 Contrary
to the commonly held belief, arthritis
is not a disease of the elderly, it can
happen at any age. There are more than
150 types of arthritis and those that occur
in children under the age of 16 are classified
as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).
Studies show that this illness affects
about one in every 1000 children.
If your child is newly diagnosed with
arthritis you are probably feeling overloaded
with information and emotions, its hard
to sort through the information and consider
the impact this will have on your child
and your family.
This section of the website is dedicated
to helping you sift through the information
and advise you of the services and support
we can offer. We have things like camps,
information booklets, family days, teacher
information, and support groups. Remember
that you aren’t alone and neither
is your child.
Activities include:
Camp
Footloose,
where children with arthritis can get together
and have fun for a few days - like the
children in the photo above.
We also run an annual Family
Picnic Day,
which gives everyone a chance to make new
friends or say hello to old ones.
 We produce a wide variety of written resources
that can help you such as the Finding Out
your child has JIA: information for parents,
families and carers; Teachers
Resource Kit, About the Foundation, all types of
arthritis and many more. Call us on 1800
011 041 to be sent resources free of charge.
View a list of our brochures
and information sheets,
and books and videos
for sale.
Children with arthritis also have their
own magazine, Stiff
Kidz Biz, which is
both fun and informative - and lets them
know they're not alone.
Family membership
of Arthritis NSW ensures both you and
your child have access to
the latest resources and research information
- click
here to find out more. For parents whose child has just been
diagnosed, we have provided a list of Frequently
Asked Questions. This list is not extensive,
and of course we do recommend that you
speak to a medical professional about your
child's condition if the answer to your
question is not found here.
If you are a high school student who
has been diagnosed with arthritis,
our Teacher's guide has advice and
information on resources for further
study and transition. Your teachers
can get this guide for free from Arthritis
NSW. Click here to find out more.
Your school or local club/group can
arrange for one of our Educators to
do a talk on JIA to inform and encourage
support - call us on 1800 011 041 to
find out more.
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