
What we’re about
We believe parents who have a child on the spectrum are fighters, teachers, advocates, compassionate, educated, strong (yes, stronger than you think you are), and some of the best parents on the planet!
It is our goal to gather these parents together to share ideas, discuss solutions, and obtain best practices for parenting a child with special needs (because on some days, I know you question if you’re a good enough parent. It can seem like you’re on an island, when in reality, you’re part of an important community that’s constantly changing the lives of children).
Won’t you join our little community here and lend your voice to help others and also to learn. Let this group help remind you how great you are.
If you join this meetup, my pledge to you:
• To create an environment of acceptance where every voice can be heard.
• To provide professional advice to help figure out solutions to problems.
• To run efficient meetings (as I understand how precious your time is).
• To listen and adapt our meetings from what I’m hearing parents want or need.
At this time, events will be held over Zoom. If you are not familiar with Zoom, you do not need an account, simply click on the meeting link that will be given and you will have access. Zoom is free.
Our meetups will vary meeting to meeting by:
• BCBAs, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists, etc... being on hand to answers questions from parents.
• Open topics and discussions that will be parent-led.
• Specific discussions where a topic is chosen in advanced.
My name is Matthew Croke and I'm the Director of Client Relations at BY YOUR SIDE Autism Center. We have 5 autism centers in the Chicagoland area offering ABA, speech, and occupational therapy.
You do not have to be receiving services at BYS to join this group. This meetup will not act as a commercial for our services. We're simply using our resources to help assist anyone in the autism community. This group is open to anyone who wants to have discussions about being a parent of a special needs child.
To get a better sense of these types of discussions, please check out our free PODCAST on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or anywhere you stream your media. It's called The BY YOUR SIDE Autism Podcast. If you want to get a feel for our company before joining, you can check out our website at www.byyoursideac.com
Thank you for thinking of this group and message me with any questions.
Matt