Jane Colby

Jane Colby is a British advocate for paediatric patients and formerly had severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) triggered by a viral infection. (Colby sometimes refers to the virus as "polio-like" or "related to polio" and sometimes as coxsackie B). She is a former head teacher and a member of the National Association of Educational Inspectors, Advisors, and Consultants. She is the Executive Director of Tymes Trust, the longest established national UK service for children and young people with ME and their families.

Authored

 * 1996, ME - The New Plague, about the connection between ME and poliomyelitis.
 * 1996, Long Term Sickness Absence due to ME/CFS in UK Schools: An Epidemiological Study With Medical and Educational Implications, coauthored by Jane Colby and Elizabeth G Dowsett, is the largest ever epidemiological study of ME in the UK which revealed that ME is the most frequent cause of long-term sickness absence from school.
 * 1999, Zoe's Win, a book for children with ME
 * 2007, Special problems of children with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and the enteroviral link.
 * 2013, ME - The New Plague 2

Notable studies

 * 1997, Long-term sickness absence due to ME/CFS in UK schools; an epidemiological study with medical and educational implications. J Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 1997; 3: 29-42 (Full text)

Tymes Trust publications
The following educational materials for children living with ME and their parents and schools are written by Jane Colby and available through the Tymes Trust:
 * The T Rex in the Room
 * Paediatric ME, CFS, SEID for Families and their GPs
 * False Allegations of Child Abuse in Cases of Childhood Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
 * ME Awareness 2015: Equality and ME
 * Explain Your Abilities (co-authored by Naomi Burgess)
 * Diet in ME - is it such a big deal? (compiled with advice from Dr Alan Franklin and Elizabeth G Dowsett)
 * A Presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group on ME (co-authored by Joanna Smith)
 * A Good Practice Guide to Education for Children with ME for GPs, Schools and Families
 * Teacher Information on ME, Some children may be diagnosed as 'CFS'

Posters

 * Banned from Sleeping Poster
 * Why home-based education helps Poster (co-authored by Lord Clement-Jones CBE)
 * 25 years of trusting TYMES Poster

Professional guides

 * Professional Guides ME - The Illness and Common Misconceptions: Abuse, Neglect, Mental Incapacity
 * Professional Guides Back to School?
 * Professional Guides Pushing the Boundaries in ME/CFS
 * Professional Guides The SENCO’s Key Role in Supporting Pupils With CFS/ME
 * Professional Guides Physios Urged to Go Cautiously
 * Professional Guides Implications for Schools of the Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group Report on CFS/ME
 * Professional Guides ME/CFS Guidelines for Educational Psychologists (co-authored by Naomi Burgess)

Talks and Interviews

 * 2006 - Speaker at the 1st Invest in ME International ME Conference on Children and Education: Incidence, clusters and specific problems of youngsters with M.E. DVD available
 * May 6, 2018 - Interviewed on The ME Show podcast by Gary Burgess about the Tymes Trust charity. Episode link

Online presence

 * Twitter

Learn more

 * 1997, Long Term Sickness Absence due to ME/CFS in UK Schools: An Epidemiological Study With Medical and Educational Implications