Post by Administrator on Feb 7, 2008 2:01:31 GMT -5
History of ADHD & LD Support
At one time the originators of this site were members of other sites and saw many people who were struggling for help with their needs and the needs of their children. Too many times a member's feelings were trampled on by the very people they went to for help on those sites.
Charlie Girl thought about the hurt inflicted by members of those sites on each other and realized that people who had issues of their own were helping other people with issues so it was easy to misunderstand each other. The stress which brought them there in the first place was interfering with effective communication. Trolls who came specifically to cause problems and hurt feelings were all too often left to do their damage for too long before they were stopped.
She wondered if it would be possible to create a forum with the right rules and guidelines so that with good moderators, people could support each other without having to worry about hurt feelings and just be there for each other as they really wanted to. She also thought about the value of laughing and creating a sense of family. She decided having a section where members could be themselves and have fun together would be helpful. It could be a place where their personal posts wouldn't interfere with being able to find and read the serious issues easily.
She took her idea to Twink, Brookelea and Misty, 3 cyber friends she knew she could trust. She had known Misty online for years and that Misty would be someone who shared her beliefs and had the drive and compassion it would take to see this through. She couldn't imagine attempting it without Misty.
When she approached Misty, Misty was instantly excited about the whole idea & could think of no better partner than Charlie Girl. They had no problems merging their dreams of the perfect support site.
ADHD and LD Support was born. The grand opening was held October 24, 2005!
The original administrators were Charlie Girl, Misty, Brookelea and Twink. Brookelea and Twink left very early on due to circumstances which left them unable to continue, but Charlie Girl and Misty are still here.
Shortly after the site opened, John joined. The administrators discussed asking him to be Global Moderator. He readily accepted & has added the much needed male perspective and humor the site needed.
Misty & Charlie Girl had been friends for some time & their visions for the site were much the same. Along with John's valuable input, the site was molded into the friendly, supportive site they had envisioned. But they still felt a 3rd administrator was needed. One member, JJ, stood out. JJ was someone they both knew & trusted from other forum boards and was already a good and popular moderator here. She had the technical background they were looking for, along with the friendliness and compassion an admin must posses. Thankfully, JJ agreed to join the team.
The moderators are also chosen with care. Each Mod has been a member before being "promoted" to Moderator status. They each not only have areas in which they are very experienced but they all have the heart and compassion which make this place unique in its ability to welcome everyone and create a family. They set the tone for this site and members seem to instinctively follow their guidance in posting warmly and compassionately. The moderation team has been vital to the growth and atmosphere of the site. Since every position here is unpaid and voluntary, they give time from their lives and families to do their jobs because they care. That love shows in everything they do.
We, the administration and moderation team, feel extremely blessed to have been joined by members who are caring and compassionate, as well as able to help so many people who are dealing with such a variety of learning disabilities and related disabilities. Without our faithful and caring members, many of whom have been active here since day one, this site could never have become what it is today.
We have made a few changes along the way, none of which altered the original vision of this site but which we feel has enabled it to grow into an even better version of the original vision. We will continue to work at making ADHD & LD Support the best site it can be as we go along and discover new needs and better ways to make this the cyber home and family our members are looking for .
There was only one problem. That problem was that when we first started the site, we didn't realize that the name we signed up with would be our final URL. The administrators discussed this & decided to move the site. We stayed with proboards servers because they are a quality host, but we did a painstaking move to this, our final destination. In January, 2007 we officially became ADHD & LD Support in ALL aspects!
