My Friend has Diabetes Social Story

A first-person picture-book social story explains what having diabetes means for a friend, covering insulin, blood-glucose testing, snack breaks, and the warning signs of a hypo episode.

Grades: Not Grade Specific
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Sep 27, 2021

Topic: Social Story, Explaining Diabetes
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

Social stories use a patient and reassuring tone to teach children about social situations in a way that can be easily understood. Social stories are particularly useful for children on the autistic spectrum for whom social cues can be challenging and who often suffer anxiety if they do not know what to expect from a situation however social stories can also be useful for any child who is struggling to understand a situation or concept or needs help to understand a social skill or social cue, expectations, perspectives, common responses or is troubled about an upcoming event.

This social story is designed to help explain a little about what it is like and what it means to have diabetes to a child who knows someone with diabetes.

These books should be used over and over to reinforce the point so I would suggest either putting the pages into a display book or laminating and binding them.

Clipart images courtesy of Kari Bolt, Hidesy’s Clipart and Rossy’s Jungle.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Students can describe two things a friend with diabetes needs to manage the condition day to day, such as insulin and blood-glucose testing.
Students can identify at least three physical or behavioural signs that a friend may be having a hypo, such as shaking, paleness, sweating, or an unusual mood change.
Students can state the correct response when they notice those signs in a friend: telling a grown-up right away.

Teaching tips

Read the story aloud before a classmate begins insulin therapy or returns to class after a diagnosis, so peers already have the vocabulary and context.
Pause on the hypo-signs pages to check that students can name the physical and behavioural cues described, since the story asks readers to recognize signs rather than just the term.
Follow the reading with a discussion of the closing pages, which emphasize that a friend with diabetes can still join in every activity.

Skills covered

Reading comprehension — following a first-person narrative sequence that explains a friend's daily diabetes-management routine.
Social-emotional awareness — recognizing physical and behavioural cues (shaking, paleness, sweating, mood change) that signal a friend needs help.
Peer support and empathy — the story models telling a trusted adult when a friend shows hypo warning signs, rather than reacting with confusion.

Good to know