Teenagers, HIV, and AIDS by Maureen Lyon

[Guest guest]

Teen Voices of AIDS

As the Epidemic Continues, Some Young Victims Begin to Speak Up

By Levine, Washington Post, January 8, 2008; HE01

....These are the voices that psychologist Maureen Lyon and physician

Lawrence D'Angelo have woven into " Teenagers, HIV, and AIDS, " perhaps

the first text on the subject to place young people, in prose and even

poetry, alongside the experts. It is a true collaboration, one that

gets and gives plain-talk advice.

Most of all, says Adam Tenner, executive director of the local

advocacy group Metro TeenAIDS, it is a book that helps " bear witness. "

" Too many young people are frightened to talk about their own HIV, or

the HIV of their friends, " Tenner says. " One of our biggest obstacles

to healing our communities is getting rid of the stigma. "

* * *

Lyon and D'Angelo explained their rationale in the book's dedication,

a tribute to the more than 400 HIV-positive patients for whom they and

others on the Children's staff have cared.

" They have served as teachers to us all, " the longtime clinicians wrote.

With new infections occurring with increasing frequency among 13- to

19-year-olds, thousands of adolescents across the country are

receiving diagnoses every year. The shattering results must be

followed by compassion and very tailored conversation, according to

the book, for every aspect of HIV can be different in these cases,

from the virus's progress in the body to the services available to a

suffering teenager.

" Managing a life-threatening and socially stigmatized illness is

emotionally difficult and challenging for adults, " one of the

contributing authors noted. " It is even more difficult for

adolescents, who are more vulnerable and less prepared to deal with a

health crisis of this magnitude, much less deal with it alone. "

The book, available online and in stores, addresses the host of

medical, treatment, disclosure and support issues. Beyond teens, it's

aimed at health-care providers, who often don't listen well to

adolescents; at school leaders, who in many systems still provide

minimal education on sexually transmitted diseases; and, of course, at

parents. Over the years, both Lyon and D'Angelo have comforted teens

who've been kicked out of their homes after telling their families.

" Sometimes, " Lyon said recently, remembering past heartaches, " HIV is

not the biggest problem in their lives at the time we see them. "

" These patients have defined for me what it means to be a good

provider, " D'Angelo said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010702044.\

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