Many people prefer to play an active role within the ALS community through online forums and chat rooms. Whether you opt to participate in online chats in lieu of face-to-face support group participation, or as a complement to support group discussions in your local area, the MDA ALS Division’s chat calendar is a valuable resource.

Please note that many of our ALS chats are held at regularly scheduled intervals, while others vary and feature panels of ALS Experts and special guests. Transcripts from previous ALS Chat sessions are also available online.

Most of our MDAchat sessions are scheduled so you can plan your online time more effectively. Unless you're too early or too late, our hope is that you should never encounter an "empty" chat session or fail to be greeted by a chat host or moderator. Chat rooms will be opened 15 minutes before the scheduled start time and closed 15 minutes after the scheduled stop time - all times listed are Eastern. To find your local time, please use the World Clock Meeting Planner located at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html.

Volunteer to be a chat host! To set up a new online support group or specific event, ask two or three of your friends to help you and then submit a New Group Application. If you'd like to be a host, but don't have a team, let us know when you submit the New Group Application and we'll do our best to hook you up with others having the same interest.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding MDAchat, please e-mail the MDAchat Administrator at mdachat@mdausa.org.