I Can Help Take Care of Me UK Edition A Book about Type 1 Diabetes

"I can help take care of me" is a poetic introduction for children to life with diabetes. The book goes through the standard methods of care that a child will be living with, demonstrates how the equipment works and what it does. The book should help a child to see that his diagnosis is not the end of the world and is something that he'll live and work with. The book is also an excellent teaching tool for other family members, teachers, classmates and others who the child will be interacting with that need some knowledge of the condition.I've been a type one diabetic almost all of my life. I was diagnosed at age two and have lived with it for the last 54 and a half years. I've been using an insulin pump and glucose testing for thirty five years and have had a continuous glucose sensor for the last eighteen years.I've written this book to help children diagnosed with type 1 learn the "basics" of their new life. It begins with the child's diagnosis, gives simple explanations of what type 1 diabetes is (Sugar can't get into a cell without insulin, which acts like a key in a lock) and then proceeds to show meters, pumps and CGMS sensors (and why we use them). My aim is to familiarize the child with the hardware and issues that he will be living with, but NOT to be a medical book. I am NOT working with dosing or carb counting or other specific medical issues (as these must be handled by the medical team as well as the age of the child) but try to explain in simple terms why amounts and types of food are important to their health.