you know, for me, no just means not yes yet.
Mhmm.
And and we'll get there eventually. But one of my favorite phrases to use in that scenario that you were just talking about is just, hey. Help me understand. Help me understand your perspective on this. Help me understand your reason why you're saying no.
Help me understand why that doesn't work. And if you get those ridiculous answers like, why have 30 other students in my class, you need to know how to be able to answer that, how to respond to that in a way that moves them closer to your understanding. Mhmm.
And no no sarcasm and no, like, under your breath shittiness. Like, do know what I mean? Like, when you ask when when I say to them, oh, you know, it's I think it's I think maybe I didn't do a good job of explaining this. If that's how you're if that's if that's what you're hearing, I have not done a good job of explaining this. Let me let me try again because I know that once I do a good job of explaining this to you, you are going to agree with me because it I'm just I just I'm so sorry.
Like, always self always self deprecating. Always in the background. Do not don't try to hold the power in the room. There are so many people. Do ever go to a retail location and there's a person working there who you know, it there's certainly don't own the place.
They're not a manager, but they fight with you as if they're the one that paid for the building and all the people. And I sometimes while I'm watching that happen, I think, why do you care like this? Mhmm. It's a moment where they're in charge. Like, a lot of people don't get to feel in charge.
And Right. And they love it. They love it, Jackie. They love it.
Oh, it's a power trip. I mean, I can admit that I love. I'm definitely a person that loves to be in charge. Like, you can ask anybody in my personal life. They're like, Jackie will be will put her in charge.
My point is chill organization at all. But my point is everyone feels that way. And so you don't walk into someone's house and start telling them they're wrong.
What to do.
Right. And and what to do. You it's their house. Like, you have to find a way to let them feel in charge, let them feel like they're doing the thing they want to do, but leave with the thing you want. That's it.
Mhmm. It's very listen. Now here's the problem.
Like a great comparison because think about it this way. If, like, you have a diabetic child and you take them to someone's house that doesn't have a diabetic child, that doesn't understand diabetes. Right? Would you go to that friend's house and start yelling at them and bossing them around? Would you start crying at them?
Would you say to them, I trust you. You got this. Whatever you say works works.
Right. No.
If you take that same Like, so if you take that same issue of, hey. This is my five zero four meeting, But now you apply it to whether it's a grandparents house or an aunt's house or a friend's house, and you're going to that person's house and you are dropping your diabetic child off for eight hours a day. How would you handle it? Would you pick one of those three? Would you cry and be difficult?
Would you scream and yell and threaten lawsuits and say that you know the law because, you know, Gemini told it to you? Mhmm. Would you go in and just say, oh, I trust that you did your research on diabetes, so we're good. Whatever you say goes.
Yeah.
Don't You wouldn't do any of those three.
No. No. In their also, when you yell, I'm gonna sue you, people think, no. You're not. Stop it.
Yeah. It's like right.
So they say I've I've yeah. I tell people, don't say that. Don't say I'm gonna sue you because it takes $60,000 to sue a school district. Like, don't do
it. Right. You could just you could just hire a person to teach your kid for the next twelve years in your house if you wanted to, like, with that money. Well and that is the other point, like, I too. It's like, I I did not wanna feel like I was reinventing the wheel.
I mean, listen. There's things that happen that I'm proud of, like but it's little stuff. Like, in my daughter's district now, you can, when you take standardized testing, a teacher will be willing to hold your phone to Yes. Tell you when you have an alert or to communicate with an outside person for you about your diabetes. So when Arden takes standardized testing, the proctor holds her phone.
And when the when the test started, they would text me and say, hey. The test has begun. And I would say, I will track her blood sugar and let you know if she needs anything. And that way Arden didn't have to think about it. And then I could contact her and say something like, you know, just hand her a juice box and tell her to drink it or or have her bolus point seven five.
Yes. You don't have to stop the test for this. Or Right. There's a problem. Pause the test.
Something like and by the way, the number of times we actually did it were minimal, but it was set up like that. And prior to that, you could not have that phone in that room no matter what. I changed that. Like, it was hard.
And a lot of parents are battling that right now across the nation. Yeah. It it really is a big deal because we're turning into the you know, the schools are really kind of adopting, and states are making laws. No cell phones in the classroom.
Oh, it's gonna be a problem for people with diabetes moving forward. Like, it's gonna be a lot of those new new fights.
I think it's a I personally think it's a violation of section five zero four. Like, I think if you have to have your phone to sustain your life, it that overrules what your state law is, in my opinion.
But you know what they say next? What about what do we tell the other kids?
Mhmm. You
know what I told them?
Oh, yeah. I've heard that too. I'm not here to talk about other kids. I'm here to talk about my child that has a disability.
Oh, is that what you said? Like, see, you're a lovely person. When they said it to me, I said, well, tell them if they wanna get diabetes and spend their life battling with it. They can have a phone in the class too. Or you could tell them to shut the hell up.
I don't know how you're gonna handle it exactly, but that's what I would do. Good luck. So try to make don't try to make your problems my problems. Okay? Right.
Right. I got my own. Thanks. Yes. Yeah.
You want me in that You you're Jackie. Really? This, like,
texting, though. Like, I think if there's a takeaway that parents get from this conversation, is this like that like, you said that, like, that power of texting, especially with your older children. Right? Like, that power of texting.
Well It's episode four of my podcast that has that has nearly 2,000 episodes in it because Yeah. Early on also, I'm talking about texting like it's some magical thing. Okay? But know. Right.
But But back then, back when I was a kid and so, like, you have to remember that the first iPhone didn't do anything.
Yeah.
We I I'll I'll tell people this all the time. When I got my first iPhone, I was super excited to put my contact list somewhere digitally. That was it. That was that's what I thought was gonna be the huge takeaway for my iPhone. Okay?
Mhmm.
And and so as they add, you don't if you don't think of your phone this way, the apps are really the phone. The phone really doesn't do anything. Right? So Right. People started to text.
I know this sounds weird, but, like, it wasn't that common. And when I was trying to get over my fear of Arden taking care of herself, I used texting to break my own fear. So I'll give it to you in twenty seconds. I had trouble letting Arden go to other people's houses, and school was really difficult. And then one day, it was summertime, and she was upstairs.
And I looked at something. I think we finally had a CGM. And I thought Arden needed to do something, right, or to test. Maybe there was before CGMs. And so I texted her, and I was like, hey.
Test your blood sugar or look at your CGM, whatever it was. And then she told me the number, and I said, I need you to bolus, like, point four. And then I thought, well, she's only upstairs. Like, this is, like and then she did it. And I was like, oh.
And then we started doing that more often. Like, I was like, I don't wanna walk upstairs. I'll text her to, like, do this thing.
Mhmm.
And then we built this rapport. And then one day, I was like, why can't I just do this when she's at a friend's house? Like, this works here. Like, what's the limiting thing here? Because why do I think it's okay when she's upstairs?
I don't think it's okay when she's across the street. And then I was like, oh, it's this fear I have that if something goes wrong, I'll be there to save it. Mhmm. And I thought, well, she's at someone else's house. They know the vibe.
Like, no. And then I did that, and then I then it hit me. I was like, oh my god. I could do this at school. And right and right and it takes out the gaps.
Like, because the worst thing about the diabetes is, oh, I feel low. Walk to the like
Oh, I know. That's one of my nightmare stories where I've had teachers that say, you know, in in other districts that that say, oh, I'm sorry that you're at 60, but we you have to finish the test. Mhmm. Or, oh, you can get up and go to the nurse. Just go.
Like, no. They need someone to walk with them.
Like And then even at that, now this other poor kid is so now I'm missing the lesson, and this other kid's missing the lesson. This kid's not upset about it because they're like, oh my god. I'll go. I'd love to get out of here. Yeah.
Like, you're not in class. Yeah. Also, now my kid's life is in the hand in the hands of Becky with the good hair. Like like and trust me. If your kid falls over in the hallway, Becky's gonna go, oh.
Oh. I should probably go tell somebody. Maybe. Yeah. Who knows?
God God I've
sat in a meeting where, you know, they've said, oh, well, I think that when they're going down to the nurse's office to get their blood sugar checked, they're they're just dilly dallying. So I just don't know if we should do that anymore. You're taking a really long time to get I'm like, alright. Okay. And I do.
And I you can ask my husband. Like, I do go home, and I'm like, you know, the the professionalism does drop. And I'm like, I am going you're not gonna believe what I heard today. You know?
Well, my my point is there is like, hey, Arden. You're low. Drink a juice. You don't leave the room. Right?
Like and or and or you need to give yourself insulin. Do insulin. You don't need to leave the room. Like and and so you don't so you don't know this story, but in second grade was the second grade's the last time Arden went to the nurse. Right.
Because I realized between second and third grade, we had this this happenstance y thing happen where her second grade teacher moved up with her whole class. I don't know if that happened. Yeah. Mhmm. Yep.
So, very Arden was terrible at math. Very good at everything else. Really bad at math. It was confounding. But I was bad at math as a kid, so everybody was just like, oh, maybe it's, like, you know, wiring.
And, then third grade starts, and the teacher calls me one day, and she's like, hey, Eureka. Do you know that we were sending Arden to the nurse every day two minutes into the math lesson? She was missing the math lesson every day, and no one noticed. Time. Right.
Because the she 'd start the lesson, and she said and then the like, the timer would go off, and Arden would just get up and leave and go get her blood sugar checked and get, you know, adjusted or whatever and then come back. And then the lesson was over, and Arden would sit down and just try to do the work. And so it took it took a couple of years to, like, get that straight for her. She's also very good good at math now. But imagine if if the teacher doesn't move up, we just think for the rest of Arden's life, she's bad at math.
Bad at math.
Yeah. And and so leaving that room is a detriment. And and do it if you have to. I'm not saying stand there and bleed to death or anything like that. But, like, every day at, you know, at ten and at before lunch and after recess and before the bus, that's four times a day they're not in class.
Mhmm. It's either important or it's not. That was my argument. It's either important that she learns this or it isn't. Tell me which it is.
Right. And this is why she needs to have this phone.
Yeah.
You know, I think that when you speak to that fear and that control I I had a couple of thoughts while I was listening to you that reminded me of my own daughter. So we've only been diagnosed for almost three years now. And so she is gonna be a freshman in high school. And we went through our initial in middle school. Right?
Like, diagnosis and and learning all this in middle school. And I had a lot of that fear and a lot of that control of, no. I want you going to the nurse. No. You have to leave.
No. And, you know, she got burnt out on that real quick as a middle schooler. And in eighth grade, it was really, mom, I'm tired of going to the nurse. I'm tired. I'm missing class.
I'm tired of getting up. I can handle this in class. Yeah. You know? And it took her and I having that conversation to say, okay.
Take a deep breath, Jaxi. She can handle this in class. She can just like you were talking about, but you are doing that in second grade, and here I am holding tight strings on an eighth grader because of that fear, because of that control. And I think we also get into the position of parents of diabetics and really parents of any disability where that fear kinda takes over. Right?
And that control kinda takes over, and we're always running up to the school, and we always wanna be involved. And sometimes that has the opposite effect. Sometimes you really need to say, okay. You've got this. I'm gonna text you.
I'm just gonna give you gentle reminders. You got it. You know?
Yeah. No. We did that for a long time. But but but you said, you know, you were like, oh, I I'm doing it at this age. You did it at second grade.
Like, I just did it at second grade because I don't trust people. That's why. And and I'm not and I'm not coy about it. And and I thought it was not that I don't I trust people. I'm not like I don't walk around the world looking at everybody going, oh, they're coming.
Like, you know what mean? Like, I don't mean that. I just mean, like here's what I mean, Jackie. If you put me, your daughter, and my daughter in a rowboat And Right. Tell me that only two people can live in this boat.
It's gonna sink if all three of you stay in it. I will punch your daughter straight in the face and throw her in the water. I won't even will
probably do the same to your daughter.
Goddamn right you would, Jackie. Yes. You would. You a 100 you'd say, honey, grab her feet. This Arden kid's going in.
Okay? And, like She's going in. Yeah. And I want all of you to hear this. I make this podcast for you, but it also helps my kid.
So, you know and if it came down to I make the podcast and it helps her or it helps you, I'd pick her. And so would you.
Every time. And every parent, if they say they wouldn't. Liars. I don't believe that.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Don't trust me. The nicest guy at the baseball field was the biggest you know what I mean? Like, oh, like, out in front of me, he like, oh, I do everything for everybody. Five seconds later, I'm walking across the field.
He's screaming at this kid in the car. Okay. Don't tell me how good you are. I don't care. We're all listen to me.
We're all good when we're not pushed. Okay? And that's that that's the way things work. And I'm happy that society has come along, and that doesn't mean that we're, like, you know, grabbing each other out of our homes and, like, you know, like, stuff like that. I like that.
But still in these little moments, these are very little human moments that are that are dressed up as, oh, there's a teacher. There's a doctor. They care about me. They do. Right until someone says, only two of you can stay in this rowboat.
And then your ass is going right in the water. Okay? And anyone who throws themselves in instead of you has a mental illness. I'm just gonna tell you that right now. Okay?
Because I'm living, Jackie. Alright? Right. Now and I agree. Yeah.
And by the way, if that boat only held one person, then I'd grab your kid and jump in with her. Okay? Right. But my kid's living. You understand?
And so Right. And so what you hear in all these conversations between these these administrators and the teachers, it it's nothing to be mad at them about. Right? Like, I'm at work. My job's hard.
I don't make enough money. I'm tired. My husband cheats on me. My wife has a mental Right. Whatever.
Issue. Right. I got problems at home. My kid limps. I don't know.
Like and now you're in this room telling me this is what you need and I have to do it, but there's no raise that comes with it. I don't get a bump in pay. I don't get a day off. Right. I'm just now I'm just now in charge of making sure that Scott's daughter's okay.
What the hell? I just wanted the week I just wanted the summers off and the weekends. Yeah.
Yeah. And I think that's perspective that you provide.
Goddamn right. And I
think that's honest. It it's true, and it's honest, and it's something that people need to hear. And it's something that they need to keep with them when they're sitting in this meeting and and say, look. I know. I know you've got all these kids.
I know you've got this. Know?
And don't be mad at
I am asking you. Yeah.
Don't be don't listen. Don't be mad at the water for being wet. Okay? Mhmm. Just that's what it is.
And now we have to and I need what I need. And now now I know the water's wet, I'm gonna I'm gonna navigate navigate it it the the right right way, way, and and I'm I'm gonna gonna get this done for us so that when I leave, my kids rowboat is nice and steady and as safe as it can possibly be. And then I'm gonna check. I'm gonna make sure it's happening because no but because trust me. Eight seconds into this five zero four thing, it's all out the window.
Like, the first week goes by, nothing goes wrong. You know what's you know what a teacher said to me one time? It was the nicest compliment and the worst thing that they could have said to me all at the same time. You know, Arden is such little trouble. I forget she has diabetes.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm like, I see the good part of that. And why are you not thinking about it once in a while? Like and then but but that's the reality of it. I am not mad at her. Right?
We don't we're not mad at the sun for shining. Like, this is what it is. Like, you don't spend your time yelling at them or telling them how they've gotta do better or be better or they'd if they had a kid with diabetes, they'd under doesn't matter. Just get what you need and get out. Please keep keep your head down for god's sakes.
Don't be a problem because, by the way, I haven't said this yet, Jackie, but there will be retribution if you cause a problem.
Yes.
Oh, somebody some petty person is gonna shit on your kid and you Right. In any way they can if you cause them a problem. And you're not gonna know which one of them is the one who would do that either, by the way.
And so hard to prove. Retaliation is Yep. So hard to prove. And, you know, to your point about they're bringing all of these, you know, things, whether it's their personal life or, you know, something going on in the classroom or now you're asking you to take care of your child. The other filter that it has to go through is when we think about, like, upper administration.
And and even though, like, ADA and IDEA says, hey, these things don't matter. It does matter because that's the thought process. Meaning, do I have enough staff? Do we have enough funding? Is there enough time?
What about the schedule?
Yeah. So They have real problems too.
All of the thought processes that are going through their mind besides let's get this language in the five zero four plan.
It's one of the reasons you don't ask for a first wheel. Like, you want it to seem you want it to seem manageable. Let's let's just manageable. And for me listen. I I again, I was a stay at home dad.
I wasn't in an office trying to focus on something, but I I'm not I'm not gonna lie to you. I spent a lot of my life with Arden in school monitoring something remotely or being back of the head, back of my brain aware that I'm still involved in this even though she's not here kinda thing. And listen. It wasn't great, but, like, it's what needed to be done because blah blah blah. Hey.
Listen. We're gonna I don't wanna run out of time for you. I feel like we've done a good job of covering this. I need you to tell people what you do, and then I'd like to show you my website and see what you think about
Sure. Absolutely. I've actually been on your website. So
I'll look some more.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So thank you for this opportunity.
So I am a non attorney special education advocate. I specialize in IEPs and five zero four plans. I can attend IEP meetings. I can attend five zero four meetings. I can look at evaluation results.
I can help you write letters to schools. Because if it isn't in writing, it didn't happen. That's kind of my motto. It can help you find the right language and the words to communicate with your team. And so specifically, I have a grant through a community organization here that allows me to advocate for people that have children in the public schools that have diabetes.
They get two hours of advocacy services for free. Oh. And so I can have a phone call. I can have a Zoom. I've helped people in California and Florida, Midwest, all over that just needed somebody to talk to.
What hiring an advocate looks like1:16:26
Even if it's just not me coming to your meeting, you can we can just talk and vent and kinda do what you and I did today, Scott. You know? Check it. A little bit.
Is two hours enough for somebody to get help?
It is not. No? No. It's I typically need four to six hours. And and, typically, that's really what I need.
Right? Yeah. Just because you spend an hour talking to someone about the diagnosis story and the obstacles that they're facing in the school and learning about their child and getting to know their child and what their plan is. Well and then you, you know, you spend another hour crafting the next steps for them and and how are we gonna handle this in a strategic way like we spoke about. And then you spend an hour in the meeting, and then you spend an hour doing notes because that's a step that many parents are missing.
You wanna recap your meeting and put it in writing in notes and send it to the school. Okay. Because that way it's in your child's file. And then next year, if, say, mistakes happen, you have documentation in writing in the file. I told you about this last year.
Mhmm. And you're still not doing it, and here it is in writing that I told you about it. But that is a separate thing. We could do a whole other podcast on advocacy skills with section five zero four. Right?
Where to find her1:17:47
Well Yeah. Yeah. I so listen. What's your website?
I the name of my business is Inspire Education, but my website is inspire and then thenumber1inspire1learning.com. And I'm also on Facebook, and I'm on Instagram.
Alright, Jackie. It's getting it's getting it's getting thirsty. Don't worry. No. I'm just kidding.
Yeah. Fine. Jack. Fine. Listen.
I I'm gonna tell you something. I don't know you prior to our conversation, but but in the last hour and fifteen minutes, what I've learned is you think about this the way I do, and I got through it easily. So I'm Right. It makes me comfortable telling people. I don't yeah.
I think you know I don't have a lot of people on here to share their businesses. So Right. Right. Right. Yeah.
I I asked you about your contact information because of the conversation we just had. So Right.
Thank you for doing that.
No. Thank you for making sense and being realistic. Well, you're welcome. Because I don't wanna hear from you. My sister's a teacher.
She's so I'm sure she is. I wasn't talking about her. Okay? I was talking about the ones who aren't. I got two sister in laws that are teachers.
Okay? I think if they heard this, they'd be insulted. What am I gonna do? Alright? Like, it's still it was still my experience.
And I
And I go back to that at the beginning of the podcast when I was a teacher. I was teacher for twelve years. I was actually my state's teacher of the year. So I was a good teacher. I know I was.
And I had a that diabetic student, and I think she's in her thirties now, and I had no idea what I was doing. I got a five zero four plan. I had no training. Nobody really talked to me about it. It was just, hey.
She has diabetes. She can kinda take care of herself.
Sometimes you're gonna get Jackie awful. As a teacher.
I'm so sorry.
No. No.
I'm sorry I didn't take care of her.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jeez. Sometimes you're gonna get Jackie as a teacher, and sometimes you're gonna get the person who's having sex with the gym teacher.
I don't know what to tell you. That happens, Jackie. It happens.
It does.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just saying you don't know who you're getting is all I'm saying. And and empathy look out in the world.
Like, Jackie made such a good point. You're sitting there eve either screaming, yelling, crying, begging, whatever you're doing, and you think the person across from you is connecting the way you're emoting. And all they're probably thinking is, oh, lady, shut up. Like, we gotta get out of here.
When is this done? Yeah. We have till 03:45. Our contract hours are up.
Yeah. Yeah.
So let's move on. Okay. I mean, they've said that to me in meetings. Our contract goes till 03:45. Mhmm.
So we need to hurry it along. Yeah. I'm like, well, then we're gonna have a second meeting.
Yeah. All also, what that means is I'm not listening, and I don't care. I'm taking this meeting because I have to. So Yes. When you say you have to sometimes force people to do what they need to do, I don't know how the world got like this, but here it is.
It is. Yep.
Jackie, would you do you have a browser in front of you? Because I know you're on your phone. It's just
Yeah. No. I am on my computer too because I'm in my office. So let me get my browser. And I have to tell you with my teen daughter, that's what I've been, taking in from your podcast this summer.
Oh. We get in the car. We find different teen episodes, and we listen to it and we talk. And
I'm happy it's helping.
So great. So thank you
for that. Oh, it's a pleasure. So, again, I just had this like, I was I just I explained it at the beginning. I thought, oh, I have a five zero four plan that I researched all those years ago. Hey.
What about the Internet? What about AI? I bet you I could do something better. Juiceboxpodcast.com/504-builder.
Okay. I'm gonna go to that.
When you have it, you tell me.
It was just 504Builder?
It's 504DashBuilder.
Builder. Sorry. I missed the dash.
It's okay.
Okay. Gotcha. Alright. There you go.
So, basically, you pick what, like, band of school they're in, pre k, elementary, middle, high school. Right. You throw in their pronouns. You pick the insulin pump they're on, like, you know, Omnipod five, dash tandem Control IQ, MiniMed, Islet, Twist, all that. Just pick your pump.
Right? So I'm just gonna say Omnipod five, glucose monitoring, Dexcom g seven, but there's six, Libre three, two Eversense, other CGM finger sticks only. You can choose what glucagon you're using, ready to use injectable, nasal, traditional mix. I'll choose nasal. How much Yeah.
I'm doing my daughter right now.
Yep. How much talking a bunch of How much can they do alone? Adult does everything. Checks alone needs help dosing. Well, I chose elementary, so I'm gonna say checks alone needs help dosing.
Does the school have a full time nurse? You answer that question. Is there anything else true? They Do ride the bus, play sports, have hypo and awareness? You get to choose those sorts have a service dog.
Click that. Overnight trips also has celiac. Then you put in their names, their first name, second name, the name of the district, the school year, the case manager, the school nurse, the teacher, that kind of stuff. Right. Scroll down a little bit.
You choose your state. I'm in New Jersey. I choose New Jersey. It gives you a link out to another web page. It's the ADA for New Jersey.
It answers three questions for you. Does New Jersey allow school staff members who are not health care professionals administer insulin? The answer is no. Does New Jersey allow school staff members who are not health care professionals to administer glucagon? Yes.
And does New Jersey allow students to self manage in school? Yes. So the answers to those first three are no. Yes. Yes.
You go back to the thing. You tell it. The answers to that are no. Yes. Yes.
It tells you what it means for you, and then you keep scrolling. Choose your accommodation. I want standard only. I wanna select all. I wanna clear them all.
I wanna expand them all. Now you're gonna be met with, a through it's a lot, but a through v different sections. And you can open up a section a, government documents, and eligibility. There's nine things in there. I'm only gonna read you the first one.
Right? They're all checked as as chosen, but you can uncheck something if you don't want it in your plan. So the first one calls itself a standard idea. This plan is adopted under section five zero four, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans blah blah blah. And then it explains to you why that is in your plan.
District still open with she's doing fine. She doesn't qualify, that kind of stuff. So I Yeah. I leave that checked. But let's say I go down.
I go, okay. Those are all standard, but here's an ask for it. Student's name, which will get put in, parents will not be required to provide, arrange, or pay for diabetes care at school or to be present or on call as a condition attending or participating. Like, say you don't want that in the plan. First of
all because schools rely heavily on calling parents. It's a little dirty secret.
Right. So say you don't want that in the plan. Right? You uncheck it. Then when you get then you go through the rest of it, train staff and coverage, and then you just go through Right.
Check, check, check, uncheck, whatever you wanna do. And at the end, it just gives you the plan. You can copy copy it, download it, print it as a PDF, edit it if you want. It'll fill in your kid's information if you put it in up top. Now if you continue to scroll, there's a substitute teacher sheet to, like, give you just the Right.
Just the the basics. Scroll a little further, what what they'll say and what to say back. So it gives you a bunch of things you might hear. She's doing academically. She doesn't really need a five zero four.
Click on that. Under the ADA amendment act, eligibility rests on the substantial limitation of major none of this is from me. This is just aggregated from the Internet. Okay?
Right.
Yeah. And then before you walk in, there's things that gives you to, like, kinda prep before you go in there, lead with curiosity, separate needs from wants, hand them the training, like, that kind of stuff. Sentences that should make you sit up. Right? Said kindly, usually by someone who means well.
Each one describes something federal guidance says at and says a school can't do. Can you come in and give the insulin? A school may not require you to provide that care yourself. Free appropriate public education means free, including not requiring the parents to supply the service. So there's a bunch of things they might say back to you and how you can respond to them.
Mhmm. Then you can, it has checklist of things you might wanna bring to a meeting, so you can go through that. What if they say no? Go in order. Skipping wrongs can cause credibility.
When they strike an item, what do you do? So you choose an item that can get struck from the list. Sensor failure, signal loss, device errors are expected and routine. They wanted that struck from the thing. It gives you the item that they wanted struck, what you can say in the room in return to and then a follow-up email to combat that idea.
And then it shows you where all this came from. Basically, the receipts of how the website was built. That's it.
Mhmm. Is it This is an awesome resource. I mean, it's amazing.
Yeah. Right.
And I think this will help so many parents because it goes back to what we were talking about. You know, first of all, I don't write five zero four plans. That's not what I do. Mhmm. And a lot of parents think that that's the job.
Like, oh, you write the IEP. You write the five zero four plan. No. I don't. I just kind of help strategically negotiate the meeting.
Right?
Yeah.
So this is amazing. And I think it also goes back to, like, telling them what to say. Like, this is what you say when this gets said. Yep. And it gives them that power back and and the words back.
So love this resource. I'll be sure I share this on my stuff too.
Please, if you see something about it that could be easier or better or do you flat out think is wrong, please tell me. I'd love to know. But I wanna say
I'll play with it today.
Couple things. First of all, for those of you who don't like AI, that's all from AI. It's my idea and my direction to pull it together. And, hey. What about this?
Let's add this. I think it should have that. But I don't know how to do any of that. So Right. You know, I
maybe If they don't think that their schools are using AI for their IEPs or five zero four plans, they're wrong.
You're out of your mind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So fight fire with fire as Metallica said.
Right. Okay? And other people. And so and so there's that. First of all, there's that.
Also, you could build your own if you want. It's not for me. Also, you can see where all the information comes from. Thanks to places like the ADA and, you know, who who have been, you know, putting this information on their websites forever, but it's hard to find, hard to get out. Also, ADA, why don't you just do this?
Why am I involved? And so but it was an idea. A guy asked me for help, and I I'm a person who sits at two computers. There's a computer I make the podcast on, and there's a computer I think and and, you know, and tinker with when I think I I don't know what I don't know what people think my job is. But in my mind, my job is get up in the morning, hear from people with diabetes, see what they need, try to give it to them.
Like, that's and that's where that website came from. So I hope you all love it and use it. And, again, feedback would be awesome. I'm actually having a meeting tomorrow with just a guy who's been on the podcast before who's just into all this, and he and I are gonna sit and look through it, and he's gonna give me suggestions about it and and back and forth. I'm I'm not the end all be all for certain.
And but but when I was making my daughter's five zero four, it would have been pretty awesome if this existed.
So Oh, absolutely.
And and what this conversation should have taught you is that Jackie and I, we just possess personality trait and a skill that not everyone has. And and that's why I'm sure she did great in her five zero four meetings. I did great in mine. And it's not a it's it's no slight on you if you're not that kind of person. But but don't go into those meetings and just let somebody run you over.
Mhmm. Because these these things can be really important. And maybe not every day, but, man, every couple of years when you least expect it, you're gonna be thrilled that somebody knows the stuff in that five zero four plan and that they're paying paying attention attention for for it. It. So that's my opinion.
Yeah. I think going calm, going educated, going with boundaries and knowing what you won't settle for and what you would be willing to negotiate with, and go in knowing that the whole goal is to level that playing field for your child and to keep them safe and healthy.
Yep. That's it. And don't forget nothing here in the Juice Box podcast. We advice medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan.
Thank you. Jackie, I
And it's not legal either. Not
legal advice. Please. Legal. Nothing here in the way. Did you not hear me say medical or otherwise?
Nothing's advice. It's a podcast. If you're listening to me, you're out of your mind. What do you think of that? There.
Alright, Jackie. You're awesome. I'll talk to you soon. Hold on one second for me. Okay?
Okay.
Back of an episode today, wouldn't you say? Let's thank dexcom and the Omnipod five for sponsoring. That's right, my friends. We were sponsored today by the dexcom g seven. Dexcom.com/juicebox.
Head over there right now. Look into that fifteen day dexcom g seven. Fifteen days is a long time. It's like half a month. Don't check my math, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.
And let's also thank the Omnipod five. My goodness gracious. Omnipod five tubeless. A beautiful algorithm's updated now with that new 100 target. Get in there.
Find out more about it. Omnipod.com/juicebox. You want some tubeless insulin pumping? Yeah. You do.
Heck of an episode today, wouldn't you say? Let's thank Dexcom and the Omnipod five for sponsoring. That's right, my friends. We were sponsored today by the Dexcom g seven. Dexcom dot com slash juice box.
Head over there right now. Look into that fifteen day Dexcom g seven. Fifteen days is a long time. It's like half a month. Don't check my math, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.
And let's also thank the Omnipod five. My goodness gracious. Omnipod five tubeless. A beautiful algorithm's updated now with that new 100 target. Get in there.
Find out more about it. Omnipod.com/juicebox. You want some tubeless insulin pumping? Yeah. You do.
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