“Friday’s Fab 'Autism' Four”

One thing I have noticed is how addicting and time-consuming social media can be. Of course that has nothing to do with my personality.  ;P  Maybe it's my age??  Nah. Whatever the reason I have enjoyed connecting with virtual strangers...some who I would even like to meet someday. 

It has been a while since my last “Friday’s Fab Five” post. Like most people I tend to gravitate towards those that I consider to be like-minded. Hopefully that last sentence won’t offend any of my targets for this week’s instalment of “Friday’s Fab Four”. This week I am going back to the roots of my blog… autism and am “showcasing” 4 blogs written by parents of autistic kids/young adults. Kinda sounds like an episode of the Price is Right doesn’t it?  So without further ado... 
“Bloggers…Come On Down!!!”  *Could you not hear Johnny Olson (the announcer’s) voice in your mind just then?  

My first blogger is Cari from "Bubble Gum On My Shoe". She was one of the first bloggers/tweeters that I followed. I immediately liked her sense of humour, "write-it-like-it-is" style all wrapped up with a certain amount of sass.  :)

Last month Cari wrote a post “I Support Jenny McCarthy: Enter Blog Suicide”. I admired her honesty, her strength to stand up for her beliefs and even more her open mind. 

Here is a line from her post that jumped out at me and why I keep reading her blog:
“I have more respect for those who are bold and follow their own educated path; even if our viewpoints differ.”   

My next blogger is Christina from "Riding the Crazy Train: Diary of a Delirious Mom”. Christina just started blogging in February 2012 and has already been published over at “Scary Mommy” by Jill Smokler author of the book “Confessions of a Scary Mom”. Woooo-hoooo!!! Go Christina!!!  When I “discovered” *wink* her blog about a month ago it felt like we had so much in common. Ummmm…OK so she has twin 7-year old girls and R’s an 18 year old male teenager. Work with me here. Christina uses, in my mind, similar “techniques” with her girls as we did with Riley.

Read her posts “Unexpected” and “Understood Rules” for a glimpse into her life with her girls.

Next up is Jill from “Yeah. Good Times.” The only way I can describe Jill is “what you read is what you get”.  FYI Jill…that is meant as a compliment. :D  Not only does she do her own graphics, she is brutally honest and does not mince words. Her tweets keep me glued to twitter (uhhhh that is NOT a good thing BTW). She is also very, very clever in her writing as you can read here in her post “Field journal”.

My final blogger is “Elise” from “Raising Asperger’s Kids”. This is not the first time I have mentioned Elise. I have found trying to connect with parents of young adults with autism with whom you share similar goals and parenting styles has not been easy. Elise is the mother of 2 young men on the spectrum. Our stories are different yet I have found when I read her blog I am constantly nodding in agreement. If you are just starting out, I would recommend reading these two posts by Elise, “Raising Your Child – Only Your Opinion Counts” and “The Politics of Autism – This is a Safe Blog”.

Whether you know nothing about autism, know a little about autism, know a lot about autism or are just an autism wannabe *wink*, I highly recommend any of the above blogs for insight, experience and most of all…humour!  Check them out when you have a chance. 

"Help control the pet population—have your pets spayed or neutered."  
(Sign-off from the Price is Right show - sorry just couldn't help myself.)