Facebook is more than just a website to go to when you want to kill some time playing simple video games. The social nature of the website is what allows it to be a great resource for parents who are seeking answers about how to help their children who have an autism spectrum disorder.
It is normal for parents to have some questions about how to handle certain parenting situations. Parenting is a difficult job that has quite a bit of “grey area” in it. At what age should a mom stop breastfeeding a child? How old should a teenager be before he or she starts dating? These questions do not have “set in stone” answers, and opinions about the “best” answers to those questions will vary.
This is why there are so many websites and magazines that are dedicated to the subject of parenting. The majority of those resources, though, rarely mention how to parent children with special needs. This leaves parents of kids with autism on their own when it comes to finding parenting resources.
Are you on Facebook? There are lots of great resources on Facebook for parents of kids who have autism. You can either “like” or “join” the page or group in order to be able to post your questions there.
Your question could be answered by other parents who also have children with an autism spectrum disorder. A conversation could evolve on that subject, which may be added to by other parents. This is a great way to get some parenting tips that are appropriate to use with kids who have autism.
Here are a few of the resources on Facebook that you should check out:
The Autism Society of America is “the leading voice and resource of the entire autism community in education, advocacy, services, research and support.” Their wall has tons of links to uplifting and interesting articles about parenting a child with autism.
AutismSpeaks is “the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization”. They are dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism. They also are interested in raising awareness of autism spectrum disorders. This is a great resource to use if you want to keep up with what is happening with legislation that directly affects people who have autism, and families that have a member who has autism.
Stress, Anxiety and Depression in the Mothers of Children with Autism is a non-profit research group. They would like parents of children who have autism to participate in a research study. The purpose of the study is to better understand the factors associated with stress, anxiety, and depression in the parents of kids who have autism.
Image by Marco Paköeningrat on Flickr