Finding the help they need. Parents with children with special needs do not always succeed. It is rather on the web that these parents find their account.
The web brings them together, allows them to feel supported and less alone in their efforts. And above all, they speak with one voice to make themselves heard.
The same year her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD, Magalie Lebrun founded her own business, Les ateliers main dans main. The mission can be summed up in three words: "listen", "respect" and "action", particularly to help parents of children with special needs.
“It can be scary on the web,” says Magalie. Indeed, typing “ADHD” into Google can yield all sorts of results, like miracle cures made from essential oils.
The adventure has already lasted six years for Magalie. “I had my “I failed” phase. I have learned to live with my children's diagnoses. Today, I help other parents cope. It's even like a form of therapy for me,”says the one who also gives distance coaching, since the web makes it possible to overcome physical barriers.
Blogging to… save your life
JuliePhilippon, aka Mamanbooh, has been blogging for seven years now. It all started a bit by chance. A teacher by training, Julie is the mother of two children, Camille, 11, and Félix, 9. His two foams have a long list of diagnoses between them: epilepsy, dyspraxia, dysphasia, mild intellectual disability, Tourette's syndrome and ADHD. “Around me, there were normal children. The people around us mobilize at first, but after a while our resources run out. I started to isolate myself,” she says.
With the blog, she began to simply document her daily life, as if she were sending a personal email. “Looking back, at the end of the day, I was less emotional. »
Some 2000 blog posts later on “her life as a mother-octopus who tries to reconcile, with creativity and humour, work/family/handicaps/diseases”, Julie Philippon published a book, “L es Réseaux social media saved me.”
Speak with one voice
Militancy alone can be exhausting. And unfortunately, some individual actions may have a limited scope. However, the adage “unity is strength” is also very true on the web. Brigitte Dubé and Marie-Josée Aubin, both mothers of two children with special needs, did not know each other personally before meeting on the web: one lives in the Lévis area, while the other resides in Châteauguay.
In the wake of the “I protect my public school” movement, dismayed byrecent news, through education cuts, and through the various calls for help from parents of different children on specialized forums, Brigitte and Marie-Josée wanted to change things. “It was really bad. We had to do something and not just talk about it on the discussion forums,” says Brigitte. This is how it all began for the Coalition of parents of children with special needs (CPEBP). It was in May 2015.
“Without social media, the Coalition would simply not exist. We have a strike force that we would never have had if it had been to reach us all by phone,” underlines Brigitte Dubé.
“The role of the Coalition is to speak up for parents of different children who cannot. We want to speak with one voice, for everyone,” she adds.
The Coalition even managed to get a meeting with Sébastien Proulx, Minister of Education and Families, last July. “We were able to take stock of the situation with him by explaining to him what is wrong and what we can do to guarantee the education of all children in Quebec,” says Brigitte Dubé.
By Marie-Eve Cloutier
To be consulted on Planète F
Live the difference
ADHD? Is it something you did during your pregnancy?
