Camaraderie Among Special Needs Parents

It is amazing the camaraderie that exists in the world of special needs. People from all over the world that would otherwise have nothing in common can all relate to each other over something like autism. I looked at a Facebook post by an autism blogger and was amazed at the huge response to basically what’s your complaint/rant today? Responses of being injured during meltdowns, lack of sleep, destroying houses, trying to control behaviors poured into the comments section. Within the space of an hour there were almost 100 comments. Some people were complaining, others were offering sympathy, encouragement, or suggestions, but everyone could relate to each other. It is amazing to have resources like the internet and Facebook to help all of us parents to feel less alone. We have certainly come a long way from the stigma and isolation that came with special needs in previous decades. If you are a parent with a special needs child I would certainly encourage you to add some special needs pages to your newsfeed on Facebook. Even if you don’t want to share or comment yourself, just reading other peoples posts and comments, can be encouraging and at the very least interesting. There is nothing quite like bonding with strangers over insults, injuries, and potty training. You can go to your Facebook account and search special needs or a specific disorder and all sorts of pages will come up on your screen. Or you can go to my Facebook page and look at the list I follow. Like us on facebook Originally posted February 2012