HealthCentral Launches FriendsOfQuinn.com, A Social Network For Young Adults with Learning Disabilities

ARLINGTON, Va., March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — HealthCentral (www.HealthCentral.com), the leading collection of online condition-specific consumer health and wellness experiences, today launched FriendsOfQuinn.com (www.FriendsOfQuinn.com), a social network and interactive resource for young adults with learning disabilities and their caregivers. Aligned with HealthCentral’s more than 35 condition-specific sites, FriendsOfQuinn.com offers the highest quality content to an engaged consumer base of those managing learning disabilities in their day-to-day lives.

FriendsOfQuinn.com is led by Quinn Bradlee, a young adult with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS), a little-understood disorder that affects one in 2,000 people and is expressed through a wide range of physical ailments and learning disabilities. The launch of FriendsOfQuinn.com coincides with the launch of Bradlee’s memoir, A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures, a recount of his own inspirational story of growing up learning disabled (LD)–and of doing so as the child of larger-than-life, formidably accomplished parents: long-time Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and bestselling author Sally Quinn.

“We are proud to officially launch FriendsOfQuinn.com as part of the HealthCentral family. Our shared goal is to bring the best social networking features and condition-specific health resources to the learning disabled community,” said Christopher M. Schroeder, CEO of HealthCentral. “There’s really no better person than Quinn to accomplish this. By sharing his personal story, he touches everyone, whether they are affected by a learning disability or not.”

With HealthCentral, Quinn Bradlee created FriendsOfQuinn.com to help alleviate the sense of isolation and depression he felt as a teenager who was dealing with a learning disability. Now 26 years old and living in Washington, D.C., Bradlee hopes FriendsOfQuinn.com will become an online meeting place and support system for people living with learning disabilities. Following the FriendsOfQuinn.com launch, he will regularly blog, answer people’s questions from the website and update the site with exclusive interviews, multimedia and personal photos.

“When I was growing up, I wished I could have had a site like FriendsOfQuinn.com where I could meet people like me since I often felt like I was the only one dealing with a learning disability,” said Quinn Bradlee, founder of FriendsOfQuinn.com. “Technology and social networking are a big part of my daily life but most websites don’t cater to the specific needs of the learning disabled community – that’s where FriendsOfQuinn.com comes into play. The site makes everything easier to use and is intuitive. I hope people will use it for expert advice or to simply meet new friends.”

Approximately fifteen million people in the U.S. are affected by a learning disability. Visitors at FriendsOfQuinn.com can meet other people with learning disabilities, share stories, get advice and support each other. In addition:

• Parents can connect with one another to get much-needed support and advice.
• Anyone can find the best resources to manage learning disabilities, including clinical information (treatment options, medication side effects) and lifestyle information from experts and peers (best schools, getting a job, dating).
• FriendsOfQuinn.com community members will have full access to a roster of leading LD experts who will answer questions, offer guidance and give support.

Since beta launching in January of this year, FriendsOfQuinn.com has seen more than 50 percent growth month over month in unique visitors to the site. Overall, HealthCentral’s sites house the world’s largest collection of online health communities, and reach more than 10mm unique visitors each month, according to comScore*.

About FriendsOfQuinn.com and The HealthCentral Network:

FriendsOfQuinn.com is part of The HealthCentral Network, the third most-visited interactive health enterprise and the only one offering users deeply engaged experiences in managing their health online. Like all of HealthCentral’s 35+ sites, FriendsOfQuinn.com is focused on the people who manage their condition day-to-day. The site was launched in conjunction with the release of A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures, a book by Quinn Bradlee and Jeff Himmelman, published by PublicAffairs. The HealthCentral Network was acquired in 2005 by Polaris Venture Partners, The Carlyle Group, Sequoia Capital, and Allen & Company and received a significant investment from IAC/InterActiveCorp in early 2008. FriendsOfQuinn.com is led by Quinn Bradlee, son of famed D.C. journalists Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. Quinn lives with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome, a genetic disorder associated with learning, speech and heart problems.

SOURCE HealthCentral