James Norton is aiming to help children learn about diabetes with a CBeebies Bedtime Story — and as a parent with a child with type 1 diabetes, I'm grateful to the star for raising awareness.
In reality, the Happy Valley actor will also be helping a lot of grown-ups understand the condition. It's fair to say that understanding of diabetes is often lacking, so hopefully, James can help. For example, something as simple as your child doing a finger-prick test to check their blood sugar levels can lead to stares.
Personally, my son was diagnosed at the age of nine, while James was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 22.
James is reading "How to Manage a Mammoth", written by Dr Rose Stewart and illustrated by Richard Dwyer. It tells the story of eight-year-old Jake who is learning to live with his diabetes which he imagines is a mammoth called Mel. Jake and his Mum join forces with their friends to work out how to shrink Mel the diabetes mammoth to a manageable size.
It is written to help families explore how they feel about living with diabetes and encourages them to think of it as an animal, something that won't go away but that they can learn to accept and manage.
Talking about his diabetes and imagining it as an animal, James says: "My diabetes animal is a big shaggy dog called Bruce. When I first got Bruce, he was a puppy. He was difficult to control because he was always overexcited. Now, he's a bit older and calmer.
"He still gets scared when someone's at the door or he's hungry. And then he barks very loudly. Or when he gets excited, he still runs around and knocks things over. But generally, he strolls along by my side. Bruce is my pal. I'm pleased to say that today Bruce is under control and very calm, which makes me feel very happy and relaxed.”
So, as well as helping everyone understand diabetes, the CBeebies Bedtime Story very much aims to help families with a family member who has diabetes. Indeed, the BBC Bitesize Parents’ Toolkit has published an extensive article including advice on coming to terms with a diagnosis from James and tips on how to handle the condition from experts at Diabetes UK and the author of "How to Manage a Mammoth" — Dr Rose Stewart. Plus it includes a list of symptoms.
James says: "It can be hard to accept diabetes into your life, but the condition is manageable for you and your child, and things will get better."
Personally, I can echo what James says in that after the shock of diagnosis things do get better and you can learn to manage the condition. At first, it is overwhelming for both you and your child, but with time it's something you can face.
As James puts it, "Focus on caring for them, not just their condition. The key thing is you control the diabetes, it doesn't control you."
James Norton's CBeebies Bedtime Story will air on CBeebies at 6.50 pm on Friday, June 14. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
