Starting a Parent Group

A friend of mine from high school has a very inspiring Facebook page.  She’s become an ambassador for a business called Noonday that helps create jobs for woman who’ve been subject to the sex trade.  She’s also adopted two kids herself.  I was talking with her about her struggles.  She sent me a podcast on autism and the life of one particular family.  The daughter on the podcast is much higher on the spectrum than Payton; but I could relate to so much of what the parent was saying.  She had started horseback riding and other things for kids with special needs.  This had me thinking; and so I delved even deeper into the rabbit hole.  What I found was that Iowa was big time lacking in resources for kids with autism.  The podcast rated states by resources available for kids with autism.  Iowa came in at a sad #46.  What the heck!  This is WRONG!  I use to wonder why parents of my students hadn’t done more for their kids.  Well how stupid of me.  There wasn’t much they could do… at least not in Iowa; and forget about the paper work.  It would overwhelm anyone.  Finding out about Iowa’s terrible ranking made me want to do more.  I found that Axis ABA were one of 2 places in Iowa that offer behavioral services to Autistic kids.  Ridiculous!  I found that one parent drives 45 minutes one way to get their child services.  This made me even more motivated.  I’m going to start something.  I want to make a difference for these children and their families.

I wanted to start a parent group.  I wanted parents like myself to have a place to meet and talk things out.  A place they could get resources; or just share with people who understand.  I looked on Autism Society of Iowa’s website and the only group in the metro area met from 9 am to 11 am during the school year.  What the blank gang?  Do other parents not have to work?  I know I do.  Other places around the state meet at reasonable times; but are too far for me to attend.  I called Autism Speaks to ask about groups.  Finally, I got a response, and the lady in charge of Iowa informed me that they had tried but hardly anyone ever showed up.  I wanted so badly to say to her, “you can’t just give up!”  Even a couple people are better than nothing.  I was so disappointed and now even more frustrated.  I started emailing some people I’d found online from their websites and Facebook pages.  One lady was a great help!  She said her therapist got her started, and not to be discouraged if no one shows up; or if it’s a small turn out.  Her emphasis was that it takes time.  I thanked her.  In my mind I was already sure that even a 2 parent group was better than no group at all.  Payton’s ABA therapist told me that she’d talk to the owner and get aback to us.  She told me that the owner had been wanting to start one these groups for about a year now.  Within a week the owner and myself were talking about all the things we could offer this group.  We decided the second Tuesday of every month we’d meet.  She even let us use Axis’s Conference Room.  Awesome!

Our first parent meeting was coming up.  The owner and I were meeting to plan it out; and she brought on another parent also using Axis.  She turned out to be very resourceful; and our kids are also on about the same level of the spectrum.  It was nice to hear about her journey.  Our first meeting was great!  We had 2 other sets of parents and a set of grandparents.  We all shared our struggles and insight on strategies to try out.  The following week we met to talk about how we thought things went and to brainstorm ideas for future meetings.  Our initial thought was to bring in speakers and resources; but after our first meeting we decided everyone was at different spots in their journey so just being together and talking might benefit the group more.  We decided we could do small breakout groups if need be.  After our meeting, my mind was spinning.  I thought we needed a website where other parents could find us and get info on the group.  Everyone thought this was a good idea; so now I’m in the process of working on a website.  Of course, while planning out the website I thought, what about a blog?  I thought about blogging in the past about my teaching experience and just never got around to it.  I asked my husband about doing a blog.  He said it couldn’t hurt to try; and that he’d help me.  We don’t’ have a lot of hobbies to do together; so now here we are blogging together.