Episode 4 of Doing Well with Diabetes Season 2 features Kerry Murphy, wife

and mother to multiple people with type 1 diabetes and founder of Follow

T1Ds, who explains how her long, layered exposure to T1D—from her

sister-in-law and husband to her niece and daughter—pushed her from

terrified observer to frontline advocate. She describes the collision

between modern diabetes tech (CGMs, pumps, data-driven care) and school

systems still operating on 1990s protocols, culminating in nurses refusing

to follow CGM data during the school day. 

After discovering Department of Justice rulings that treating CGM follow as

a reasonable ADA accommodation applies nationwide, she built Follow T1Ds

around three demands: follow T1D CGMs, follow parent input, and follow

federal law. The conversation covers how parents can move from raw fear and

frustration to strategic advocacy, why labeling kids “non-compliant”

ignores context and equity, and why school nurses are often the only line

of real safety for some students. Kerry’s long-term aim is systems change

so that parents don’t have to become de facto lawyers and policy experts

just to keep their kids safe at school.

Chapters

00:40 – Kerry Murphy and Follow T1Ds

01:47 – Kerry’s Deep Family History With Type 1 Diabetes

04:58 – Screening Her Sons, Avoiding DKA, and Early Symptom Hindsight

08:32 – Watching From the Sidelines, Then Becoming a Caregiver Herself

09:38 – Kindergarten Clash: Modern Tech vs 1990s School Protocols

14:27 – DOJ/ADA Rulings and the Three Pillars of Follow T1Ds

23:22 – How Parents Navigate Fear, Gaslighting, and Hard Conversations With

Schools

30:32 – “Non-Compliant” Kids, Equity, and Why School Nurses Must Step Up

38:21 – Long-Term Vision: Systems Change So Parents Don’t Have to Be

Lawyers

Resources:

https://followt1ds.org/

Kerry’s Instagram