Can anyone suggest blogs like these?

[Anonymous]

We are considering adopting a special needs child. I've done my fair share of research but found that reading stories from real families have been the best way for me to decide what's best for mine.

Two blogs I've found and love are:
Urbanfunnyfarm.blogspot.com (doesn't post much anymore, but literally read the entire blog in one night)
and
wronginalltherightways-travcat.blogspot.com (Not much text, but very raw and funny)

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

*
Urbanfunnyfarm.blogspot.com
wronginalltherightways-travcat.blogspot.com

[Anonymous]

My two cents -- I am concerned about mommy blogs in general and mommy blogs about SN kids in particular. I haven't looked at these links but I find them to be an invasion of the children's privacy. It just makes me very uncomfortable to see parents putting their children on display like that, when the children aren't old enough to consent.

What do you mean you are considering adopting a special needs child? Are you actually in the process?

[Anonymous]

Also, are you the same poster who was concerned about a relative's SN child and who said she was considering adopting one herself?

[Anonymous]

"Special Needs" is anything not typical, so there is such a wide range of SN. A child can be considered SN for having a heart murmur which has been fixed. I adopted a non SN child, but he ended up having issues which make him SN now.

But my kid's problems are nothing like the parents who are dealing with behavioral issues. So I feel lucky.
What sort of SN are you considering? There are lots of blogs on Aspergers and Autism.

[Anonymous]

I commend you for thinking about adopting a special needs child.

However, I have mixed feelings about people reading glossy, beautifully photographed online blogs of special needs kids and their siblings, which are certainly fun, and then taking on notions about the lives of special needs families or endorsing special needs adoption based on those blogs.

There are pages and pages of controversy threads on here about Kelle Hampton, for instance, and whether her blog represents the reality of life with a special needs child.

I have yet to see an online blog of special needs kids with a beautifully photographed post about spending hours with your severely constipated child on the toilet; a post about the hours spent trying to teach that child the alphabet; his drool soaked stacks of bibs and the multiple changes of clothing a day; a post about the hours long IEP meeting and its brain-numbing boredom; the blogger and her husband fighting about who is going to stay home from work because the child is sick yet again.

I love and adore my special needs child and have a rock solid commitment to my marriage. But I am not about to blow sunshine up peoples asses with some candyland blog about my special needs child.

If you want to adopt a special needs child, don't do it because some blog makes it look like a Disney movie.

[Anonymous]

These are a couple blogs that are very loving, but also talk about fears and the soul-sucking bureaucracy that you get to enjoy as a parent with a kid who has SN.


http://ourstrokeofluck.net/

http://simonlev.blogspot.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: These are a couple blogs that are very loving, but also talk about fears and the soul-sucking bureaucracy that you get to enjoy as a parent with a kid who has SN.


http://ourstrokeofluck.net/

http://simonlev.blogspot.com/

I read the second one and its wonderful (and very realistic)..

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am glad to see everyone isn't steering you toward Kelle Hampton. While I love her gorgeous photoss and I do think we all have to be positive, I think she had a need to make everything look like sunshine, unicorns and rainbows all the time. The best blogs strike a balance between being optimistic and enjoying the little things, but also being honest about the struggles, hurdles and heart-aches.

What type of SN? That would help with suggesting blogs.

[Anonymous]

Finding Magnolia is a great one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two cents -- I am concerned about mommy blogs in general and mommy blogs about SN kids in particular. I haven't looked at these links but I find them to be an invasion of the children's privacy. It just makes me very uncomfortable to see parents putting their children on display like that, when the children aren't old enough to consent.

What do you mean you are considering adopting a special needs child? Are you actually in the process?

OP here.

I do agree, I'm a very private person and my life nor my children's life will go on display.

That being said, I really enjoy the blogs. No, not in the process, just thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Special Needs" is anything not typical, so there is such a wide range of SN. A child can be considered SN for having a heart murmur which has been fixed. I adopted a non SN child, but he ended up having issues which make him SN now.

But my kid's problems are nothing like the parents who are dealing with behavioral issues. So I feel lucky.
What sort of SN are you considering? There are lots of blogs on Aspergers and Autism.

I'm actually really considering adopting through Reese's Rainbow. These children tend to have major disabilities, or HIV+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I commend you for thinking about adopting a special needs child.

However, I have mixed feelings about people reading glossy, beautifully photographed online blogs of special needs kids and their siblings, which are certainly fun, and then taking on notions about the lives of special needs families or endorsing special needs adoption based on those blogs.

There are pages and pages of controversy threads on here about Kelle Hampton, for instance, and whether her blog represents the reality of life with a special needs child.

I have yet to see an online blog of special needs kids with a beautifully photographed post about spending hours with your severely constipated child on the toilet; a post about the hours spent trying to teach that child the alphabet; his drool soaked stacks of bibs and the multiple changes of clothing a day; a post about the hours long IEP meeting and its brain-numbing boredom; the blogger and her husband fighting about who is going to stay home from work because the child is sick yet again.

I love and adore my special needs child and have a rock solid commitment to my marriage. But I am not about to blow sunshine up peoples asses with some candyland blog about my special needs child.

If you want to adopt a special needs child, don't do it because some blog makes it look like a Disney movie.

I definitely agree. By no means do I think any child is going to be sunshine and rainbows all the time. I just have felt very strongly about adopting for a long time, I do not having any biological children and honestly never considered it. I've always wanted to adopt.

I suggest reading the two blogs I posted in my OP, they are often very raw.

[Anonymous]

I read Beck Family Blessings: http://beckfamilyblessings.blogspot.com/ because the writer's daughter, Sadie, had some of the same diagnoses as my son. The impact on Sadie has been more severe than what it has been for my son though. The writer is quite religious, which I am not, but she is realistic about what her experience has been. When I haven't read the blog for awhile I will sometimes realize "Oh, I haven't checked in on the Becks for awhile!" and go read a bunch of posts at once. Strange how reading a stranger's blog can make you feel that way.