Conference moira::parenting

    Bob,  You might want to check out your local hospital and see if they
    have any information that might help you and your wife help your
    daughter understand.  Some of the hospital's also have
    seminars/sessions on AIDS and how to prevent getting and I have heard
    that these are very informational and some also have sessions for
    teenagers.
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    Liz

What about those Benetton ads with the skeletal PWA?

PWA = person with AIDS?

Interesting perspective.  In our efforts to avoid stigmatizing people with 
AIDS (by, for example publicizing Magic Johnson, or having presentations like 
one I attended, in which quite normal appearing HIV+ people appear) we may be 
in a sense trivializing it.

I believe that there must be many biographies, autobiographies, and of what 
it's like in the final stages of AIDS.  I saw one particularly touching one, 
in of all places the Wall Street Journal once.  The descriptions were quite 
graphic, and there is no way a person can read these without being shaken.

But then I also realize how visual kids that age can be (and how immortal 
they can feel).  And I also remember in high school being required to see a 
movie called "Signal 30" after a state trooper (Ohio?) radio code for a fatal 
automobile accident.  The movie showed some brutal, quite gory scenes of 
fatal automobile accidents.  The purpose, I suppose, was to shock kids into 
driving safely.  But all it seemed to do was make some kids hysterical.  This 
is different, of course, in that your daughter has expressed an interest.  
Perhaps if you contacted one of the many AIDS programs they could help you 
out.

This is indeed a tough problem.

Clay

There's probably a hospice or something in your area for people with AIDS.
You could visit there, and bring the folks something which would please them
(call ahead for ideas, they may prefer to eat healthier foods than sweets,
and someone may be allergic to flowers).

When I was about her age I made occasional visits to an old man in a nursing
home.  If Nicole *wanted* to, she could make friends with one of the residents.

Possible places to find hospice location info would be hospitals, phone books, 
BGLAD, and your local LesBiGay community center.  You may also set her up with
a Digital pen pal who has AIDS.  They could send her pictures, and they could
write letters back and forth.  She may be willing to ask questions in a 
letter that she might be hesitant to ask face to face.

     Carol

I can't recall how old your child is, but it may be worthwhile having a look 
at the book, "April Fools Day", by Bryce Courtenay (sp). - He's the same 
person who wrote "The Power of One". The book is about his sons life and death,
from AIDS induced blood products.

It's not great literature - but it's real.


Chele

Another book you could try is "In the Absence of Angels" by Elizabeth Glaser.
She contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during the birth of her first
child, Ariel, and then passed it on to both her children before she knew she
had it.  The story is largely about the family's struggles as Ariel developed
AIDS and died.  It's pretty specific about the deterioration that Ariel went
through as the disease progressed.  It also addresses the discrimation that
the family faced as well as the support they received as their story became
public.  (For those of you who remember "Starsky and Hutch", the husband/father
in this story is Paul Michael Glaser.)

						Tracy

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Bob

What does "PWA" stand for?

Thanks,

Pat

Person With Aids?

< Person With Aids?

Yup.