Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucla-cs!lori@hacgate.CTC.SCG.HAC.COM
From: lori@hacgate.CTC.SCG.HAC.COM (Lori + 8/9)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: How Do You Make Friends with A HIV+ Family?
Message-ID: <32523@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 2 Mar 90 22:30:20 GMT
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Reply-To: lori@hacgate.CTC.SCG.HAC.COM
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Approved: ddodell@stjhmc.fidonet.org (David Dodell)
Copyright:    Copyright 1990, Sci.med.aids. Non-profit reproduction permitted.
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Archive-number: 1806

My kids and I had an AIDS Buddy for several months last year, until he
moved.  Since then, I have seen a few shows on T.V. which expressed the
isolation of families with pediatric AIDS.  Hey, I thought, we could
try to connect with a family with kids which might be in such a
situation.

I've since discovered that there is a strong secondary cause for this
isolation from the HIV- world:  No one wants to bridge the gap for those
who'd be more than happy to make friends.

I have called every organization, hospital, doctor, etc., which I've
heard mentioned in connection with pediatric AIDS, to find out if there
are any HIV+ families in our area who'd like to make new friends.
So far, I'm 0 for about 6--  every voice at the other end says "Hey,
that's great!  But we don't *do* that here.  Nobody does."  I left our
phone number with all of them, but it did no good.

I advertised on the net, and did get one lead to a hospital in New England,
but no response from them at all.

If isolation is such a significant issue with children with AIDS, then
why isn't there a ready way for us to make a connection?  Is it that
people are so overwhelmed with treating the physical disease they forget
about the other aspects of being a HIV+ child?  Or would HIV+ families
rather be left alone, anyway?

...lori