Parenting Special Needs - Blog Review

The internet is the place to get a lot of information quickly. However, this can be more overwhelming then helpful. There is a ton of information on parenting children with special needs, such as support resources, disability laws and policies, advocacy, education and therapy resources, and topics by needs. However, it seems almost impossible to organize the mounds of information into something clear and understandable. I feel that a major issue most people encounter while seeking information and support from the internet, is where to even start. How many people have hours to sit and look through a Google and a half of sites and web pages and still meet the needs of their children, whether they have special needs or not?

Well I am here to tell you that a great place to start is by looking through blogs geared towards special need topics, which can encompass anything from foster care and general family processes to specific development, intellectual and behavioral disabilities. One blog I found particularly useful focused more on disabilities and is titled 5MinutesforSpecialNeeds.com Support. Insight. Inspiration.

The blog exceeded my expectations. The authors are all mothers of and some type of educator, life coach, or advocate for children with specials needs. Overall, it is a great place to turn for information. The site’s contributors have written the blog in such a way as to make the reader feel that they are talking directly to them, as they share their own stories and personal experiences. The site is also broken down into user friendly categories, such as topics by needs, therapy, education and family life. This is useful, so you can instantly jump to a specific archive topic. The writers are also concise in their writing. They did not waste time “beating around the bush,” but instantly started into their topics and it seemed like they were solely interested in giving real life advice. This helped to make reading the blog more enjoyable and personable.

It is difficult to determine if the blog is based in research or just personal opinion and experience. The authors all have the educational background to backup their arguments and posts. However, I did not see any research citation or reference to research. Despite this, I still maintain that this site is a great place to start looking for information. They claim that their site “is all about bringing you the support, insight, and inspiration you need to be the best parent you can possibly be.” In addition, they also have listed other blog sites that can be useful and have links to other 5MinutesforParenting topics, such as forMom and forMe.

I really enjoyed what I read and learned while looking through this site and I feel that it would be a great place to start looking for information if you do not have any place in mind.

Some other great blogs to look up are:

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/ -Contains articles on developmental disability news.

http://www.lovethatmax.com/ -Is a personal blog by a mother with a child who has cerebral palsy.

http://thinkingautismguide.blogspot.com/ -Is an advocacy blog for people with Autism and supports autism research.

http://pediatricotblog.blogspot.com/ -Contains advices, information and resources from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist.

http://thespecialparent.com/about-2/ -Is a personal blog about a parent of a child with autism and contains topics for early intervention and resources.

http://alongcamethebird.blogspot.com/ -Is another autism resource blog written from a personal family perspective.

http://onlycasualobservations.blogspot.com/ -Contains “thoughts on family life and interests, experience living with Special Needs individuals.”

Please email with questions, comments, concerns.

-Kristin

References:

5 Minutes for Special Needs. (2008). 5minutesforspecialneeds.com: support. insight. inspiration. Retrieved from http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com/