support communities

Acorn has a lot of medical diagnoses. And for every one of them, I can find at least one or two email lists or message boards or other ways to connect with parents whose kids also have that same diagnosis.

I'm starting to realize, however, that not all of them are a good fit for every family.

A friend of mine on a very natural parenting oriented message board has a little boy with special needs. They've made huge strides in his progress, but she points out that not following the "right" therapies on many of these groups is likely to make you an outcast. Complementary medicine (acupuncture, CST, herbs, dietary changes) are seen by some groups as less than adequate, because you could give a pill or have surgery - even though those things also have huge risks for side effects. And in some cases, she's gotten as good of results as the more allopathic approach can offer, with less drama.

Today I'm leaving a bunch of online groups that no longer serve a purpose for me (if they ever did). It's complicated, but I feel like even getting emails I'm not going to find any useful info in is too much work right now. I've got a sinus infection, I'm pregnant, we're preparing for what is looking to be our most wild and chaotic year ever....and some of this stuff just isn't helping with that, so it's time for it to go.

Support communities are great if you're getting stuff out of them. There are some that have led to what I hope will be life-long friendships. Those ones are staying.