SocialMediaandOnlineCommunitiesforFamilySupportGroups.txt

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Social Media and 
Online 
Communities for 
Family Support 
Groups 

Young girl blowing bubbles
Presented by Diandre Glover Thomas 

Program Coordinator 

Kentucky Autism Training Center 


Learning Objectives 

�Participants will learn about the benefits of creating an online 
network of support 


 

�Participants will learn about roles, rules and privacy issues within 
online communities 


 

�Participants will learn how to set up a Facebook group and a 
Yahoo group 


 

�Participants will learn best practices to keep their online 
community active 



Isolation 

Parents of children 
with autism need to 
connect with other 
parents in a 
supportive 
environment on a 
regular basis 

Young child laying in leaves

Three Benefits of Social Networks for 
Support Groups 

�Give parents of children with autism an opportunity 
to meet and connect with other parents 


 

 



Three Benefits of Social Networks for 
Support Groups 

�Give parents of children with autism an opportunity 
to meet and connect with other parents 
�Help support groups organize meetings, activities 
and events. 


 

 



Three Benefits of Social Networks for 
Support Groups 

�Give parents of children with autism an opportunity 
to meet and connect with other parents 
�Help support groups organize meetings, activities 
and events. 
�Provide an opportunity for parents to share 
information about helpful resources and/or provide 
supportive words of encouragement for online 
community members. 


 

 



Meet and Connect with Other Parents 

 

 Through sharing pictures, 
videos and stories about 
their families� highs and 
lows support group 
members are able to get to 
know each other better 
and form a deeper 
connection with one 
another 


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Organize Meetings, Activities and Events 

 

 

 Support groups can post 
information about social 
activities and fundraisers 
such as awareness walks, 
bake sales, pot luck 
dinners and monthly 
meeting updates 

 

organize.jpg

Parents Share Information and Give 
Encouragement 

 

 Parents can share if they 
had a tough day with their 
child or if their child did 
something they were really 
proud of or they can share 
resource information such 
as free training events and 
summer camp information 

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Parent holding young child outdoors
Family holding hands
Jack O'Lantern on swing
Get 
Connected! 


Two young girls in raingear
Colorful umbrella held by young child
Two 
choices 

Join an existing 
online group 

Start your own 
online group 


Join an Existing Online 
Group 


Join an Existing Online Group 

PRO 

Community is 
already in place 
and you only need 
to become a 
member and join 
in the conversation 

 

 

 

 

 


Join an Existing Online Group 

CON 

The community is 
already in place 
and you have to get 
to know the people 
in the network 

 

 

 

 

 


Existing Groups can 
be found on: 

 

Yahoo Groups 

 

Facebook Groups 

 

SupportGroups.com 

 

MyAutismTeam.com 


MyAutismTeam Search
MyAutismTeam.com 

Joining an existing online 
group is a good option if 
you do not currently 
belong to a support group 
or if you think your 
support group does not 
want to participate in an 
online community 


Start Your Own Online 
Group 


Start Your Own Online Group 

PROS 

 

Online community 
becomes an 
extension of your 
current support 
group 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Start Your Own Online Group 

PROS 

 

You already know 
your support 
group members 
and the online 
community gives 
you an opportunity 
to get to talk with 
them more often 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Start Your Own Online Group 

PROS 

 

The support group 
members can 
create their own 
set of moderation 
rules for the online 
community 

 

 

 

 

 


Start Your Own Online Group 

CONS 

 

Someone in the 
support group will 
need to set up the 
online community 

 

 

 

 


Start Your Own Online Group 

CONS 

Someone in the 
support group will 
need to moderate 
discussions and 
make sure nothing 
inappropriate is 
being said and to 
keep the community 
spam free 


Start Your Own Online Group 

CONS 

 

Someone will need 
to manage the 
community and 
keep the 
conversation 
flowing on the 
network 

 

 

 

 


Roles, Rules and Privacy 

You need to have them! 


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police.jpg
group.jpg
Roles 

Community 
Manager 

Moderator 

Members 


What�s the Difference? 

Community Manager 

Three responsibilities 

�Look through all of the posts online to 
make sure everyone is getting their 
question answered 
�Keep the conversation going by 
creating content daily 
�To reach out to dormant members 
through email and at support group 
meetings to encourage them to join 
the conversation 


Moderator 

Three responsibilities 

�To prevent the development of negative 
information 
�To prevent the development of 
arguments that may conflict with the 
healthy behaviors the network is trying 
to promote 
�To identify disrespectful posts on the 
public forum and delete them, warn the 
member who posted it, and keep records 
so that people who repeat this behavior 
can be removed from membership or 
have limited posting privileges 



Rules 

Best Practices 

�Set up rules from the beginning 
�Do not make them long or 
complicated 
�Refer to the rules when a site 
members online behavior is 
inappropriate to help them 
understand why an action was taken 
�Remember its okay to disagree with 
opinions but the rules are necessary 
to protect the integrity of the online 
community 


Example of rules 

We do not permit: 

�Sexual or offensive language or 
content 
�Harassment of other users 
�Abuse or disruption of our services 
�The impersonation of Autism 
Support Group community manager 
or moderator 
�Advertising of third party services or 
websites 



Privacy 

Best Practices 

�Don�t share any information 
online that you would not 
feel comfortable sharing with 
an entire group in person 


 

�Understand how the online 
community works 


 

�Always check your privacy 
settings 


 

fence.jpg

Let�s Have Some Fun!! 

Young girls blowing bubbles

Facebook Groups 


Let�s Create a Facebook Group 

Step One 

 

Go to: 
facebook.com/about/groups 

 

Click on Create Group 

 

 

 

 


Let�s Create a Facebook Group 

Step Two 

Create a Group Name 

Select members 

Select Privacy Settings 

(Choose One) 

�Open 
�Closed 
�Secret 


Click Create 

 

 

 


Let�s Create a Facebook Group 

Step Three 

 

Congratulations 
you have a new 
group! 

 

 

 

 


Secret Facebook Groups for Support Groups 

Group Chats � Everyone in the group can chat online at the same time 

Shared documents �If you need to share notes from the support group 
meetings or flyers for activities 

Private photo sharing�Only Secret Group members can see photos 

Shared email address to post messages to the group 

 

Learn more about these features and adjusting group settings: 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-secret-facebook-
groups-to-enhance-your-business 


Yahoo Groups 


Let�s Create a Yahoo Group 

Step One 

�Go to yahoo.com and create an 
account 
�Go to: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/start 
�Select a Yahoo Groups category 
in the Search group categories 
box enter "autism for a more 
specific category" 
�Click on the suggested link in 
blue and click place my group 
here 


 

 


Let�s Create a Yahoo Group 

Step Two 

 

�Create a Group name 
�Select group email 
address (this works like 
an email listserv any 
email sent to this 
address gets 
distributed to everyone 
in the group) 
�Describe your group 
and click continue 


 

 

 


Let�s Create a Yahoo Group 

Step Three 

 

�Select your yahoo profile 
and the email address 
that responses on the list 
will go to. The default 
address is the one that 
you used when you 
began to register a group. 
�Enter security code and 
click continue 


 

 

 


Let�s Create a Yahoo Group 

Step Four 

�You will get a 
homepage for your 
group and an email 
account for the group 
�You can customize who 
can join and/or post 
messages and you can 
send an email 
invitation for members 
to join the group. 


Congratulations you 
have a new group! 

 

 


Yahoo Groups 

Allow a 
shared: 

�Calendar 
�Files 
�Photos 
�Polls 
�Links 
�Email 


 

How to use Yahoo Groups 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buSoEg0Ckx0 


Engagement 

Keep them coming back! 


Interest Trust 

Value 

Respect 


Ideas to Increase Communication 

Fun 

�Photos 


 

�Ecards 


 

 

Supportive 

�Get well soon 
�Words of encouragement 
�Well wishes (Happy 
Birthday, Anniversary, 
Congrats on the new baby, 
marriage, graduation, 
promotion etc.) 



Ideas to Increase Communication 

Interesting 

�Articles read online that 
are relevant to the group 
�Share information from 
other autism online 
communities and email 
listservs 
�Community Events 


Important 

 Offline Activities 

�Support group meetings, 
notes and date reminders 
�Activities such as 
awareness walks, 
fundraisers, bake sales, 
parent�s or kids day out 



Most Important Key to Engagement 

 

 

 

Give responses 
back to posts 

keys.jpg

Go out and start or join those online groups today! 

Diandre Glover Thomas.jpg 


 

QUESTIONS??? 

Diandre Glover Thomas 

diandre.gloverthomas@louisville.edu 

(502)852-2467