Around the Community

What can I say? Our mascost is my girl, Quinnlin.

We have a lot going on around here! For starters,  if you read yesterday, we are proud to have supported a campaign  to send a representative from the special needs community to the SXSW conference. We offered to pay for 1/2 of the ticket if the community would pay for 1/2 by the early registration deadline. Well, in 48 hours it was done! You can read about why and how, here.

Jen Lee Reeves of Born Just Right is the one who put together the abstract that brought the topic to SXSW and she’s also going to be helping us around here. We’re thrilled she’s going to be doing our Friday Around the Community posts starting next week. Please welcome here. And tell her THANKS for me! You can find her on Twitter at JenLeeReeves.

New Members!

Please go to our Member Directory, which can be found on the above bar, and check out our new members by selecting the pull down bar on the right to Newest Registered. See if you recognize any of your friends and if not, please invite some people!

Don’t Miss Topics & Groups!

Complex Medical Needs (and stress) – community member Sylvia’s son is having a tough time right now and she could sure use your support. Please go over there, even if you can’t speak to the specific issue, I know you can identify with the stress. Go here and show her some support!

School  and IEP Groups...IEP Discussions is one of them, be sure to check in if you have questions about an IEP or are needing support about one of those meetings you  might have coming up.

Community member Jen Troester let me take an off-line discussion in email and put it in a topic. It’s about changes to her daughter’s IEP but Jen is struggling with the idea of pulling out for lunch because that removes some social interactions she can use…weigh in!

Adults…happy to say we also have a fairly new group for College Students & Adults with Disabilities started by self advocate Erin Breedlove (@erinrbreedlove), go and join that group because Erin is terrific and open and welcoming. Get to know her.

Stepmom could use some support around the issue of stressful custody visits. It’s a sensitive subject for sure. Anyone with experience in child anexity could offer support, so don’t think you have to have dealt with the specific topic of custody issues.

Groups for Fun…Scrapbooking is under that category. Be sure to join and check out group owner Siobhan’s tips and tricks. She’s a photography and Creative Memories rep, in case you need any supplies. She also makes some great books and she is great at helping people stay focused (namely, me).

Stressed? So, I’m  headed over to our Caregiver Stress group. Come and talk about it. Also, there’s a private group you need to ask to join that is Room for Rants. Join and share what is getting under your skin.

Community member Andy’s had his surgery November 1st, be sure to check in and see how he’s doing in the Visual Impairment Group.

Some Fun Stuff

Slice of Crazy Pie (a term I use often when referring to my life) is the company name I gave when I started a line of cool and funny stuff in support of special needs. If you’re looking for little gifts for a special therapist or teacher, check it out! Slice of Crazy Pie for a link to the shop, and if you want to know why it has that name click on the logo to go to the home page.

How to Get Around on the Site!

The best, quickest way to see what is going on is to visit the Latest Activity Stream, which you can click on in the bar on the top of the site. You can also check out Our Forums, which also can be found on the top bar. And of course, in the center of the site on the home page you will see what current topics are being visited.

How To…Wondering how to do something? Here’s a list of How To topics for you presented in a simple way.

We hope your weekend is off to a great start. If it is, share with someone who could use some support in the groups, and if your weekend isn’t off to a great start, share the struggles. It’s always better to know someone is in the same boat, right?