You may not be aware of this, but Special Needs Neighborhood.com has quietly but powerfully been expanding beyond our initial Austin, Texas, geographic launch. We are now up and running in 12 cities in Texas, and in cities where parents have requested that we provide them a city page, like Nashua (NH), Charlotte (NC), and New Orleans (LA).
If you want to see all of the cities where we have a “Neighborhood”, just go to the left hand navigation bar, and below that, there is a city change bar. Select a city from the drop-down menu, then press “CHANGE” to go to that city’s page. Each city has their own “Ask the Community” feature, and many cities, like San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Tyler and even New York, NY have unanswered questions waiting to find an online answer.
By using the “Ask the Community” feature, you could provide encouragement to a parent in Lubbock, you could help a mom in Maine (who wrote her question on the Tyler, TX page), or help a parent in San Antonio find a good dentist that can handle a child with Cerebral Palsy. By participating in “Ask the Community” discussions, you could learn something new, share your experiences or provide an answer to parents and caregivers all across the country.
If you have not used the “Ask the Community” feature before…I invite you to check it out and even to visit other city’s “Ask the Community” discussion boards. Here’s why…our neighbors need our help and advice no matter where they live…sometimes, just a kind word to a parent could brighten their day and help them face their challenges again with renewed energy.
We have much to be thankful for at Special Needs Neighborhood.com this year…
We are thankful for parents , caregivers and providers that have shared their resources, we are thankful for the readers that comment on the blog and the community Q&A section, we are thankful that people add events that all of us can attend and we are thankful for our many users, who make the site lively and vibrant through their participation.
Most of all we are thankful to share an online community with you…other parents of children with special needs.
Wishing you a most Happy Thanksgiving this year.
P.S. Did anyone see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade this morning? I saw a “Special Needs Color Guard” on the screen but didn’t get the story on who they were and where they were from…
On a sunny day in early November, the Autism Society of Greater Austin held its fall picnic at a wonderful location and resource for organizations and families that are impacted by special needs–Candlelight Ranch. The 100-acre ranch at Lake Travis has many offerings for special needs groups when they rent the facilities–there are therapeutic nature programs for kids with special needs and their families, fishing, horses and a zip line.
Candlelight Ranch has hosted groups as diverse as Easter Seals, Boys and Girls Club, the Austin Children’s Shelter, ARC of the Capital Area and many others. Candlelight Ranch was created to serve families with children with a special need from ages 6 - 18 years of age.
At Candlelight Ranch, the term “special needs” encompasses children who are:
• Chronically Ill
• Terminally Ill
• Physically Disabled
• Low Income
• High Risk
• Enrolled in Special Education classes
When you rent the facilities (the website says they are available March - October, but our group was there in early November) you can organize what kind of activities you’d like your group to do….our organization chose to try the zip line across a canyon. Most impressive, their zip line is accessible for people in wheelchairs. Past the picnicking area, there is a treehouse for kids to play in and enjoy the view. It is also the only universally accessible treehouse in Texas.
During the Autism Society’s picnic, every person that used the zip line was ambulatory, but not everyone used verbal language. The instructors were trained and ready to help children and adults with varying fears, motor planning issues and communications disorders. It was a warm and loving environment for children with differences to get a chance to “fly.”
To learn more about Candelight Ranch, visit their website, www.candlelightranch.org. During the holidays, they are selling a Christmas CD on their website homepage to raise money to offset costs of maintaining the facility.
Today’s Austin American-Statesman features an article written by technology reporter Omar Gallaga about Special Needs Neighborhood.com.
We are always grateful when local media help us to get the word out to people …thank you Omar and Statesman! And our inbox this morning has shown that people are reading the article and learning about ways they can make finding resources for their kids with special needs a little easier through networking with other parents.
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Reddit]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://www.specialneedsneighborhood.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)