Many support groups are coming on line and some of these groups have lots to offer you and me in the way of support. Many of the sites offer viewers the opportunity to become involved in discussion forums in a variety of ways. Not only that, but they provide you with an online support community. This week we will look at the different ways of participating in these forums using email.
Speaking from personal experience, I can cheerfully say that I have found more answers to my questions by email contacts and chat groups than I ever have from web pages. Why? The answer is simple. You can only find on a web page what someone has put up there in the first place. The knowledge may be out there, but unless someone has gone to the trouble of publishing it, then it won't be there for you to find. As my friend and mentor, Jerry Jeffress, told me once, "The real information is in people's heads." By engaging in discussion, you have access to that information.
Listserves (electronic mailing lists) are a great way to start communicating. You can find listserves to cover any topic you can think of and then some. In the area of special education there are general discussion lists or you can join up with a more specific group focussing on a particular condition, medication, profession or even law. Most of these groups will have their past email archived somewhere on the web so that you can read it before you join the group to get an idea of what the group covers. Also handy are FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) pages usually found on the web that will answer basic information on which ever topic is being discussed. Some listserves have fairly heavy traffic so your email box quickly fills up. To cope with this, some listserves offer a digest that will arrive once a week or so with all of the email from the week.
So where can you join up? Disability Listserves is a page maintained by The Down Syndrome Association. It lists many listserves, some with a specific focus such as a particular syndrome, and some with a more general focus. Another comprehensive list of listserves can be found at Special Needs Listserves by the Comeunity website. For some lists that focus more on educational issues, try the Special Needs Education Network Listserves page hosted, as the name suggests, by the Special Needs Education Network. This page has several lists for parents, teachers, ESL, and new teachers. Included on each of the sites mentioned are instructions on subscribing to the listserves.
One important thing to remember after you subscribe is to keep the 'unsubscribe' instructions handy so that you can remove yourself from the list when necessary. Another tip is to unsubscribe when you are going to be unable to access your email for awhile, otherwise your mailbox will soon clog up.
Bulletin boards combine email with the world wide web. They allow you to post to a forum and read other forums online. The advantages of bulletin boards over listserves is that your mail box doesn't get so full. You don't have to look at the messages that don't interest you. Still, if you are paying for your access at an hourly rate, remember that it is sometimes more economical to download messages onto your hard drive and read them off line.
The Muscular Dystophies Bulletin Board is hosted by UC Davis. The people posting to this board are people who have various forms of muscular dystrophy and they share treatments, stories and resources. By pooling their collective knowledge they can help one another. A similar site for the deaf or hard of hearing is #deaf chat Messages board. Often you get people posting to these types of boards seeking information about specific conditions, or seeking penpals. Parents and teachers alike will be interested in the Special Child Magazine bulletin boards. Topics include a For Sale list, therapy discussions, and a parent-to-parent board.
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of web based bulletin boards. If the sites mentioned above are not suitable for you, try looking at support organisations related to your interest area. Check out some of the support organisations mentioned my article,Support Organisations Online to see their online forums.
On a final note, I have to mention what shouldn't have to be mentioned. When communicating online you need to remember your online manners. For new Internet users, and even some of the more experienced users, it might be an idea to peruse Virginia Shea's online book of Netiquette for a complete guide to proper Internet manners. Also available on the site is a brief guide to the core rules.
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