71. Amelia Wilkinson - living (and parenting) with Type 1 diabetes

Amelia Wilkinson: Living (and parenting) with Type 1 diabetes - beyond the data

Published on 14 November (World Diabetes Day), this conversation lifts the lid on what most of us miss about Type 1 diabetes - the mental load, the masking, and the trauma that doesn’t show up on a glucose graph.

Podcast host Gill Phillips talks with Amelia Wilkinson, diagnosed at 10 and now a mum, about growing up through school exclusions and assumptions. 

Topics include why behaviour is communication, navigating a high-risk pregnancy, and the power - and limits - of technology. 

Amelia calls for two big shifts: train the adults around children with Type 1 (teachers, carers, clinicians) to spot the emotional toll

AND separate Type 1 and Type 2 awareness, so misconceptions stop harming care.

🍋💡🍋 Lemon lightbulbs

🍋 Type 1 ≠ Type 2: why the confusion hurts

🍋 Grief for a ‘former self’ and the hidden mental health toll

🍋 School stories: control, freedom-seeking, and being labelled ‘naughty’

🍋 Pregnancy with Type 1: what it really took for Amelia to have her daughter

🍋 Masking, peer support, and life beyond the data

🍋 Don’t make assumptions – ask how the person is doing, including mental health

🍋 Train the grown-ups!

🍋 Separate the awareness days!

If you work with children and families- or love someone with Type 1 - this one’s for you.

Links

Type 1 Diabetes: The Comic Book Stories (courtesy of FAB Fab NHS Stuff)

World Diabetes Day

Overview of Whose Shoes

Wild Card - Whose Shoes podcast with Aurora Thompson

💛 #WorldDiabetesDay #Type1Diabetes #NoHierarchyJustPeople #WhoseShoes #WildCard

We LOVE it when you leave a review!
If you enjoy my podcast and find these conversations useful
please share your thoughts by leaving a review (Spotify or Apple are easiest to leave a review - navigate via 3 dots) and comment on your favourite episodes.

Connect with me - Gill Phillips - on LinkedIn, especially if you are interested in our brand new #CYPWhoseShoes resources or our well-established #MatExp (maternity experience) work.

I tweet (not so much these days!) as @WhoseShoes and am on Instagram as @WhoseShoesUK and @WildCardWS.

Please recommend 'Wild Card - Whose Shoes' to others who enjoy hearing passionate people talk about their experiences of improving health care.