I am a mild technology geek and early adapter. I often can troubleshoot a computer glitch one or two steps past "just reboot it". And I was "social networking" on Prodigy long before AOL sent you its first mail promo installation CD.
Despite all that, I really and truly didn't get Twitter. See, in 2011, Facebook updates were at an all-time low point (here's what I ate for breakfast; I'm standing in line at the post office; I'm getting a haircut), so the last thing I wanted to do was to expose myself to more inane updates, even more frequently.
Still, I had to know what all the fuss was about - especially when my own mother had 1,000 followers. As luck would have it, I started tooling around on Twitter at the same time the brilliant Jenny Herman (Many Hats Mommy) and Elise Ronan (Raising ASD Kids) conjured up the #youmightbeanautismparentif hashtag phenomena as a birthday gag. Here's the story.
Before you can say, "me too," I was hooked.
The hashtag, while not at its height where we were quipping ourselves ragged 24/7, remains sporadically active and forever connects us. It has, at times, mobilized, supported, infuriated and educated.
I know I'm late with this tribute - the tag is almost a year old now - but I still would bet that anytime an autism parent happens to stumble upon this hashtag for the first time on Twitter, they spend an hour or more searching the hashtag, reading an archive of awesomeness, and finding many new Friends. Not "friends" or "followers," but Friends.
SO, because this hashtag feeds my soul and provides incomparable camaraderie (and because I'm under the delusion that I'm hilarious and poignant today), I am going to archive my #youmightbeanautismparentif brilliance on my blog. See, that's what cool about blogging; I can do that. I've also used my blogging dictatorship rights and just now decided to do it in a separate post RIGHT HERE...because this setup is getting kind of long and I don't want to steal my own thunder.
Meanwhile, here are some links to other's related blog posts (and generally some great blogs you should check out anyway) showcasing and featuring #youmightbeanautismparentif. You can tell just how much I wanted this hash to live on and on and on if you've seen this post: I Made A Feed.
***Oh, and please chime in, because there's nothing more magically supportive and cathartic to those of us who play this game than either hearing or being able to respond: "me too!" in 140 characters or less. Enjoy!
- My list is here: You Might Be An Autism Parent If...
- Where it all began. Many Hats Mommy: Click here.
- The Bobbi Sheahan interview
- Autism Wonderland: Click right here.
- Spectrummy Mummy: And right here.
- Our Adventures With Riley: Oh, here too.
- Raising Asperger's Kids: And another one.
- The Aspie Side of Life: Again, just click.
- Mozart, Picasso & a Princess: Clickity clickity.
- The birth of "All Kids Do That" series on Yeah. Good Times.: You know what to do: Click
- Running for Autism: C___.
- Pooping Red Guy: It's a link right here!
- Unhandicapping the Disabled Life: One more.
- LivinLife123: Last one. Click away.
