Where to Find 5 Minutes For Special Needs:
Blog URL: http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com/
Category: Parenting, Personal Interests

5 Minutes For Special Needs

Those of us who are not intimately dealing with special needs on a daily basis probably can never really understand all of what life with children with special needs implies. That is the express domain of parents and families with special needs. However, through their first-hand experiences and heart-felt sharing we can get an idea of what that life is like, and come to a higher level of understanding and enlightenment.

5 Minutes For Special Needs – Why You Should Go

5 Minutes for Special Needs is a blog maintained by a team of parents and professionals with first-hand experience with special needs. Their goal in contributing to this blog is to increase understanding of special needs in order to help others understand them better, and in an effort to build a community of support and learning for others in similar circumstances. The experiences of these contributors varies greatly, as there are a great many primary diagnoses involved, and a much longer list of secondary diagnoses and conditions. All in all, theirs is a deep well of life experience and knowledge with much to offer.

Summing Up 5 Minutes for Special Needs

The authors of this blog have built an excellent resource for parents, educators, and the public at large. They do not ask for your sympathy, they ask only that you open your mind and allow them this chance to offer you support, insight, and inspiration, as your need may be. This blog is very much about celebrating life in all its diversity, and helping others to do the same. Take 5 Minutes out of your day to increase your understanding and knowledge of the real meaning of life with special needs.

Go here to check out 5 Minutes For Special Needs.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Faces Of Autism:
Blog URL: http://casdok-facesofautism.blogspot.com/
Category: Photoblog, Parenting

Faces of Autism

When you put a face on a condition, it has a way of becoming not only more real, but more understandable as well. That seems to be the foundation of Cadok’s blog, Faces of Autism. She is raising awareness of Autism and Spectrum Disorders by putting real, live, faces in action to the condition for all the world to see.

Faces of Autism – Why You Should Go

Casdok is a UK mother of a 20 year old son with autism, who is also non-verbal. Her contribution to Autism Awareness is her blog, which is a collection of photos and artwork from autistic children and adults around the world, each accompanied by a short description of the subject and his or her likes, interests, abilities, and talents.

Casdok‘s simple blog premise is a highly effective one. These photos and few short worlds tell worlds about the people living with autism and all that they can do. As an outsider many of these faces an abilities might surprise you…the face of autism is not always what you expect it to be; but then, that is the point of the blog, to better educate the rest of us to the realities of autism.

Summing Up Faces of Autism

Casdok has developed a very simple and highly effective way to put a real face on autism (many, actually!). This is a blog that deserves a much wider audience than just those living within the autism community. The real gift of this blog is the potential to educate the rest of us, and so it is us who needs it more than the proud and laudable contributors. Stop by this blog and see for yourself how different autism can look.

Go here to check out Faces of Autism.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Beautiful Spectrum:
Blog URL: http://beautifulspectrum.blogspot.com/
Category: Personal Blogs, Parenting

Beautiful Spectrum

It seems we’ve just missed World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, however, as the parents of these wonderful children will tell you, every day is a day for raising the consciousness and understanding of this disorder and for getting to know the people who live with it. Inspired by Amy’s Short Stories and some wonderful blog links from that blog, we come now to Beautiful Spectrum.

Beautiful Spectrum – Why You Should Go

Beautiful Spectrum is Halo‘s journal of life with “Twinkle”, her non-verbal autistic daughter. The blog is an insight into the world of autism wherein Halo shares the struggles and the triumphs of life with an autistic child. It is a wonderful resource for outsiders to learn more about autism and the capabilities and special needs of these children and their families.

Summing Up Beautiful Spectrum

Autism is a very difficult disorder for the lay person to understand. And so, these blogs from the children, parents, and families who are courageous enough to share their experiences with the rest of us are a true gift of awareness, insight, and understanding. Come along with Halo and her daughter as they journey throughout this Beautiful Spectrum and add a new level of understanding to your knowledge of autism and related disorders.

Go here to check out Beautiful Spectrum.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Amy’s Short Stories:
Blog URL: http://amysspecialstories.blogspot.com/
Category: Personal Blogs, Parenting

Amy’s Short Stories

Amy’s Short Stories is a blog where Amy, a young girl from the United Kingdom, keeps a collection of her own short stories to share for the enjoyment of others.

Amy’s Short Stories – Why You Should Go

A truly impressive young girl, Amy’s stories are full of feeling and creativity, often reflecting her dreams and life on her UK farm. They are entertaining and witty, and inspiring for her sheer dedication and courage in telling them.

Amy’s blog was created with the help of her mother because, in her words,

“My mum is really proud of me and likes to read my stories so she made a blog for me so that other people could read them too. I love other people reading my blog, it makes me very happy.”

This blog, though, stands as much more than the inspired and inspiring writings of a young girl. It also stands as an example of the strength and capabilities of a young girl with autism; yes, Amy is autistic, and her blog also makes a strong statement about autism awareness and understanding.

Summing Up Amy’s Short Stories

Everything about Amy’s Short Stories is inviting; the stories are entertaining, enjoyable reads that speak volumes for the author, who herself is a delightful young lady, a true inspiration to us all. A visit to this blog is sure to warm your heart and put a smile on your face.

Go here to check out Amy’s Short Stories.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Just taking a moment away from scanning the net for more great blogs to wish you…

A Very Happy Easter From Do You Digg It!

Sean Rasmussen and I would like to wish a very Happy Easter to all those of you who observe the holiday, and a Happy Weekend to those of you who may not, as well!

Sean is enjoying some sun, fun, and Internet Marketing in Sydney, while preparing for more fun and diving and Internet Marketing adventures in Vanuatu next week.  I think he was having just as much fun this time last year, playing with his sheep and listening to some music from his favorite Malolo Island Bula Band.  See all of that here in his 2008 Easter Message.

My own Easter weekend is proving to be much more low-key, some time spent with friends and family and relaxing around the house while the ham bakes in the oven.  But it’s all good here at Digg It, and we both hope yours is all that you want it to be!

So once again, a very Happy Easter from Do You Digg It!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

This week was a combination of taking care of business and getting on a with a couple new blogs reviews.  Here’s what’s been happening, in case you missed it.

Week In Review April 11, 2009

• First order of business was to once again put the call out for blog review submissions and input from you, our readers, as to what else you’d like to see at Do You Digg It.  Send us your blog links and ideas for reviews of blogs and anything blog related.
• More importantly, on the next day we revisited the Australian Red Cross to see how the appeal and support was going for the victims of those tragic Victoria Bushfires (and it’s going great, by the way!).  The appeal will close this week on April 17th, but there is still time to donate.  Of course, assistance requests and resources for victims will remain open.  See our update post for the Victoria Bushfire Appeal for more details.
• Back to the blog reviews, we traveled along with Dawn and shared her Thoughts From Along the Broken Road.  Hers is a personal blog filled with grace and gratitude, enough to get anyone’s day going.
• Our last blog review of the week took us to Kevin’s Enigmatic World blog.  Here’s a fun and interesting place to learn and explore all the exciting and obscure news from the world of science.

That’s business for the week.  Need to catch up on last week too?  See the Recap Review for April 4th here.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find An Enigmatic World:
Blog URL: http://anenigmaticworld.blogspot.com/
Category: Science, Paranormal

An Enigmatic World

Whether or not you believe in UFO’s and extraterrestrial life, or in many of the other unexplained phenomena of our enigmatic world, you have to admit that we all share a fascination and curiosity about the world around us and things of this nature. That’s got to be a good thing, because without that curiosity we’d still be banging rocks together and calling them tools. This blog from Kevin is all about exploring the phenomena of our natural and extraterrestrial world—all the fun and interesting things that science has to offer on earth and beyond.

An Enigmatic World – Why You Should Go

Kevin’s blog is a collection of news and footage that you may or may not have seen, and discussion and commentary on it. There is a lot about UFO’s and the possibilities and speculations therein, but there is also a lot of other little-known news that hardly makes its way out of the scientific community. It’s all very interesting stuff that you can take at your own level of acceptance, intelligently considered and discussed by our host.

Summing Up An Enigmatic World

Our world is an Enigma whether we like to admit it or not. Smart as we (think) we may be, there is so much that we do not yet know. Kevin is intelligent enough to know that, and not take anything at face value. Visit Kevin’s blog for some interesting news and discoveries from the world of science and nature, and learn how much more you don’t know, that could impact your thinking on so much of what is going on in this Enigmatic World.

Go here to check out An Enigmatic World.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Thoughts From the Broken Road:
Blog URL: http://daybreak1012.blogspot.com/
Category: Personal Blogs, Gratitude

Thoughts From Along the Broken Road

Thoughts from Along the Broken Road is Dawn‘s blog, which is probably best described as a personal blog, but could in many ways be fitting of a category like personal development or self improvement as well. The blog is her journey through life and all the things that interest and amuse her.

Thoughts From Along the Broken Road – Why You Should Go

Dawn has lots of words to describe herself (she would probably be a very good candidate for In Cinq!), preferring to use concise descriptions of a few words or less when she explains herself or her blog. Likewise most of her posts are short and sweet, to the point, which makes them refreshing and easy to follow along with. Dawn describes her blog as

“personal observations inspired by my life & the world around me. my own revelations & thoughts. snippets of wisdom. random insanity. joy. gratitude. silliness. attempts to be insightful…or not so much. laughter & tears. ME.”

One of the best features of Dawn’s blog is her regular posts of gratitude, finding Grace In Small Things. These are near daily quick lists of five things to be grateful for for the day. They can be anything, but the effect of this very simple exercise is powerful—it helps the reader to take stock and find gratitude in their own lives, and helps us to see how simple appreciation can be.

Summing Up Thoughts From Along the Broken Road

As Dawn says, her blog really is just “her”. This is a blog to visit to meet and follow along with a new friend as she picks her way along her life path, and also a place to frequent to empower yourself through the small graces of life. Learn to appreciate the little things with Dawn, and

Go here to check out Thoughts From Along the Broken Road.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

I was just setting off to check up and see how some of our New Year’s resolution blogs and bloggers were doing, when it occurred to me that we had a more pressing event that we should check in on.  I’m glad that I opted to do that instead, because otherwise we might have missed this last window of opportunity to aid the victims of those devastating Victoria Bushfires.

Victoria Bushfire Appeal Set To Close April 17, 2009

Many of you will recall our covering the Australian Red Cross’s Victoria Bushfire Appeal both here on Digg It and at SeanRasmussen.com back in February when those horrific fires took the homes and lives of hundreds of Australians.  We did our small part to hopefully bring attention to the appeal and to assist those people who lost so much.  For those people who were affected, this crisis is far from over, and so it’s good to also remember that there are people still out there, still working to put the pieces back together.

Today I checked in at the Australian Red Cross website to see what news there was in the way of an update.  They report and overwhelmingly positive, “record breaking” response to

“…the biggest fundraising appeal of its kind in Australia.“

The nation and the world have stepped up to show some real Aussie pride and consideration of those less fortunate.

The work of healing and rebounding from the fires will be long and arduous for the people affected by the fires.  The Australian Red Cross says,

Although the immediate threat has passed families and communities still face significant recovery challenges and Red Cross will continue to do all it can to help people and communities devastated by our worst natural disaster in over a century.

In support of these people, the organization will begin to move forward, and will soon be closing out the donation portion of the campaign.  The Appeal will remain open until April 17, 2009, with later dates for donation submissions from planned events and collections.  All of the information is available at the Australian Red Cross Vitoria Bushfire Appeal page.

Of course, access to assistance will be available for quite some time to come, and if you are in need of assistance, you can find links to help at the Red Cross page with the link above, or by going directly to the Department of Human Services, Victoria website.  There you will find links specifically for Bushfire Recovery assistance.

Our thoughts continue to be with the Victoria Bushfire victims as they begin to recover from this tragedy.  If you have not yet given, or would like to give again, take advantage of this last chance to help.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

It’s been a while since I’ve dedicated a post to submission requests, and no time being like the present, it seems high time for a reminder.

What Do You Digg?

Digg was developed (by our own Sean Rasmussen) as a dedicated blog review site, with the idea being that we would wander the Internet in search for good blogs deserving of review, but also with the intention of inviting bloggers and blog fans in to submit blogs for possible review.  Every now and again we like to remind our readers of that fact, because we don’t want you to think this is all about us–this is a blog built with a community focus, and we more than welcome your comments and suggestions.  We also know that there is no way our small editorial group can get to all those excellent blogs, and so we rely on the outreach of others, too.

You can always submit a blog for review.  It’s very simple to do, just leave a comment on this or any Digg It post with a link to the blog, and we’ll do the rest!  You can even submit anonymously if you like.

Blogs, Directories, Communities, And More

What can you submit?  Most anything that is appropriate for a general audience (we’re G-rated, no adult content, please).  That could be a blog, or even just a blog topic if you want us to do a little digging in a particular subject area.  It could also be a suggested blog community, directory, or other related resource (as long as it makes sense for bloggers and blog readers).  It can be your blog, a friend’s blog, or a totally random blog that you stumbled upon and just like.

We keep pretty open minds around here–all we are looking for is blogs and related sites with value that may be of value to readers, too.  Join the fun, speak up, and let us know what’s still out there to review!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012