Love this board!

[AprilSkies]

Just want to say, since I discovered this board in August last year, it helped me enormously! I have name changed several times since to reflect different stages in our situation, so you probably won't recognise me. However, it is so reassuring to be able to chat to people in similar situations. I really would not have the understanding I do, without you guys. Ds is doing well and I have to say much of it is down the confidence and advice this board has given me.

One of the first things I read on here was how you are your child's best advocate. Its really given me the confidence to battle with the many people and situations in our life to get te best for DS.

So, in short, thank you and please keep replying to the many posts on this board, as it means the world to the posters looking for help, advice and sometimes just somewhere to vent.

I love the character of this board, I've never encountered anything but great advice and support. Hope I have been able to offer the same in return.

Yes, I have had a glass of wine, but wanted to thank you all.

Lol at the

Cheers!

To be honest, starlight you are one of the main people who had made my life so much easier so thank you! Hope all is good with you and your baby to be.

It's been a good friend to me, also. Cheers for the !

I am also grateful for this board and all of those that have offered advice, cheers! and [tea] all round!

Bollocks, I meant !

If it wasnt for this board I would have gone insane by now or at least more so than I am

Toasting here with cough mixture nearest I can find with a bit of alchohol in

Does anyone else sort of think in their heads that they actually know everyone in RL? So, you see a OP and think 'oooh, Star will be all over that' or 'I hope Lisa123 sees that one, she knows about that'. Which is a very short step away from having mental images of what everyone looks like.... Which very soon leads to RL direct quotes 'oh my friend Ellen says this, but I should really ask Oodles too'.

Or is that just me ? And the

Thanks April. I think for me, although there is certainly an element of doom on these boards occasionally, is that there is always something you can DO when you feel helpless and hopeless.

Helplessness and hopelessness is very closely linked with developing depression, but if you post about a pickle you've got yourself into that you can't see a way out of, someone always comes on here with something you can DO to give you some empowerment and hope back.

It might not solve the problem, but having something to action that can improve things slightly or increase confidence has probably kept me from deep depression, not to mention being believed.

You guys are far more important to me than anyone I know in RL

I could not have achieved the miracles I've achieved without the support from here.

Although, by god, I could have done without some of the fights :)

LoveFest all round then? I think for many parents of children with additional needs, the internet forums have been a godsend. You are not alone, there are people that 'get' your life without endless explanation, gawping and shock and they understand what achievement really looks like at in a whole range of cases. The level of sharing of knowledge, strategies and expertise is amazing. Plus you can scream out at any time of day or night and there's someone to hear you and respond. Often with Yes, I do think of many on here as friends, even if I'd walk past you in the street without recognition.

yes, it was great to come on here and find that people instantly 'get it'.

I have some wonderful friends in rl, but they always feel as though they have to make things better, by saying things like -'they all get there in the end', 'oh my ds didn't sit/walk/talk until ....', 'are you sure they need to do all these tests' etc etc. they don't realise that all these things don't help they just undermine the way you are feeling and trivialise it. But coming on here has saved my sanity, and so many times has pointed me in the right direction to get the help we need and just got me through the toughest times.

thankyou all of you (and no i haven't been drinking wine at 9 am, but i didn't get much sleep last night!)

Why aren't the Internet forums used more for professionals and policy makers to improve practice though?

Because the professionals know best......

Some of us are in both camps and use whatever we can to improve and educate those around us. We've got a lot of lurkers here who are not parents of sn children themselves, but have an interest. Formal set up rarely work I find, to much control and compulsion and frustration on all sides.

Sorry, 'children with sn'.

What dustinthewind said. And if you work in SN and also have a child with SN I find your expertise in is completely discounted in RL. I cannot have an opinion on my own child though I often give them to strangers that I dont live with or observe daily.
In RL I often find I 'hide' the other bit of me IYKWIM
But, yeah, this internet boards are a great way of getting support..people 'get it'. There is a shorthand of understanding.

I know wanna, I've seen it myself. The 'parent' label is all that is seen and it carries with it huge assumptions about your vulnerability, emotional rationality and bias. Any expertise is dismissed.

Me too OP me too. I feel safe here. (been on and off this board for a while with a few name changes). But here I feel there are people who understand, without my having to explain everything, and without being pityed. It's like I can breathe here and not put on a false front.
It is so refreshing compared to RL.
to all here.

no wine here, just loads of coffee

Yes starlight....one cannot be dispassionate as a parent.
BS.
Am feeling very argumentative today.
I can give an accurate month by month developmental history of my child.
I was looking at it for years and having my fears dismissed before anyone else could see it too.
My expertise was denied or ignored. In one case, I was told that because my experience was in seeing severely disabled kids, I had no experience with normal development and so I was seeing stuff that wasn't there.

Hi OP, I am another fan of this board. Thereis no one in RL that I talk to like I talk on here.

This is always my first stop when I need to know something and I have learned loads about ASD on here.

I am so glad I stumbled upon this board at my lowst time. We had been trying to get a DX for Dd3 for 2.5 years and for the first time I met people who were in the same situation.

You folks have given me the strength to battle on for Dd3 and now she has a Dx, she is in a great school getting some intervention and support for her needs.

This forum has been such a wonderful support for me too since finding out about the problems DS experiences. I've no support network apart from a wonderful DP (who is great friends with my DS) and coming on here has been great as an outlet for frustration, a place to get support when I've felt like I'm falling to pieces and a fantastic place to get useful information to help DS.

More for you all. I've got a lot more achieved since reading all the advice on here than in the years beforehand.
Another one here that gets fed up with reports that contain 'His mother reports that...' We are not given the credibility that we deserve, but would be the first to be blamed if we didn't bring to their attention the issues in the first place!

Agree .... I was lost before I joined this board, now I don't feel alone anymore ..
Hopefully I will be able to contribute too some day.