MyAutismTeam Blog

Today we added several new features to MyAutismTeam, most notably the ability to add other parents to your team and follow their updates! We created this feature so that parents could follow the updates of specific parents they wanted to stay most connected to. By creating both parents and provider teams, you can follow updates more easily. Don’t worry, you can still stay tuned into what the whole community is posting, only now, when you create teams, you can filter by your team’s updates.  Below is a breakdown of these new features, plus a few past features, and how they work.

Add parents to your team

Wherever you see the add to team button, you can add someone to your team.

This button is displayed on all parents profile pages, as well on the browse parents tab. If you want to add a provider to your team, you can visit the find providers tab and search for someone to add.

When you add a parent to your team, they will display alphabetically on your team page. You will see two tabs here. One that takes you to the providers you have added to your team, and the other for the parents. You will also have a view for recommended parents near you.

So, now that you have parents on your team, you’ll want to follow their updates! To do this, you can either select ‘view my team activity’ just above your parent team members, or you can visit the activity feed and filter by All Activity or My Team Activity. This is located just above the most recent update:

Add Grandparent as a role

We had many grandparents write to us asking if we could add their role to the sign up process.  This was just added so if you would like to change your role, please log in and go to ‘My Story’. Here you will be able to change the role you signed up with.

Q&A

This feature was released about 4 weeks ago, but we never wrote about how it works!

This section was built to allow parents a forum to ask and answer questions of and from the community. Just visit the questions tab on the site, and you can search all available questions, ask your own, browse and answer.

You’ll see a featured question displaying throughout the site, so have fun and start answering some questions or ask one of your own!

As always, please send us any feedback that you might have about these new features or the site in general.

Thanks!

Andrew

Facebook-Meets-Yelp Network from MyHealthTeams Surges Past 12,500 Members,

Unveils Partnership with Autism Speaks

SAN FRANCISCO – Dec. 6, 2011 – MyHealthTeams today announced the launch of MyAutismTeam, its flagship social network for parents of children on the autism spectrum. MyAutismTeam is the first social network specifically for parents of children with autism, making it easy to connect with others who have had similar experiences. The network is a Facebook-meets-Yelp style place for parents to share recommendations of local providers, openly discuss issues, share tips, and gain access to local services that they may not have otherwise discovered on their own. Since the summer, the site has rapidly grown from 30 to over 12,500 members, underlying the growing need of parents seeking support and an easy way to find the team of providers that best meets the needs of their children.  MyAutismTeam today also officially unveiled an ongoing partnership with the world’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, Autism Speaks.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the fastest growing developmental disabilities today.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects as many as 1 in every 110 children in the United States. ASD affects an estimated 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide. Yet many parents still struggle to find the resources and services their children need. MyAutismTeam connects community members with support and personal recommendations from other parents in their local area – a resource lacking in today’s world of social networks.

“Parents of kids with autism constantly worry whether they are doing enough, or are doing the right things to help their children thrive,” explains Eric Peacock, CEO and founder of MyAutismTeam.  “The one thing we’ve learned from parents is that it can take years to build the right team to help your child. We focus on making it easy for parents to learn from others who have been in their shoes, so they don’t have to start from scratch when looking for providers that are highly recommended.”

On the MyAutismTeam site, parents create their own “team” by sharing providers who help them care for their child. The typical team consists of more than just autism doctors and specialists –they include restaurants, schools, piano teachers, babysitters and more. Parents can then communicate and post status updates, generating conversation threads around daily activities like dentist or doctor’s visits, and the not-so-routine like swimming or taekwondo classes. Members can also post on each other’s walls and use the site’s searchable database to find autism-friendly providers near them. For each provider or business on a team, the site lists contact information, and recommendations to make selecting a provider easy.

The largest autism advocacy organization, Autism Speaks, recognized the value of MyAutismTeam before it was built and has established a partnership to provide feedback on the site based on their years of engagement in the autism community. Autism Speaks helped seed MyAutismTeam’s database of local autism providers with data from its own family resource database. Parents on the site can also add providers they use that may not already be listed directly to MyAutismTeam. Today, MyAutismTeam has a directory of over 30,000 autism providers.

“Parents often say they have learned so much from other parents who have already experienced the joys and challenges that accompany life with a child with autism,” explains Lisa Goring, Autism Speaks vice president of Family Services. “Providing access to local information and resources is an important part of the mission at Autism Speaks.  Partnering with MyAutismTeam is one more way we can help empower families with reliable information they can use right now.”

“Someone in the community will have faced the challenges you are facing today and can recommend a great provider, or share tips on what worked for them,” explains Sharon Esch of Albuquerque, who is mother of a 5-year-old boy with Asperger’s.  “The great thing about MyAutismTeam is that you find you’re not alone.”

To build own your team, visit http://www.myautismteam.com

About MyHealthTeams

MyHealthTeams is a San Francisco-based company building deeply engaging social networks for people facing chronic health conditions in the U.S. Combining the social elements of a Facebook with the hyper-local recommendations of a Yelp, MyHealthTeams makes it easy for consumers to easily find the best local providers and businesses that can help them and quickly connect with a community of other people who understand what they face daily because they have been in their shoes.  MyHealthTeams’ flagship site, MyAutismTeam, launched in December 2011 with over 12,500 beta members.  To learn more visit http://www.myhealthteams.com, or build your team at http://www.myautismteam.com.

Over 700 parents of teenagers with Asperger’s Disorder have registered on MyAutismTeam.com – a site where parents of children on the autism spectrum connect, share recommendations of local providers, and share tips with each other.  That’s about 20% of all parents on the site.   These parents have spent years building up their “autism teams” – all of the providers needed to help their children develop and thrive.  They have endured a lot of “trial and error” to find what therapies (and which providers) work best for their teens.  We looked at all the parents of children with Asperger’s Disorder on MyAutismTeam (over parents of aspie kids of all ages), narrowed it down to those with teens on the spectrum (almost 800 parents), and read through their stories and teams.   Summarized below are five of the more common, and five more unique, types of providers on these parents’ teams.

Parents of Aspie Teens on MyAutismTeam

Five Common Team Members for Teens with Asperger’s

5.    Pediatrician-Every child needs one, but finding one with some understanding of autism and sensitivity to the needs of a child on the spectrum is important.   Autism was not nearly as recognized 10 years ago (when many of these parents were first seeking answers) as it is now, so some parents have had to “break in” their pediatricians over the years – sticking to their guns and insisting on a referral for a diagnosis when the pediatrician has told them something like, “Speech delays are normal for a boy of his age”.   You may not find a pediatrician with formal training in autism, but it’s helpful to find those that regularly see kids on the spectrum.   If you need help, there are over 670 pediatricians marked “Autism-Yes” on MyAutismTeam (meaning another parent or our partner, Autism Speaks, has indicated that the pediatrician is experienced working with children on the spectrum.)   If you can recommend a fabulous pediatrician, please find them on MyAutismTeam and add them to your team.   A word from you can save another parent months of “trial and error.”
4.     Psychiatrist / Psychologist-For initial and ongoing evaluations that not only help guide the types of therapies you pursue for your child, but also help in securing necessary services from schools and insurance companies.  A psychiatrist has a medical degree and can prescribe medications.  A psychologist has a doctoral-level degree in psychology.  (Note: Many parents report seeing a Neurologist as well.)
3.    Dentists-It’s hard enough to bring a neurotypical child to the dentist every six months, but to a child with Asperger’s and sensory sensitivity, a trip to the dentist can be daunting (even for a teen).  That’s probably why so many parents list a dentist as part of their Autism Teams.    Finding a dentist that is sensitive to those needs and skilled at working around them is a big deal.   Some parents seek out dentists that put their patients under anesthesia to make the process go more smoothly.  Check out Autism Speak’s Dental Tool Kit for more tips on making visits to the dentist office less stressful and more productive.
2.    Early Intervention Therapists-When asked “What therapies worked best for your child” more parents respond that ABA, occupational, social integration and speech therapy were the most effective in helping their children make progress.    They seek these therapies out through their IEPs at school, privately if they can afford them, and through other local resources where they exist.  One of the most common challenges parents discuss on the site is helping their teens build social skills and relationships with other kids their age.   BethComptonMathie of Morristown, Tennessee explains, “My son used to have friends but the older he gets, the harder it gets. [He] is focused on video games.”  She has tried social classes over the summer and her son now works with a psychologist who visits the school each week from the same summer program.  Other parents have reported that occupational therapists have vastly improved their child’s handwriting.
1.     Respite Care-Every parent needs a break of some sort.  A time to run an errand , do something for themselves, or just recuperate.  Many parents list the local chapters of Easter Seals as an invaluable resource for finding respite care and preserving their personal sanity.   As one veteran mom responded on lessons she’s learned, “I wish I knew how important it was that I make myself a priority. It’s the little things that I carve out in MY life to self-nurture that give me the strength to live, laugh and love more deeply today and be the best parent I can be.”

Five More Unique Providers You May Not Have Considered

5.    Martial Arts Instructors-Martial arts from an understanding instructor can promote focus, discipline, self-confidence, and physical stamina.  Numerous parents on MyAutismTeam start their child in martial arts classes at age 5 or 6.  In some instances it’s an activity that dads do with their children.
4.    Horseback Riding Therapy-Occupational therapy through horseback riding can be a wonderful experience for kids with special needs.   CaddysLady of Vancouver Washington lists two such providers on her autism team.

Equine Therapy

3.    Attorneys-Sometimes attorneys specializing in special education law have been helpful for parents struggling to get the appropriate services from their school district or in securing coverage of key therapies from insurance companies.    One New Jersey mother of a 20 year old with Asperger’shas an attorney to help secure the things the services that come after the teenage years.  “After 2 years of fighting for Transitional Education, and winning in Court, my son has almost completed his first 30 days in a specialized school.”

2.    Piano Lessons-Quite a few parents have piano teachers on their autism teams.    I think a mother of 5 year-old (not a teenager) with Asperger’s, Sharon Esch of Albuquerque, New Mexico, sums it up perfectly.  “Music seems to be a great therapy for [my son], giving him an opportunity to work on fine motor skills in a way that doesn’t seem like work.  Also, I think he enjoys the immediate response of hearing music when he plays, something he controls himself.”

1.    Barbers-Like the dentists, every child needs a barber, and every child on the spectrum needs a barber who “gets it.”   For a particularly inspired and touching account of the bond between one teen turned adult on the spectrum and his barber read Laura Shumaker’s brilliant piece, “Mentor, Helper Friend.”

Who’s On Your Team?

You can see all of the parents of children with Asperger’s Disorder on MyAutismTeam and read through their stories and see their teams.  You can also post on their walls and ask them questions.  If you have fabulous local providers you can recommend to other parents just starting out on this journey, we hope you’ll join MyAutismTeam and share your wisdom!

• Posted by Eric Peacock, GM of MyAutismTeam
  @ejpeacock