A SOFT PLACE TO FALL

Welcome to this site. I hope that by publishing Living and Learning Outside the Box and adding this website, that a safe, non-judgemental space is created where parents of children who have significant learning disabilities or are on the autism spectrum can find information and support. Whether you are seeking answers or sharing information with other parents, I believe that together we can create a valuable resource for others facing this struggle. I encourage you to participate on the Forum of this site.

As I describe in Living and Learning Outside the Box, I learned from personal experience when the parents at Mastery Academy formed a support group, that much can be gained from hanging out and communicating with other parents of children with difficulties. It was a very rich and organic environment for us all, and many of the gains our children made were due to information that was shared within the group. We met formally on a monthly basis, but there were also many phone calls, emails and conversations in the school parking lot. We shared information about new programs and therapies, nutrition and supplements, tips on behavioural issues, seminars and so forth. When such information led to success for our children we would share the positive result with the whole group who would genuinely appreciate what a big deal such a positive outcome was because they had also celebrated the little victories over large obstacles for their own children. And when the going was rough and our efforts seemed unsuccessful or our child even seemed to regress, we were there for each other also. Anguish, frustration, anxiety, panic and distress due to our child's difficulties were replaced by a shared understanding of our trials and tribulations and our children's accomplishments. At some point every single one of us had the experience of being misunderstood or disregarded by someone who had never experienced what it was like to have a child who missed developmental milestones or struggled to learn how to learn. It might have been a misguided comment from another parent or a teacher, a family member or even a doctor who simply didn't have any knowledge of how to relate to our life experience. We all knew the pain and outrage - the insult added to the injury of our daily struggle. Our group was the salve for our wounds.

To this day, about fifteen years later, a group of us still gather socially to share and celebrate the hard-won progress that our children who are now adults have made. But I never forget the sense I had of this group of brave mothers being my soft place to fall. May this book, combined with the website, be a soft place to fall for any parent in need who finds it. There are no accidents. Let's look about and be of service to those we find around us.