<<Disclaimer:  Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I think Kemp and Rosalie are right.  Besides the political, another area
to cover is to establish a co-operative relationship with support groups
of other auto-immunities so that if a person has gluten intolerance &
another  auto-immune condition, he/she has support from both groups.  For
example, I took information from this list to a local diabetes support
office.  The woman had never heard of celiac disease.  But a significant
percentage of diabetics have CD, and vice versa.  We need to educate,
dialogue and serve the needs of these people.  (If I am wrong, and there
are people on this list with two auto-immunities, and you feel you are
getting adequate support from both sides, please let me know.)

Becky Markle
Erie, PA

P. S.  Another experience. I have a friend who is a sysop in the
Compuserve autism/Add/Pdd forum.  Now, one of their FAQs states that
gluten sensitivity is an unproven treatment for autism.  I forwarded
postings from the "I've been flamed" sequence of a couple weeks ago.  It
showed our side of the issue...it's not a cure, it's a management
strategy, may not work all the time, but when appropriate, it's golden.
She was very happen to get this info & hear our side.  I think we need
to do more of this friendly information sharing.

On Thu, 13 Apr 1995, J. Kemp Randolph wrote:

> On April 8, Rosalie Jalbert said,
>
> >>Since the new FDA ruling, we have noticed difficulty in getting
> information from manufacturers.....  serves to prove that we need one large
> CELIAC GROUP.<<
>
> There's clearly a need for such a group, but now we have several
> complementary groups, each with distinctive strengths. How do we get there?
>
> Perhaps an umbrella organization specifically dedicated to political
> matters, such as Rosilie mentions, would be a way to go. Hopefully there'd
> be more grounds for agreement in this way?