Dear mn hq is there any chance we could have a sn teens topic

[2shoes]

at the moment I don't fit anywhere and I am sure I am not alone.

You do fit in 2shoes but yes there may be stuff e cant help much with

makes a lot of sense MN, we'll all be there (in the SN dept) eventually

or is it possible to do subtopics?

I think that would be a good idea, and maybe encourage more parents of teens with sn onto the forum. I can def see it being something I would use as my ds gets older.

I wonder if heridrawtheline has a point. Maybe the SN topic as a whole does need expanding and categorising rather than all being lumped together.

yes i agree, there are a lot of parents of sn kids out there of various ages and conditions/disabilities would be nice to have some subtopics as otherwise things easily get lost now its a busy board splitting it up into some subtopics and then the main board would be great as if you have a specific issue you can post it on the relevant board knowing that then someone will see it without it disappearing down the boards go on mnhq its a fab idea!

peachy it is more a case of finding the right audience sometimes. dd is 14 and the things we are hitting won't be of much interest of someone with say a 5 year old, also the advice would be more "age appropriate"

I can see what you are saying, 2shoes, but do you think it would work?

I don't like the idea of splitting the SN section (in any way), as a lot of the issues parents of SN children (and teens) face overlap. If there was a teens section, I fear (and this is a selfish fear) that i would lose out on a lot of wisdom - people with teens would be less likely to browse the general section (or would have less time to), and my queries would go unanswered by the poeple I am seeking advice form - those who have been there and done it, so to speak.

my dd1 is ASD, ut I have had a lot of useful aadvice form parents whose children have other dx's, because a lot of the time, thinking outside the box is what is required, and when I post I am looking for a general perspective. sometimes the issues I face with dd1 are not because of her ASD, but because she is 4, or because she is going through a (oftentimes normal) reaction to somethign - toiletting, faddy eating, whatever.

I think if the SN section was split up, there would sadly be a loss of the very type of advice people want - the wisodm we are all looking for, form those who have been there before us.

well I would still post on the main part. but I am getting to the stage where I might have to go else where. whereas if there was a teen part I might get to talk to some people in the same boat.

I agree with the subtopics idea - the SN boards has got so busy just recently its easy for posts to get lost.

Oh I know 2shoes but just wanted to challenge the not fitting in statement

can see some value- evn then it wont be homogeonous; whilst stuff on transitiosn/ independence etc would be shared, other stuff (having after all all boys ) might not

so I think its enough of a diverse topic to warant a sub group, but i think SN should be a section of its own (like travel is0) and have sub groups such as this, finance, education instead of just being a subgroup. IYSWIM

genuine question - why would asking your teen queires/posting teen issues not work on the mainsn board?

at the moment there is no sn teen board, so presumably the parents of sn teens post on the main board (I know you are one, and riven another. MrsT's ds1 is coming up to teen/pre-teen, but I confess I do get muddled over the ages of everyone else's dcs. I think Fio's dd is coming up to pre-teen too?)

so these same people would be answering whether the posts are in a teen section, or on the main board.

I am not sure what having a teen section would achieve?

If there is a privacy/personal care issue (as we faced with globetrotter etc) then the board would need to be private, and then other parents would miss out on the issues being discussed (after all, my dd1 wil be a teenager one day, and just as I read posts on MN in general thinking "must bear that in mind when my 2 are that age" then i would do the same for SN teen issues)

The SN board is getting so big now that topics are disappearing before I people have a chance to see them.

I think sub-topics like: Toileting, Education, Legal, Financial etc could be useful.

silverfrog sometimes you want to talk to people who are at the same stage in it all, you can't find them on the sn topic as it is sooo busy and the teen topic isn't quite right as dd is not a normal teen
(I have realised I am fighting a loosing battle so give up)

Coppertop, sexuality as well.

Never posted on site stuff before.

2shoes don't give up, my ds (asd) isn't a teen yet, but what you've said is so relevant; parents and teenagers with sn need a forum to be able to discuss things.

don't give up, 2shoes.

I hope my questions haven't discouraged you.

I am not the parent of a teen (I do have 2 stepchildren who are teens though), so who knows how I will feel when dd1 gets to that age?

I was just putting across my pov, that I tend to read all sorts of posts and glean info for now, or later, or just tuck away interesting bits of info.

I can totally see why you would not want to post in the main teens section, just as, in the main, most of us SN parents do not post in the main parenting section.

I was thinking about it when I was on the school run, and I did conclude that obviously people do want a separate section generally, which is why the main boards are split up.

i think I'm probably the odd one out here - seems the idea has a lot of support on the other thread too (the one about helping Amber)

it's true the board is def getting busier, so i can see where it would be easy to miss people too.

Don't give up 2shoes. A SN teen section sounds like a good idea to me. Mine are both still little, but I don't have any real objection to a sub topic.

I wonder how many new posters browse the site that maybe have teenagers with SN but are put off from posting because it is mainly focused around young children. With a sub heading it would be instantly recognisable.

Don't give up, 2shoes. I think people are generally in agreement about the need for sub-sections. A year or two ago I would've been in the "No" camp but the SN board is so big now that I think something is needed to make it easier. I've noticed a few threads now which would get far more replies if the board was divided up a little more.

There must be a few MNers now who have either teenagers or pre-teens and who would benefit from an SN Teens area.

some battles are worth fighting but IMO this one is not, I am lucky I do have oither options, shame as I would like to use mn.
there will be an sn topic imo in a few years when all the sn posters dc's are teens.

I'd be quite interested in a SN teens section- my dd is coming up for nine and I'm starting to think about periods etc....forewarned is forearmed and all that.

I don't think there is all that much even in the non-SN section about teens though, because as you've noticed, it's just a smaller demographic.

It would be good to have a sub-topic IMO, and also for things like Finances etc etc

I find it a little overwhelming to get the whole SN topic blasting at me (from an emotional point of view, as it brings up stuff for me) so I tend to hide it and just have a little look now and again. If there was something I knew was very relevant to me like Teens, I would keep in in Active Convos.

If 2shoes feels we need one, IMO, we should have one, as she knows what she needs and that option should be there. As she says, there are differences between littlies and teens. Also others seem to need it, so should be done.

I would hope that the teens bit would be used for stuff specifically relate to teens and that we wouldn't lose those posters totally though!

I don't think I'd want it divided further though into Education/ health etc, as so often, a post is about overlap of all those issues and just a general rant! I do go on other forums and hate it when people get told, oh, that's mostly about school so should be in 'education', not 'general'.

When people are upset/ stressed, we don't need more restrictions!

Just my opinion.

I could post in teens, but tbh I was put off a while back when I posted in AIBU about a teacher at ds's school(ok I know AIBU what was I thinking) and a poster was very rude about ds, now I was angry but no where near how I would have been if it had been about dd, so i don't post about ds now and am scared to post too much about dd.

If yu posted in teens I bet someone'd suggest yu posted in SN

I have cheated in the past, posted in teens and linked to the thread in sn