My daughter is 6 years old and was diagnosed about 7months ago. We don't know any other kids who have diabetes and she is the only kid at her school who has it. I think she is really wanting to have a friend with diabetes too. She often says things like," wouldn't it be funny if my friend Samantha got diabetes too" or " wouldn't it be weird if Brady(her brother) has diabetes like me"? Anyone have suggestions on how to seek out a diabetes friend for her? We are in La Verne, California.
We started our own support / play group by putting up notices in our pediatric ward, diabetes clinic at the hospital and our pediatrician's (we don't have an endo here) offices and have been contacted by people that way. Also getting involved with your local chapter of JDRF or Diabetes Association should connect you to some families with children around your daughter's age. Good luck - support is important!
You may also want to consider diabetes camp for your daughter this summer. At her age, she may attend day camps that are put together by local hospitals and groups. It's a great way to meet other kids her age that deal with diabetes and it's also cool to have her exposed to older ones who may be great role models for her.
My daughter is 6 too and is too young for the summer camps in our area. I connected her with an online pen pal through the JDRF website for kids. You can choose a pen pal by age group... kids go on there and kind of put up an "advertisement' that they want a pen pal and you can respond. If you don't see anyone you think would be a good match, you could create your own "ad" for your child and post it. http://www.kids.jdrf.org
My daughter is the only one in her school with T1 as well. Even with the online friend, she feels like there is someone there for her. Our children's hospital also runs support groups and one of them has a group of children her age. They only meet every 3 months though so we have not met them yet, but will in June.
Good luck!!
Heather