Feeling alone, searching for help, searching for a sense of belonging
and identity: parents of children with special needs face various
difficulties in their daily lives. But help and support can be extremely
hard to obtain for these parents since they are limited by resources,
location and time. However, things started to change when the World Wide
Web began to connect people together.
We now live in an era when networks of power can be achieved and
maintained through virtual connections on the internet, where instant
communication can be a form of power. This book hopes to shed light on
how the simple act of "clicking" can empower (and, contrariwise, in some
cases, disempower) parents to locate help and support. This book also
discusses the shifting role of these parents from those seeking help to
those who provide help for other parents through the virtual networks
they have built on various social networking sites. When examining these
issues, this book takes into consideration the Asian concept of Face, in
which identity is an image agreed by society.
This book will offer insights for parents, researchers and social
workers, as well as for anyone else who hopes to understand what is
taking place on the 'net' and how to be involved in the networking
process of providing support for people around you. It allows the
readers to see how support nowadays can really be just a click away.