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Need your input pls

mopdop2000mopdop2000
in Special Needs

Hey ladies, DH and I are going to start a special needs group that will meet at our church once a month, at least initially. It will not be 'Jesus focused' per se, but a loving place with childcare that can help us all have some time off, with others travelling a similar road:  DS1 has ADHD and DS2 has Fragile X Syndrome, autism and ADHD so we know what it is like day in and day out :)

We want the group to be a place of hope and happiness, not sitting around complaining about how hard life is. There used to be a group like that in town and have heard mom's who were more depressed after leaving than they were going in! We live in a small town so this will be the only group available right now.

For those of you who are part of a group, I would love to hear your expereince. What do you like? Not like? etc

For those of you not in a group but wish you were, what would you be looking for?

Thanks Big Smile

 

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Re: Need your input pls

  • RdmaggieRdmaggie member

    I'm not part of a group yet, and I'm not sure what exactly I would be looking for at this point. DD is suspected (I'm pretty certain) to be on the spectrum, although to what degree I don't know. I like coming on here because depending on my mood I can filter out what I don't want to read/hear.

    Sometimes I want to vent, sometimes ask advice, and other times just hear something positive from someone in a similar situation. I guess I would want a support group to be a good mix of all of these, but unless you dedicate certain parts of the meeting to certain things, like say - Lets share something good that happend this week, something we are frusterated about, questions for other parents. I wouldnt' know how else it would work... But I'm guessing that parents of newly diagnosed children are probably in a different place than those who have had time to accept the situation and the new normal, so I guess I'm no help there.

    Its wonderful that you are starting something like this, and providing child care, what a wonderful way to reach out to others.

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  • Assembly_ReqdAssembly_Reqd member

    I like Rdmaggie's idea. I go to a parent support group for children with hearing loss and it sometimes it does turn into a "sharing" (read:bitching) experience, but sometimes you need that outlet.

    We have topics of discussion for our parent meetings. You could see if community experts would come in and be willing to do a short seminar on topics such as discipline, nutrition, potty training, alternative therapies, relaxation, keeping the relationship strong, couples yoga or massage, financial planning etc.

    Another option is to just have topics assigned to the meetings and ask the parents to present one or two tips from their own arsenal. If you group gets big enough you may have parents who are experts on your topics and can lead the discussion. For example, maybe you have a fireman or police officer parent who could lead a discussion on emergency planning and preparedness....etc.

    Your best bet is to just get the group going and ask the members what they want to get out of it...That way there is more ownership towards the group. I like a group that has an opening and closing ritual similar to AA I guess.

    WAY 2 Cool 4 School


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