Five Years Old and 900 Members :)

[Guest guest]

This is a week of counting blessings, of giving thanks for all the good and

positive aspects of our lives. Add this to the list! IPADDUnite recently passed

the 5-year mark, and (drumroll please) we’ve grown to 900 members!! (Special

callout to Carla Sloan for being Ms. 900)!!

IPADD remains the only online venue dedicated to the challenges and joys facing

Illinois families whose children with I/DDs have grown into adulthood. We’re

fortunate to count many professionals and parent leaders in the DD field as

members, and we thank you for sharing information and insight with the group.

We’re glad that people with younger family members are finding us, and we hope

the experiences of your ‘elders’ help your journey, too. We’re grateful

to have a place where we can share our stories (good and bad), find reliable

information about issues relevant to our day-to-day lives, advocate for better

and smarter adult options, and where we can always feel supported.

Someone referred to Ellen and me as ‘bloggers’ a few months ago, and we both

agreed – while unsure about what that meant, exactly, it made us feel very

modern! I think, though, that “blogging†implies WE are the ones doing

all of the work, while others simply read and approve of what we’ve written.

That’s not IPADD at all! Our strength lies in the collective spirit and

inspiration that all of us contribute. We’re only as good as the whole.

So please join us in taking a moment to acknowledge all that we’ve

accomplished and all the we have yet to conquer! We’re so glad to have met

all of you, and grateful for all that you contribute to our collective effort!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Laurie and Ellen