It Takes a Village: The Power of Online Parenting Communities

Dr. Dan welcomes the founder/lead editor of Autisable.com (an online community that connects people who want to tackle the puzzle of Autism) and Dad blogger Joel Manzer to the show. Joel is a special needs parent and a podcast host with a passion for writing and connecting. The focus of today’s show is community – it really does take a village (real and online) to raise happy and healthy children today. Community benefits everyone - parents and children. Joel Manzer describes himself as “just one person among the thousands sharing their stories online” and he is celebrated as an Autism Light for his dedication as an autism father and for his vision in leading Autisable today to be a helpful resource on the voices of the diverse autism community. “When my son was diagnosed with autism, we searched online for an open source blogging community that we would show daily life with autism and that search eventually birthed Autisable.com. Our mission is rather basic, to promote discussion of autism. We don’t take a stance on a specific viewpoint or concept about it, but want to provide an environment where people can share their ideas and journey.” Online parenting communities and websites can help all parents and for the many parents facing challenge this virtual world is a game-changer in parenting today for so many reasons— Having a community gives you connection to life-savers and life changers You are not alone Sharing struggles as well as sharing triumphs in a safe space Truth sharing and discussion Practicing listening and respectful disagreeing In addition to ParentFootprint.com there are online resources for every parenting challenge or skill such as: ADHD: http://www.chadd.org/ Dyslexic Advantage: https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/ 2e Newsletter: http://www.2enewsletter.com/ Gifted Homeschoolers: https://giftedhomeschoolers.org/ The Miracle Project: http://www.themiracleproject.org/ Challenge Success: http://www.challengesuccess.org/ Make Social Learning Stick: http://www.makesociallearningstick.com/index.html Today’s Parent Footprint Moment from Joel is beautiful and inspiring. He remembers the most pivotal parenting moment ever -- when the decision was made to take his son out of the public school system and explained that the school system wasn’t hearing his son. At that moment, Joel’s son, who could not communicate with words, squeezed his hand and it was all the validation he needed that his family had made the right decision. In the end, the power of everyone part of Autisable.com is helping to teach Joel everything he can learn about his own son – and that isn’t just a community, it’s everything. Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices