Connections

There are always so many stories about how social media has created a more disconnected society.  People opting to have connections through their phones and computers…rather than with living human beings sitting right next to them.  While I have definitely been guilty of that and regularly counsel my daughter about looking up from her phone and connecting with the living world around her, I think for the autism community (and other special communities), the evolution of social networking has been huge!

It’s been 9 years since Eric was diagnosed….and those early years were rough.   I could barely speak about it without crying.  At the time, he was diagnosed, I had only known 2 other people who had children on the spectrum.   I wasn’t the type of person to go to a parent support group; life was crazy enough without trying to find time to go, and I wasn’t ready to be “part of that team.”   

And then in January of 2012, my husband (Mr. Bacon) was inspired by Autism Daddy to put together a list of “12 Things I let my son do that parents of typical 7 year-olds would never allow”… and it launched into the creation of his Bacon and Juice Boxes blog page. 

Little did we know that this would lead our family toward a community of people that would celebrate with us, cry with us, share with us and laugh with us!  As he gained more readers, there were so many #metoo moments!   Families that didn’t bat an eye when you told them your son was in the backyard on trampoline with flannel pajamas (in July) and a swim cap on!  Families that, just like us, wanted to feel less alone.  I have become friends with so many of these people and feel like we just ‘get’ each other…..

Early on, I remember reading Diary of a Mom and so very much relating to the dynamic between siblings. Our kids are pretty close in age, so it really hit home.   It warmed my heart to see this family talking and sharing about so many of the wonderful ‘small’ everyday moments and successes that autism had brought into their lives.  And just like “Katie” is protective and adorable with “Brooke”….. my Anna is absolutely “fantasmically amazing” with Eric.  —-ps I still wonder if she calls her kids by the wrong names at home! (if you don’t follow her page, she does not use their real names…. )

As the years passed, Mr. Bacon had created many more connections across the blogging community… he could probably write 10 pages about the blogging “underworld.”  And that could be an entirely separate post!

This is about how I have seen this blogging community become a part of our family and inspire us, connect us….and mostly give us hope.

I think it’s super cool that we knew Mama Fry before she “got famous!”….. our kids went to the same therapy center for speech, OT and feeding therapy (Yes, the one with the magical feeding therapist)….  And it’s even cooler now that both our families are trying to spread awareness through simple life moments and letting our friends and families see what “everyday autism” is…in an effort to make our kids fit in and be accepted.  Autism with the side of fries is a great place to get advice from others families, vent, and celebrate!  Her kiddo and Eric were born 2 days apart and seriously are like twins separate at birth!   I know she always is there to lend me an ear and we have had our own secret venting & celebrating sessions that I cherish 🙂 

As we evolve in our journey over the years, so does the inspiration and information I seek out – and I’m sure I’m not alone. We look for things that help us to relate to the ‘here and now’ but also try to get a crystal ball to see into the future.  One of the pages I love reading is “The AWEnesty of Autism”….her son is a few years older than Eric – and so I look to that page for a hopeful glimpse into the future.   Seeing the successes her son has accomplished and how he has learned to advocate for himself, I’ve cried many times reading this page. 

And one of my favorite success stories about how social networking has created priceless connections for our family include how Mr. Bacon, through all of the Bacon and Juice Boxes readers, learned that there really needed to be more done to help improve knowledge, exposure and communications between the police and special needs community.   As he began locally to create face-to-face training sessions for our community, more opportunities popped up…. there are so many to list, but I will try to highlight a few of the highlights below:

—-partnering with ALEC to create and deliver in-person training to first responders

—-organizing and leading an Autism and Law Enforcement roundtable that included about 10 local Chief’s of police and other law enforcement representatives as well as blogging and special needs community members that had 80% of the audience in tears during the powerful discussions that took place

—-being a presenter at the Autism NJ conference this year on Empowering Families

—-creating and conducting webinars through his page and offering help to any family that contacts him wanting advice on how to reach out to their police department

—-being invited to deliver that same webinar live in conjunction with National Autism Association

— having Ink4Autism suggest to Chris Ulmer from Special Books for Special Kids to reach out to Mr. Bacon to partner in creating awareness about this topic through a video that reached over 1 million views.

So….. to anyone who says that Social Media is making people feel more lonely and less connected; I will politely disagree!   A big thank you to everyone who is part of this community and helping to create these connections every day!  As I said earlier, all of you have become a part of our family and inspire us, connect us….and give us hope.

–Mrs. B.