I've had several spouses and friends take the class. The irony in one case was a woman who took it so she could understand a friend of hers better - and in the process of learning about the different symptoms realized that she had it herself. She'd blamed her own feelings on aging and being lazy.
What makes this course unique compared to other Internet courses, or information available on the web?
I think its personal insights - the stories told by so many of our group about their experiences, their ways of coping - add something to this course that I haven't seen anywhere else.
I've learned that simple realization - that there are others out there speaking in words that seem so familiar to a fibro patient - learning that there is a place to go where people instinctively understand what you feel like, may be the single, most valuable thing many of us seek.
And I think this course pays more attention to attitude - to being positive - than most, which tend to concentrate on the physical symptoms, and if they deal with the "mind" aspects usually focus on the "fog" - but not your life outlook.
What is the most important aspect of this course that you hope students will come away with?
Knowing that they are not disabled just because they have a syndrome that will qualify you for disability. That by concentrating on what you CAN do you can accomplish a lot.
What kind of coping skills can students expect to learn from the course?
Lots! All kinds of ways to compensate for that short term memory problem, ways of dealing with housework and the job, even the holiday chaos - really practical advice.
Also how to cope with things like our faulty thermostats that are too hot or too cold at inappropriate times - the best ways to dress and make up the bed, and all of those practical things.
But also to cope with the residue of emotional issues that we have - the guilt, the anger at not being able to do everything we once did - the feeling like we have somehow let family and friends down. That lingering feeling that we still have to do it all the way we once did. Even small things like what to say when someone asks how you are. Things that never seemed like a big deal before fibro.
What would you say to prospective students, who might be intimidated by taking a SuiteU course, to
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