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Share your experience living with a rare disorder

Today I recieved the following e-mail as a result of our participation in Rare Disease DAy. It's a quick survey about your experiences using the internet and living with a rare disorder. It took me about 15 minutes to do it. I'm sure they'd appreciate your input!

Dear Rare Disease Day Partners,







We are writing to ask you to join NORD in a very important project to raise awareness of rare diseases and the challenges encountered by patients and their families.






NORD is partnering with the Pew Research Center to conduct an informal study of how people with rare diseases obtain and share information about their diseases and available resources.






We are asking you to tell your members about this study and to encourage them to complete the short survey to ensure that as many rare disease organizations as possible are represented in this survey.






You are probably familiar with the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which has published several widely publicized studies of how Americans use the Internet. Since the Internet has particular implications for people with rare diseases, Pew and NORD feel it is important to document ways in which the Internet is used by this particular population.






It takes just a few minutes to complete the survey, and it is not necessary to answer every question. Also, responses will be partly anecdotal: Respondents will be invited to elaborate on their own experiences if they choose to do so.






This project is being done in conjunction with Rare Disease Day, and the results will be released to the press—and to all of you—in February, just before Rare Disease Day. Because Rare Disease Day is all about education and raising awareness, NORD is very happy to partner with Pew in this project designed to educate all Americans about specific rare diseases and the challenges associated with having a rare disease.






Please post the link to the survey on your website or distribute it in other ways to your members. The survey will be available for a limited period of time, so it is important to distribute this information as soon as possible. Please also feel free to post the link on Facebook, Twitter or any other communications channels that you use. NORD will be doing the same.






We appreciate your help in this project and—even more—your support for Rare Disease Day and its goal of raising awareness across our nation and around the world of rare diseases as an important public health concern.






Link to online survey: http://www.psra.com/nordsurvey.html






Username for you and your members: 9000 (Please distribute only one username to your members. A few organizations may receive this invitation more than once. It's helpful if you distribute only the first username that you receive.)






Sincerely,






Peter L. Saltonstall






NORD President and CEO






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