1. Handling Transition into Young Adulthood with a Bleeding Disorder Prepared and Presented by Jim Messina, Ph.D. for the The Hemophilia Foundation of Greater Florida

2. Goals of this Presentation: 1. Identify issues to address when transitioning from childhood dependence to adult independence 2. Identify what it means to take on personal responsibility for your life when you have a bleeding disorder 3. Identify obstacles to overcome in this transitions

3. So you are 18 and an Adult? (1) Are you in charge of all of the medical procedures you need to maintain good health or is someone else in charge? Are you self-injecting or is someone else still in charge of injections? Do you talk with your Doctor about your health and concerns when you meet or does someone else?

4. So you are 18 and an Adult? (2) Do you advocate for your insurance and medical coverage or do you leave it in the hands of others? Are you ready to be a full time wage earner and live independently on your own? Do you have a social network that you can rely upon to support you when need support?

5. How to Prepare for Transition From age 11 years on you need to be preparing to transition from dependence to independence You need to be in charge of all prophylactic measures You need to be fully aware of medical needs, risks involved, and steps to take to maintain maximum health

6. What You Need to Hear You need encouragement all your life to become all that you are capable of becoming! You need to recognize that you are not a “victim” but a “survivor” You need to hear that there is nothing holding you back to be whatever you want to become within reason

7. You need to Let Go of “Getting” You are an adult now and you are no longer going to be on the “Receiving” end of life, but rather the “Giving” side You need to take personal responsibility for your own life and be willing to share lessons you have learned in life with others who are coming up behind you

8. Be a Mentor! You can share with younger individuals with bleeding disorders what it takes to become a fully functional independent adult! You can share with them how you applied yourself in school and in the community so that you could become a fully functioning adult today!

9. Common Problems in this Transition (1) Adult child chooses to continue to be dependent on parents for ongoing medical care, physical care, financial support, housing, food, clothing, etc Adult child continues to burden parents with problems from the child’s job, child’s marriage & rearing of child’s children, etc.

10. Common Problems in this Transition (2) Adult child resorts to child-like behavior in order to ''hook'' parents Adult child has problems succeeding in college, holding onto a job, maintaining living on own due to impulsive, explosive, inappropriate and maladaptive behaviors

11. Common Problems in Transition (3) Adult child continues to have medical emergencies, financial setbacks, gets into trouble with other authority figures Adult child has a problem facing life seriously and unable to solve problems in a healthy manner

12. Common Problems in Transition (4) Parents of adult children due to GUILT refuse to take a vacation, resist retirement or moving to smaller quarters, and continue financial support for their adult children Adult children are allowed to move back home without contributing financially

13. So where do you go from here? Yes you are going to SEA WORLD! But you also are going to help your child to grow into independence You are going to help your child to take over managing personal health You are going to help your child to become all that the he or she is capable of becoming!

14. References on www.coping.org Life Long Normalization: http://www.coping.org/specialneeds/normaliz.htm http://www.coping.org/specialneeds/normaliz.htm Accepting Personal Responsibility: http://www.coping.org/growth/accept.htm http://www.coping.org/growth/accept.htm Handling Insecurity: http://www.coping.org/growth/security.htm http://www.coping.org/growth/security.htm Handling Guilt: http://www.coping.org/growth/guilt.htm http://www.coping.org/growth/guilt.htm Tools for Coping with Bleeding Disorders: http://www.coping.org/bleed/content.htm http://www.coping.org/bleed/content.htm