PANS Awareness TX

08/27/2026

🎥 Share Hope. Share Reality. Inspire Change. 🎥

We’re inviting families, practitioners, and advocates to submit a short video for our 2026 PANS & PANDAS Awareness Day at the Texas Capitol. In place of live personal testimonies, selected clips will be compiled into a video montage to help bring real voices and experiences to the Capitol and beyond.

Wondering what to share?

• Give hope — share progress, healing, support, or something you wish other families knew.

• Share the reality — describe a challenge your child or family has faced and why greater awareness matters.

• Call for change — tell policymakers, practitioners, and advocates what you hope can improve in awareness, diagnosis, treatment, education, insurance coverage, or family support.

• Share what you’ve learned — offer something you wish you had known earlier in your PANS/PANDAS journey.

There is no “right” story to tell. Choose the message that feels most important to you right now and speak from the heart. 💚

Your audience includes fellow PANS/PANDAS families, advocates, policymakers, and practitioners.

A few simple guidelines:
📱 Turn your phone sideways and record in landscape (16:9)
⏱️ Keep your video to 2 minutes or less
📅 Submit by September 13

Ready to share your voice?
Submit your video here:

Thank you for sharing your story with PANS Awareness TX. Please complete this short form before uploading your video.

08/25/2026

💚💚💚

Registration is OPEN for the 2026 PANS & PANDAS Awareness Day at the Capitol!

We are excited to invite you to the 4th Annual PANS & PANDAS Awareness Day at the Texas Capitol on Friday, October 9th for a day of hope, connection and advocacy!

This year’s word is UNITED—because when families, professionals, and advocates come together, our voices are stronger and hope grows.

The program features a one hour Q&A session with a panel of expert healthcare practitioners from across the state. In addition, there will be a breakout time with opportunities to meet practitioners and other professionals serving the PANS & PANDAS community.

With our growing attendance, we are pleased to be moving into a larger meeting space (the Extension Legislative Conference Center) at the Capitol this year. The expanded space will allow us to provide lunch and a kids activity area, where children can take a break and spend time together. The small registration fee will help offset these additional costs and keep the event as affordable and accessible as possible for families.

🍽️ In addition to the Capitol event on October 9th, there will be a casual dinner the night before at the delicious Chez Zee Bistro.
Registration for both Awareness Day and our optional dinner the evening before is available through the same registration link. You can register for either or both now, and return later to add additional tickets as desired. The deadline to register is September 28th.

Register here:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-pans-and-pandas-awareness-day-at-the-capitol

🎥 To better honor everyone's time and ensure each family's story can be shared thoughtfully, we will not have live personal testimonies during the event. Instead, families will have the opportunity to submit a short video testimony that may be included in a video compilation shown at the Capitol. Be on the lookout for additional information about how to submit your video testimony.

For complete event information, including a discounted hotel room block, event shirts, templates for inviting your legislators, schedule details, and Capitol maps and updates, visit our event page:
https://pansawarenesstx.org/p%2Fp-awareness-day

Together, we are UNITED for awareness, support, and hope.

💚💚💚

a 501 (c)(3) organization EIN #33-3340596

08/14/2026

LymeLight Foundation is an organization whose mission is to provide grants to enable eligible children and young adults with Lyme disease to receive proper treatment and medication.

Today is the deadline to apply for the October Grant, but applications for the February Grant are available at the same link.

⏰ Less Than Two Weeks Left to Apply! ⏰

The deadline to apply for a LymeLight Foundation Grant is FRIDAY, AUGUST 14th! Our grants help children and young adults (through age 25) across the U.S. access Lyme disease treatment when financial barriers stand in the way. 💚

Don't miss your opportunity to apply! Learn more and submit your application (also linked in bio): lymelightfoundation.org/grants

Questions? Reach out to Kate, our Grants Coordinator, at [email protected]

08/13/2026

We are pleased to highlight a wonderful resource for our PANS/PANDAS Community:

💚 MAPS 💚

The Medical Academy of Pediatrics & Special Needs (MAPS) provides education for healthcare professionals caring for children with complex medical and neurodevelopmental conditions, including PANS and PANDAS. They offer many helpful tools including a clinician directory, podcasts, blogs and more.

MAPS is also hosting its second *Parent Conference* this September, with both in-person and virtual attendance options. The conference includes education on topics relevant to many families in our community, including PANS/PANDAS, mold, Lyme disease, mitochondrial dysfunction, cerebral folate deficiency, testing, and more.

Learn more about MAPS:
https://www.medmaps.org

Parent Conference: 📅 September 12–13, 2026
https://www.medmaps.org/events/fall2026-parent-conference/

The MAPS Parent Conference was created in response to a growing need within our community for accessible, medically grounded education for parents navigating chronic complex conditions in their children. While MAPS is not a parent support group, we recognize that informed families are empowered fami...

08/05/2026

PANS and PANDAS can significantly affect a child’s learning, behavior, attendance, and ability to function at school.

As the 2026–2027 school year begins, we recognize that this is a challenging time for many families in our community.

Ashley Berner, RN, PANS mom, and Treasurer of PANS Awareness TX, spoke at last year’s PANS & PANDAS Awareness Day at the Capitol and addressed multiple aspects of this nuanced and important topic:

https://youtu.be/sez02Xg0igo?si=MT4TGr9vs04WjY6Z

A list of excellent school resources can be found on our website:

https://pansawarenesstx.org/support

Progress is happening one child and one family at a time as we raise awareness and provide our dedicated and caring educators with the information and tools they need to support children with PANS and PANDAS.

Ashley Berner, RN and PANS/PANDAS mom speaks about the challenges P...

07/31/2026

Save the Date!

We are excited to announce the 4th Annual PANS & PANDAS Awareness Day at the Texas Capitol on Friday, October 9, 2026, in Austin!

This year’s word is UNITED—because when families, advocates, clinicians, educators, and community leaders come together, our voices are stronger and hope grows.

Please save the date and plan to join us for a meaningful day of awareness, connection, education, and advocacy for children and families affected by PANS and PANDAS.

Registration, event details, and additional information will be shared soon.

Together, we are UNITED for awareness, support, and hope. 💚

07/09/2026

We are so pleased to partner with the wonderful Dr. Elizabeth Miller and Well Mind Body Integrative Psychotherapy & Wellness 💚 Please consider attending and joining a supportive community of families navigating this journey. RSVP at the event link in comments to ensure adequate seating is available.

Our next Houston Area PANS/PANDAS Parent Support Meeting is Monday, July 27 at 10am.

Co-hosted by PANS Awareness TX and Dr. Elizabeth Miller at Well Mind Body, this gathering is for parents and caregivers navigating PANS/PANDAS who want a safe, welcoming space to ask questions, share knowledge, and connect with others who understand this journey. Through her work with PANS/PANDAS families and the Texas PANS Advisory Council, Dr. Miller has seen how important it is for families to have a place to feel informed, supported, and less alone.

Mark your calendar and RSVP to join us at Well Mind Body, 3801 Kirby Drive, Suite 344, Houston, TX. Whether you’re new to this diagnosis or have been walking this road for a while, there’s a place for you here.

06/13/2026

It’s a beautiful morning for coffee and community 💚

05/17/2026

Amy Urbanovsky, PANS mother and educator, shares the powerful story of her family's experience visiting 22 doctors before receiving the correct diagnosis for her daughter. Misdiagnosis is an enormous issue in the PANS/PANS community and it can cause immeasurable and long-lasting harm. She encourages parents to trust their own intuition when it comes to advocating for their children on this journey 💚

PANS mom Amy Urbanovsky tells of her daughter's onset and how her misdiagnosis would have yielded negative outcomes had she not continued to search for the p...

04/08/2026

Courtney Dillon is a licensed professional counselor and PANS Mom. In October at the Capitol she spoke on the trauma of PANS and PANDAS and the serious need for additional support and protection for practitioners working to serve PANS/PANDAS families. Professionals who have walked this road personally possess a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share with their clients. They also provide critically needed resources for their colleagues. We are grateful for the contributions that Courtney is making daily to our Texas PANS community 💚

Courtney Dillon, MS, LPC, addresses legislatures and others about the trauma of PANS and PANDAS, and how families need additional support and practitioners n...