Daniel R. Verdon

US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was just seven and a half years of age when diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

During the Opening Plenary Session of the American Academy of Pediatrics in New Orleans, Lousiana, she described her experience with the diagnosis, hospitalization, and the life-changing impact of managing a chronic condition.

Justice Sotomayor told a packed audience of pediatricians that her experience in managing a lifelong chronic health condition taught her about accepting and celebrating the differences of others.

"More than 30 years ago, I was in a restaurant in New York with a friend. I ordered my meal. I got up to go to the restroom to give myself my shot of insulin," Justice Sotomayor recalled. Feeling part shame of the condition and wanting privacy, Justice Sotomayor retreated to the bathroom to administer an insulin injection. As she was removing the syringe, another woman entered the restroom. Later, as Justice Sotomayor was leaving the restaurant, she overheard the woman say to her friend, "She is the drug addict."

"I felt shame, and then something happened," Justice Sotomayor recalled. Shame turned to anger. She described the feeling as a kind of positive control anger." It is the kind of anger that propels people to speak up when they witness something unjust."

"I turned around, and I said, I am not a drug addict; I am a diabetic. The injection that you saw me take was insulin, and it saves my life every day. Please don't assume the worst in people when you see them doing something you don't understand. Why don't you just ask?"

The incident, Justice Sotomayor said, was so profound that she wanted it to be the title of her book, "Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You."

Justice Sotomayor, a Bronx native and prolific author of children's books, said, "Some conditions are visible and invisible, and they make us react to life in ways that others don't. Every one of us with a chronic life condition has to be brave. We have to be brave in order to manage our living and to engage in life fully in a way that those who don't have these conditions can," she said.

"For me, this is the book that I have had in my heart for 30 years."

Her message? Practice and teach empathy. "Don't ridicule us. Don't look at us with pity. Engage with us as human beings. Teach children to be inquisitive in an empathic way. Did it hurt? How hard is it to walk?"

During the address, Justice Sotomayor was asked questions by 5 children from 3 local schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, covering everything from the challenges of talking about diabetes to friends to describing how some of her personal experiences growing up shaped her career.

Justice Sotomayor told attendees that managing a chronic condition taught her a lot about life-from developing the work ethic and discipline to improving self-confidence to better understanding her health limitations.

For AAP attendees, Justice Sotomayor's address ranks as the first time a sitting US Supreme Court Justice has addressed attendees at the meeting. Serving as a justice since 2009, Justice Sotomayor is the first Hispanic person and third woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court.

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During the Opening Plenary Session of the American Academy of Pediatrics in New Orleans, Lousiana, US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor described her experience with the diagnosis, hospitalization, and the life-changing impact of managing type 1 diabetes.

US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recounts her lifelong experiences in managing Type 1 diabetes

Every child is one caring adult away from being a success story, according to Josh Shipp, a nationally recognized youth empowerment expert and author. Mr. Shipp made the comments during a keynote address during the 2019 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He should know. As a foster child, moving from one family to another, as a victim of assault and abuse, statistically, Mr. Shipp should be dead, in jail, or homeless.

The social and mental health burdens facing children in the United States rank as a serious health threat. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr. Shipp advocates that caring and compassionate moments from adults can forever change a child’s life.

Consider a report from Harvard’s University Center on the Developing Child that asserts 

“every child who does well despite serious hardship has had one stable relationship with an adult.”

Regardless of your role in that child’s life, Mr. Shipp added, there are moments that pediatricians and other primary care physicians can be that adult even if it is “one moment, one conversation, or one opportunity.” Children may not have the ability to form the right words, but they speak clearly with their eyes, he added.

“There are 2 comments that changed my life: ‘Josh you are nothing but a stupid, fat, pathetic foster kid. The second was from my Spanish teacher: Josh you have to stop acting up in class, but have you ever thought about speech and debate? She is the reason I am here,” Mr. Shipp said. It was one suggestion and insight that helped him start building skill and purpose.

 “Kids spell trust, t-i-m-e. Time invested builds trust,” he added.

Mr. Shipp showed attendees a famed photo of baseball legend Babe Ruth pointing to the bleachers signaling that he was going to hit a home run. He knocked the ball out of the park in the next few pitches.

“Here is how you develop trust: You call your shot, and you follow through,” Shipp told attendees.  

For Josh Shipp, it took the outreach of a patient foster father named Rodney for him to find meaning. As a teenager, Mr. Shipp was thrown into jail for the night for speeding, having no license or insurance, and acting recklessly. When he made the call to his foster father to bail him out, Rodney’s answer was, “Yes, and it will be tomorrow morning.” The next morning Rodney was true to his promise, and he was the first in line to pick him up. It was the experience and the kindness from his foster father that taught Josh Shipp about the true meaning of commitment, honesty, and selfless caring.

Mr. Shipp has focused his career mission to reach “as many children and young adults as possible,” and he believes physicians serve a unique role to help.

Author | Daniel R. Verdon

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US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recounts her lifelong experiences in managing Type 1 diabetes

How one adult can save a child's life