Unlike Type 1 diabetes, support for kids with Type 2 is harder to find. You'll need to be creative in how and where to find your support and your child's support.

Groups

Most Type 2 support groups are filled with adults and senior citizens, people your child simply will not mesh with. Most support groups for children with diabetes focus on Type 1. You and your child might not be comfortable with these groups either, since the issues are so different. Your first option is to consider a support group for kids dealing with almost the same issues as your child: obesity and lifestyle changes. It might be that your child will find support with kids trying to make the same lifestyle changes, even if they are not facing Type 2 diabetes yet.

You can also ask your medical team if they hold any kind of support meetings for kids and families dealing with Type 2 diabetes. They certainly should be sensitive enough not to put you and your child into an uncomfortable situation. If such a group does not exist, perhaps it would be empowering to form one. Consider starting a group that not only sits and talks but also gets up and walks or runs or exercises, thus embracing the very activities that are necessary for healthful living with Type 2.

Online

Like anything else today, there is online support for Type 2 children and families. Children with diabetes. com has a forum for kids and parents that can be logged on to at any time, day or night. The American Diabetes Association has information on their Web site at www.diabetes.org about kids and diabetes. One great thing about the World Wide Web is that even though kids with Type 2 are spread around the world, they can easily find themselves in one “room,” giving support and advice, and most of all, letting each other know they are not alone. As is always the case with children and the Web, monitor your child's use of the Internet and make sure the Web site he is using is well run and respected. Don't let him chat anywhere or with anyone you have not checked out first.