The Circle of Life Camp Founder

Alicia H. McAuliffe-Fogarty, Ph.D.

Dr. Alicia McAuliffe-Fogarty was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of eleven. Since then she has committed herself to improving the lives of children with diabetes. After running several child support groups, serving as the Northeast Regional Youth Advisor for the ADA, and the U.S. representative for the Lions Diabetes Program in Sweden, she established the Circle of Life Camp, Inc., a not-for-profit camp in Albany, NY in 1996 at the age of eighteen.

Over the past twelve years, the camp has experienced tremendous growth, with campership enrollment increasing over 600% and membership extending internationally.

Dr. McAuliffe-Fogarty recently incorporated the Circle of Life Center, Inc., in 2005.

Currently, Dr. Alicia is a Clinical Child Health Psychologist. She completed her Pediatric Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine and was the recipient of over $15,000 in grant money for her research, Psychosocial adjustment and regimen adherence in adolescents with diabetes and The effects of a diabetes camping experience on the psychosocial adjustment and regimen adherence of adolescents with diabetes.

She is an accomplished author of Growing Up With Diabetes: What Children Want Their Parents to Know published by John Wiley & Sons Inc, which is distributed by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International (JDFI) to all new members. Dr.McAuliffe-Fogarty is co-authtor of Camps and Mental Health, An Issue of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics (The Clinics: Internal Medicine) with Karen P. Carlson.

"Listen to your little ones, and you will learn volumes..." 

Synopsis of:
"Growing Up With Diabetes: What Children Want their Parents to Know"

"...A chance to step into your child’s shoes. When your child was diagnosed with diabetes your first priority was probably to learn everything you could about diabetes and how to manage it. Whether your child is a youngster or a teenager, you’ve done your best to help with injections, meals and snacks, and the many other elements of a diabetes management program. But through all this, you may be overlooking the importance of your child’s social and emotional development. Children want to be normal, and diabetes makes them "different." Many well-meaning parents inadvertently focus too much on their child’s diabetes, and not enough on other aspects of their child’s life. This unique book, written by a young woman who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 11, gives you the opportunity to understand and relate to your child’s feelings.

Drawing on the author’s own experiences and those of the many children and young adults she’s counseled, this sensitive guide explains:

• How children feel when they’re diagnosed
• Why diabetes is a bigger adjustment for you than for your child
• How to encourage a healthy approach to diabetes
• The importance of diabetes education
• How to make your child’s life as normal as possible
• Dealing with outside forces (school, day care, relatives, etc.)
• Eliminating the power struggle for independence in adolescence