This patient support community is for questions related to juvenile diabetes including
Celiac disease,
depression, diabetic complications, hyperglycemia /
diabetic keto-acidosis,
hypoglycemia, islet cell transplantation,
nutrition, parenting a diabetic child, pregnancy, pump therapy, school issues, and teens with
diabetes.
http://www.jdrf.org/files/Research/FY_07/000ChiTrib91106.pdf
This form of diabetes is apparently very rare but may result in the type 1 symptoms without the immune system markers. It may be worth talking to your doctor about. I think this mutation manifests itself very early on (in newborns) so is even more unlikely in a 10 year old. It just an example that shows diabetes is a complex condition and may be many different diseases with similar symptoms. We always have treated it as just two diseases (type I and type II) but that appears to be an oversimplification.
In the end, Type I is not so terrible. I was also diagnosed at 10 years with Type I. That was 31 years ago and I am perfectly healthy. Today we have a lot more tools to work with to keep things in control and that is accelerating. A cure at this point would improve my life somewhat but not radically.