Cyberangels ^Å^ Support

When families have special needs, the isolation is magnified. Adoptive parents need to be able to talk to other adoptive families. Single parents (no longer a minority in our society, but carrying a special burden nonetheless) need to be able to share with other single parents. Grandparents who find themselves as primary caregivers to their grandchildren need someone to talk with in order to get them up-to-speed on parenting (and grandparenting) this generation. And parents with exceptional children (disabled and seriously ill) need to be able to reach others with similar children and needs. Stepfamilies and foster families have special needs, too, and need to share them with others who have been through these things already. Parents are a great resource for each other, but until now, finding other similarly situated parents has been very hard.

They can all find help and support online, 24/7 (as my kids say, which means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). It's the new backyard fence and community center, and families with special needs are finding more support online than anywhere else. And, they don't need to leave their home to get it.

Most of the large parenting sites have special areas for special parenting needs. Some of them standout, though. Family.com, the family site run by The Disney Company, has put a lot of time and money into developing a parenting page that provides resources for every special parenting group and it was clearly money well spent. ParentsPlace.com hosts a lot of sites for many special interest parenting groups. So do Parent Soup and Parent Time.

It's not only the parents who can share with others like them using the Internet, either. Kids can find resources designed just for them, too. Remember, in cyberspace we have no skin color, wear no special costumes, don't need to be able to walk or run, or see, or hear . . . it allows us to be what we are under all these physical imperfections—just plain people.