Tymes Trust Alert 2011-04
Message from Jane
11 May 2011

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'STOP DAMAGING EXERCISE TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH ME'
An ME Awareness Day special - let's make our voices heard

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You and I know from experience that if people with ME exercise too soon,
or do more than they can manage, they can relapse, suffer worse symptoms,
and generally be set back in their recovery. Yet many well-meaning but
misguided therapists and physicians are still prescribing this treatment
for children with ME when they are not yet strong enough to undertake
them safely. As part of our awareness-raising work, the Trust and I are
spreading this clear message: it must stop.

POSTER AND LEAFLET

If we have your postal address, you have been sent one of our new
leaflets with the latest MiniVision. On one side is a compelling poster
featuring a child with ME in a darkened bedroom and the message 'STOP
DAMAGING EXERCISE TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH ME'. You can view and
download the poster here: www.tymestrust.org.

Mark Colby says: 'The PDF is nominally A3 size, but your computer should
allow you to print it at any scaling you wish. For example, the latest
Adobe Reader has a Page Scaling selection in its print dialog, where you
can select multiple pages per sheet.'

On the other side of the printed leaflet, Dr Nigel Speight writes about
'the danger of doctors placing too much faith' in such treatment. After
years of working together, we know that many families are pressurized
into putting their children through these schemes, then blamed for their
lack of success. Nigel writes: 'There is no form of treatment for ME/CFS
of such efficacy that it could ever justify a coercive approach.'
Read his statement in 'Does graded exercise therapy cure ME?' here:
www.tymestrust.org/tymesmagazine.htm.

POST-A-POSTER CAMPAIGN

Let's start making ourselves heard about this. It's an open-ended
campaign so let's have an ME Awareness Day splash to kick it off. Do you
have a Facebook page, or do you tweet? Spread the word.

You can also buy packs of 10 leaflets from the Trust for £3.35 including
post and packing. Use them how you wish. Send them to newspapers, include
them with group newsletters, display them poster side out in prominent
places, or if you want to present them to doctors, you can fold them the
other way to show Dr Speight's message on the outside.

MINIVISION 2011-1

And do enjoy your MiniVision, which is in full colour here:
www.tymestrust.org/tymesmagazine.htm. There are prizes to win, and the
latest adventures of Seb to read about! You'll also find two spring
pictures for young people to colour, and an invitation to those who would
like to join our new Welcome Team.

I wish you the very best ME Awareness Day ever.

Jane

Jane Colby FRSA
Executive Director
The Young ME Sufferers Trust
PO Box 4347, Stock, Essex, CM4 9TE
www.tymestrust.org
Tel: 0845 003 9002

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Jane Colby is Executive Director of The Young ME Sufferers Trust.
She was a Headteacher for nine years, a member of the government
Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on CFS/ME and co-authored
ME/CFS In UK Schools, the largest epidemiological study of ME to
date. She is a member of the National Association of Educational
Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants (now ASPECT), a life member
of the National Association of Head Teachers and a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts.

Copyright (c) 2011 The Young ME Sufferers Trust