May 13, 2005

Dear Forum Friends:

We hope spring weather has reached your hometowns by now and that you are enjoying being able to spend more time outside. We wanted to get in touch to let you know that there are a number of new forum members posting, and to ask you to join us in welcoming them and sharing information. We have over 300 families in the forum now -- amazing!

There are many discussions happening now about:

• Welcoming a number of new moms and teens
• New teens in Youth Chat, asking for advice about headaches, fibromyalgia, and POTS
• Lyme and other tick-borne infections being diagnosed after many years of illness
• Annual reviews of IEPs
• Finishing the college semester and planning for next year

We also wanted to let you know that we will be making two changes to our password-protected sections:

1. Adding a NEW, password-protected section for 20-somethings (those of college and graduate student age)
   
   
2. Changing Youth Chat to a section for teens (shifting college-age discussions to the new section for 20-somethings)

The purpose of the new, password-protected section for 20-somethings is to offer a place for private sharing and support for those in this age group. We'll try to use the private section for discussions about life issues and coping, and to continue using the existing College & Adult Life section for practical, resource-focused discussions.

If you are a young adult, please continue posting tips and resources in the College & Adult Life section, so that high school students, college age youth, and parents can continue to collaborate.

These are the descriptions we'll be listing in the forum for these sections:

College and Adult Life
Students and parents discuss college, SSI, vocational rehabilitation, working, health insurance, travel, transition planning, and other practical issues related to independence.

Young Adults
This is a private forum section for 20-somethings or college students who have chronic illnesses. Its purpose is personal sharing about coping, life decisions, and dealing with chronic illness while growing up and becoming independent.

Youth Chat
This is a private, password-protected forum just for youth with CFS, FM, forms of orthostatic intolerance like POTS and NMH, or recurrent syncope.

We will open the new Young Adults section this weekend. If you are a college student or a 20-something-aged young adult who would like access to it, please write to Rebecca at rebecca@pediatricnetwork.org to tell her about yourself and request the password.

Sincerely,
Mary Robinson and Rebecca Moore
Co-Founders, The Pediatric Network for CFS, FM and OI

Forum: http://go.ezboard.com/bpediatricnetwork

Website: http://www.pediatricnetwork.org

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