Conductive education seems almost wholly to have moved away from blogs as a means of sharing news and reflections.
Not so in other areas of interest: Family History and Genealogy, for instance, or Disability, where there is still a wealth of must-read blogs.
There's still much on Facebook that's worth reading; there are any number of websites and newsletters.
Personally, I am tiring of Facebook - largely because of the incessant intrusions into my timeline but also because of a persistent niggling objection to the business model. Facebook fails in two important ways: it is ephemeral; here today, gone tomorrow, lost beyond simple searching for half remembered posts and like all social media, it encourages posts requiring a short attention span rather than the elaboration at length of detailed cases.
Now that I am no longer involved in the delivery of conductive education services, my passion has largely shifted to continuing adult services. But I still read as much as possible and if I am to share that reading then I have decided that the simplest action I can take is to dust down CEJottings; have a general clear-out and re-set.
I shall begin with what I am regularly reading - the items to the right here.
1. Lost forever? - blogs no longer available
Foremost among the blogs that I have looked forward to reading and which is no longer available is Andrew Sutton's 'Conductive World'. Andrew can still be followed on Facebook. He also still hosts Conductive market Place on Facebook. Similarly lost is Susie Mallet's blog "Conductor", another essential read, I always found.
2. Still online but inactive?
Something of Susie Mallet's work and insightful thinking is still available online: "Susie Mallett's Conductive Upbringing and Lifestyle" last posted to in May 2018. Similarly inactive - last updated - is Lisa Gombinsky's "Conductive Magic, Transformations and Me" last updated in November 2017.
These are not inconsiderable losses to all of us in conductive education. As a parent, I learned so much about conductive education from their writings. What do parents today read?
In a very rare category are blogs by adults with motor disorders and their loss is an important one: "Lawyer on Wheels" by Ralph Strzałkowski in Florida who used to write occasionally about his experience of conductive education and "Do It Myself!" by Glenda Watson Hyatt, a non-conductive blog that gives so much hope. As the parent of a 38-year old daughter, I'm glad to say both still post on Facebook, although Ralph has become somewhat more political of late.
Gill Maguire's Conductive Education Information formally ceased on the 1st March 2019. Gill's blog brought a unique perspective and valuable information about conductive education internationally that has never been replaced.
3. New blogs
There have been a couple of false starts, sadly. A welcome exception is Natalie Walker's "Conductive Education Bristol". Mostly raising issues in conductive practice, Natalie's latest posting was as recently as the 21st November 2020 "Problem solving. How would you describe problem solving?" One hopes that Natalie is able to continue writing.
Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to seeing where this fresh start will lead for CEJottings.
