I know there has been a distinct lack of posting from me lately about my son and the issues we have been dealing with related to his autism. This is primarily because things at school have not been going well for him. I honestly don’t know if any of the staff from the school read my blog, and I would hate to jeopardize anything that we are still in process on due to offending someone or to give people the wrong impression of how I feel about them based on my venting on a particular day.
I am really curious how other bloggers with special needs children handle this. Do you just let it all out for the sake of release and of letting your readers know how things are going with you? Do you only write about the positive stuff? Do you wait until things are resolved and write about it then?
I think whatever I decide, I have to go forward with the realization that anyone could be reading what I write (duh, like that’s a news flash!) and make sure that I am comfortable with what I am sharing. But I’m still not sure what that will look like.
It has definitely been a frustrating couple of months for us, and while I am relieved that the frustration and stress level hasn’t spilled over too much at home, I am alternately sad and angry about how hard school is for him right now.
So, fellow bloggers and special needs moms, can you tell me if you have grappled with this question and what decision you came to? If you already posted about it, can you point me to your post?
I'm a mom with Asperger's raising an amazing son with autism, which means I'm basically the case manager/advocate/cheerleader/chauffeur. The rest of the time, you can usually find me with my nose in a book!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Have missed you! Whatever you decide, it was good to see you appear in the reader today.
I mostly let it all hang out BUT (and it’s a big but) we are in a great situation school-wise and I have very few complaints. I’ve never blogged about an IEP meeting or fights with my school district, though I have seenLOTS of others that have. I’m very careful what I say, and luckily I haven’t really been tempted.
I’ve heard from other bloggers that they’ve had POSITIVE stuff from their blogs thrown up on their face, e.g.: he/she is doing so well that they don’t need as many minutes, services, etc. I’m thinking that that was an extreme and isolated case though.
I’m far from just blogging about positive stuff..my blog is meant to be funny, but the humor is often times blacker than blacker.
Definitely blog assuming that everyone is watching ….even if they’re not, it’s a good rule to blog by. Sorry that things are so rough…it’s definitely a common theme in special needs blog and it so shouldn’t be that way.
I stick to the harmless humorous stuff. Some of the teachers and aides at my son’s school read, but the stuff I put up is so trivial, all they do is get a chuckle out ouf it. I am careful not to use anyone’s real name without their permission.
Raising a kid on the spectrum is far from all gum drops and unicorns. However, I keep the difficult and distressing things private.
I guess I too am in the not-write-much-about-it camp, when the “it” has implications for external relationships. Though I keep the pseudonyms so I make it not TOO easy for someone who doesn’t know me already to immediately link my writing with my real-name, I’ve been very up-front sharing Elvis Sightings with my daughter’s school & therapy personnel. So I always write with that in mind. Fortunately there haven’t been that many sticky situations to have to keep quiet about.
I know a couple of folks who have separate passworded-blogs to share and discuss the rougher school-and-therapy related stuff with only a few trusted blog-friends, though I don’t have a sense of how well it really works for them.
This is a tough one and I’ve been struggling with it for the past year or so. I realized that I started using my blog more for a creative outlet more than for support and to document our journey, etc. I still go back and forth. I don’t want to violate Daniel’s privacy, but sometimes I wish people were more real. I’ve done it all, I think. I’ve shared, I’ve posted only the good stuff, I’ve posted after things are resolved, I’ve vented and ranted about things, (I’ve stopped giving therapists the link to my blog) and I still don’t know exactly what I’m comfortable with. I was just thinking today that I want to share more…but was thinking of posting a note somewhere with a little disclaimer saying something to the effect that I reserve the right to remove any post at any time. I don’t know… I sympathize with you. I guess I would like to see others be more real because it’s nice to have an honest picture of what others are going through, but NO PRESSURE from me, because I understand not wanting to share.
Sorry, this probably doesn’t help.
<3
I think that so many of “us” struggle with this. I am like you, somethings stay private. I usually just think to myself, how will my son feel 5, 10, 20 years from now if he reads this, or more importantly, other kids he knows read this. My husband is definitely more for the privatizing, but I really like sharing. I don’t do it for any reason other than to give and get support.
I know how you feel. I will be thinking of you as you decide what routes to go.
Very interesting topic trish
my blog has three purposes
1. record my life ( of which Autism is an implict part and less and less explicit )
2 talk about Floortime
3. forgive me this one sounds a little grandiose – help other mums and dads see that life with autism in it can be good too
Somehow I have not blogged much about school
I am just sensitive to it – even though I doubt if any one from school would find the time to read it
Lynne comment where she talks about positve stiuff being interpreted as no – need for services – would def be a concern if we lived in a place where there were loads of services or if R was only marginally ASD – since both are not true its not a concern yet
Lots of posts about privacy and our blogs lately around the blogosphere. My take, I consider (whether or not they know, care or read) that all my family, friends, neighbors, school and case workers read what I write. Not in an egocentric way, but in a way that keeps me true and balanced to what I write. It also keeps me from rushing off to a knee-jerk writing when I’m ticked about something (like what the hubs did or didn’t do) and consider the overall message I want to send to anyone who may or may not be reading.