Hi,

It's been a while since I've posted here but I'm hoping to connect with another family with a teen boy living at risk for HD. My husband was diagnosed several years ago and we have 2 kids: boy 13 and girl 8. We live in Charlotte, NC. I work full time and care for my husband in our home. Our kids know about their risk for HD however my son has over the past few years become withdrawn and just socially awkward as he fully gets it. No one understands what life is like for us and I really want to connect him with other boys his age that might be dealing with similar issues. I feel it would be a "safe and comfortable" relationship with a mutual acknowledgement and understanding of each other's lives. If the person lives in this area, that would be great but if not, we'd be willing to travel along the SE Coast for get togethers occasionally if anyone would be interested.

I try to keep my son involved in sports and activities to give him a positive outlet but he's had difficulties in the past year as he's been benched by his coaches and I think is self diagnosing to some degree. If anyone knows a family with a boy around my son's age, we would love the opportunity to connect with them.

Thanks,

Dee

You might want to hook him up with the HDSA's National Youth Alliance. He also may be able to get a scholarship to attend the convention this June where he could meet up with kids his own age. The information is on their website. The kids seem to really enjoy the activities and make lasting friendships.

Thanks Marsha! I'll look into it. We attended the convention in Raleigh about 5 years ago and it was an amazing experience as I'd never seen other HD families and really thought we were the only ones. We haven't been since cause of the cost to attend at the varying locations and I've been hopeful it would come back to the SE Coast. I think it's in Dallas this year. I think it would be great to connect with the HDSA's Youth Alliance and will give it a shot.