Name of Blog or Site
Different Dream for My Child
Address of Blog or Site
How Long It's Been Online
Since August 2009
Why I Started
The blog is a companion to A Different Dream for My Child: Meditations for Parents of Critically or Chronically Ill Children, which was released by Discovery House Publishers in September 2009. My son was born in 1982 with a life-threatening birth defect that required 7 surgeries & hundreds of procedures before he was 6 & 1 more at age 15. In December of 2008, after years of self-destructive behavior that began in early adolescence, he received treatment for PTSD caused by early medical trauma. Since then, he's been fine. The blog disseminates information about PTSD treatment & other topics discussed in the book.
How I Do It
I usually post 3 times a week. Sometimes I share stories about our family, but since my kids are both independent young adults, more often the blog features helpful online services for parents of special needs kids.
Often I interview people in the special needs community (educators, parents, support service people, therapists, etc.) to increase parental awareness of services and to assure them they are not alone. Sometimes I post updates about the many parents and kids featured in "A Different Dream for My Child." And I often post book and website reviews.
Because I taught school for 25 years and integrated children with special needs kids into my classroom, I also discuss education issues quite frequently. The blog also addresses spiritual needs of parents and children.
Finally, when parents leave comments at my blog, I always respond. If they have a website or blog, I check it out. More often than not, I then ask the parents for permission to feature them in a future blog post. Usually, they agree to do so.
Advice
- Keep posts brief. If you have a lot to say, split the post into several parts and make it a series.
- Add lots of photos. They don't have to all be of your family. Free photos are available at http://sxc.hu/.
- Be kind. Show grace.
- Use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to advertise new posts.
- Write about more than just your family's struggle. Provide information other families can use.
- Respond to all comments.
