Meet Me in the Forum

Have you been in the About.com Parenting Special Needs Forum lately? I mean, really lately? Like, since Saturday? That's when I added some new folders and tucked away some old ones to make the place a little less cluttered and more welcoming. (Time to do that to my living room, come to think of it.)

Chief among the additions is a folder for discussing our Teens and Young Adults -- because I've got two, some of you do too, and it seems as though there are more places to brainstorm about tiny tots than about big-footed body-morphing attitude-sporting big kids. There's also a new folder on Finances and Future Planning, since recent news reports have indicated what a struggle this is for so many of us.

Also new to the line-up is a folder on Schools and Learning, just in time for back-to-school, and Humor and Inspiration, just in time for back-to-school stress.

Sticking around are a trio of folders for your basic foruming needs -- Need Ideas, Need Support, and Need to VENT; First Five Things to Do, a place to get support for a new diagnosis or share your experience; and Harried Parent's Book Club, where you can discuss books reviewed or your own reading picks.

Finally, the General Discussion folder has been renamed "What's On Your Mind?" and is open for any sort of special-needs discussion, from hot topics to great shopping finds to that outrageous thing your mother-in-law said about your kid.

I've even added a few photos to the top of the page, to spruce up the joint and help you get back to good topics here on the full About.com Parenting Special Needs site. Stop by the redesigned forum and take a look around. I'm making a resolution that, once my kids go back to school, I'm going to be a more active forum participant. I hope you will be, too.

Read more: Special Needs News | Site of the Day | Finding a Support Group

_{Photo by Terri Mauro}