Maggie Dent: building resilience in kids who live with type 1 diabetes (VIDEO)
Maggie Dent – AKA the “queen of common sense” – is best known as a popular parenting author and educator. But what many people don’t know is that she’s also the mum of a son who lives with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
With that in mind, Maggie was a guest speaker at JDRF’s 2023 Type 1 Summit. Parents and carers of kids and teens who live with T1D were able to attend the event in person at our Sydney location, or could tune in online.
In her very popular session, moderated by JDRF mental health lead Melanie Cullen, Maggie delivered practical advice to help parents build their child’s resilience while living with T1D – all with a big dose of her usual sense of humour and fun.
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The session covered a wide range of topics, including:
- the story of how Maggie’s son was diagnosed with T1D
- the basics of resilience (and why we all need it)
- the importance of safe nurturing care
- why kids need plenty of play (and why Maggie hates the ‘new’ version of pass the parcel at kids’ parties!)
- how vital playgrounds are for helping to build confidence and autonomy
- tips for building problem solving skills
- why you need to set clear boundaries and avoid over-compensating for your kids
- how to work on creating an absence of stress for the whole family.
In the Q&A session that followed, Maggie spoke more about raising teens, what to do when you and your partner don’t align on raising kids and managing T1D, validating your child’s feelings around T1D, and managing your teen’s sleep patterns.
Learn about Maggie’s books and podcasts and sign up to her newsletter on her website.
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