Where can I find Special Ed online communities?

February 23, 2006 8:33 AM

Know of any special-ed-teachers' message boards?

My dear little sister teaches in a special ed school in Chicago, working with severely austistic 6-year-old boys. Yesterday one of them bit her really hard. Where can she find community online who will commiserate and comfort her?

posted by orangemiles to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Torey Hayden, who is a former special ed teacher who has written a number of books about her experiences, has her own web site with a message board. There are sections on there for discussion on teacher tips, autism, and the like. It might not be exactly what you are looking for, but someone there might be able to point you to other resources.
posted by orange swan at 8:54 AM on February 23, 2006

Has she seen Tard Blog? It seems they've expanded to include a message board now.
posted by Brian James at 9:08 AM on February 23, 2006

Google Groups / Usenet?

alt.support.autism

bit.listserv.autism
posted by chuma at 9:44 AM on February 23, 2006

Go to the Council for Exeptional Children website. Their Information Center on Disabilities and Gifted Education is top notch. There is a listing of Email groups from them here. Links to other online resources here.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:03 AM on February 23, 2006

I work peripherally with teachers, and the number of teacher forum websites out there is kind of astounding and most of them show up quite easily on Google. Not to be snarky, but have you just tried "Special Ed teacher forum" in Google?

I didn't sort through all the results, but one of the top links was The National Association of Special Education Teachers Forum. Might be a good place to start.
posted by occhiblu at 10:05 AM on February 23, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, folks. Occhiblu, I hadn't tried Google. Duh. Keep them coming!
posted by orangemiles at 10:38 AM on February 23, 2006

teachers.net/mentors - All the teachers.net forums that I have seen handle exactly this kind of question, commiseration, and practical advice. You don't have to subscribe. You may post pseudonymously and read replies on the web.
posted by gregoreo at 6:02 PM on February 23, 2006