Should I start writing a book?

I have often thought of writing a book on our experiences as parents/foster parents/adoptive parents, special needs parenting, homeschooling special needs children, etc.

Life is a journey. My/our journey has been filled with more twists and turns than a Six Flags roller coaster! I just wouldn't know where to start. I also am unsure of my abilities to captivate readers. While I certainly think our life thus far has been pretty exciting and eventful (at times it resembles a soap opera or a really good Lifetime movie and at others, a Loony Tunes cartoon), I don't know if I could truly convey it all in book form.

I've also had the thought of pulling together different experiences from other parents of special needs and/or fost/adopt children. Maybe a compilation of stories to inspire and encourage others on their journeys. I'm still giving it deep consideration and of course prayer.

Now I could get real crazy and write my autobiography but I'm not sure I want to share THAT much.

Anyhow, what do you all think?

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" - John Lennon

The title of this thread has been resonating a lot with me lately. I try to plan, prepare, organize, etc but while I'm busy doing all those things, life still "happens".
Sometimes it seems life happens faster than I can keep up with it.

The beginning of any school year is an exceptionally busy time for moms. For moms with special needs children, I'm learning, it's a time where you once again face off with new teachers, administrators, therapists, etc. We just finished Boo's IEP last week. I haven't signed yet so I shouldn't say it's finished yet. Overall it went well but of course I worked myself up the week before with a case of the "What if's". I tend to come down with that ailment rather chronically ;)

I knew going into the IEP that I needed to be assertive. I have a difficult time with that mostly due to feelings of intimidation by people who have ego trips (past experience). I was preparing for the worst. I have to say that I absolutely love Boo's teacher. She has been very supportive and understanding. The others at the IEP were mostly supportive as well. They don't fully understand FASD but they are definitely willing to learn. I brought in a few handouts for them to read on FASD's. You can find them here:
http://www.nofas.org/educator/teaching.aspx

One thing that I tried to stress to them about Boo is that his learning will be painfully slow. Repetition is KEY in children (and adults) with FASD. Boo also, as I've mentioned before, has a difficult time understanding what people are telling him. He may appear to understand but he tends to "fake" it rather well. He needs support in this area and will get some support through speech services but I still feel he would benefit from a paraeducator (someone who would shadow Boo and help him throughout the day). The bottom line is money is tight in the district. They are understaffed and their funding has been cut significantly. While this isn't necessarily something that should impact a "Fair and Appropriate Public Education" for my son, it does.

My hope is that someday there is as much advocacy and education for FASD than there is for Autism. FASD's are found in up to one out of every 100 births (conservative estimate)in the US. Many children in schools are being labeled as "emotionally disturbed" when in reality, if their mothers drank alcohol, they could be a victim of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Well, I need to cut this one short because Boo is still awake and it's nearly 11:30pm. Another side effect of FASD is ....sleep disorders! He was almost asleep an hour ago but for some reason, his motor switched back on and it's hard for him to settle. More links to come in my next entry........