Archive for January 6th, 2005

Why blog?

Published by JohnL on 6 January 2005 in Administrivia. 0 Comments

One might wonder why I’d elect to devote time to a blog about learning disabilities. Beyond the obvious reason (communicating my own views), there are several explanations, and I list some of them here.

Blogs provide an unfettered means of communication. There are no, publishers, editors, or others between me and anyone who elects to read the words I type. The downside of unfettered communication is that I’ll publish something ill-thought, poorly written, or just plain wrong; I’ll take that risk, in part because of the consequences of the feature of blogs discussed in the next item.

Blogs also permit readers to interact with me by submitting their comments. Thus, if I say something wrong, someone will come to my rescue. (This, of course, has risks, particularly the risk that someone will hijack the comments to promote something inappropriate, as spammners use e-mail; I’ll watch the comments and I reserve the right to remove inappropriate content from comments submitted by readers [or robots].)

Blogs are a rapidly expanding medium, as Lee Rainie wrote for the Pew Charitable Trusts. Rennie reported that data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project beginning in 2002 show that the number of blogs is increasing rapidly and the number of blog readers is increasing even more rapidly.

Blogs are rapidly being recongized for their impact on communication:

  • ABC News identified bloggers as “People of the Year” for 2004.
  • The Washington Post publishes a list of blogs it considers the best in an array of 10 categories.

Some other’s answers to the question of why he or she writes a blog:

LDblog purpose

Published by JohnL on 6 January 2005 in Administrivia. 0 Comments

As a category of special education, learning disabilities is the subject of strong questioning. The field is battered by critics, both from within its own ranks and from outside the area. Because I’m concerned about this state of affairs, I plan to use this forum to explain my views of Learning Disabilities. I expect to devote most of my musings to the defense of LD, but I shan’t hesitate to offer my own criticism, as well.

Regardless of whether I defend or criticize LD, it must be understood that I am expressing my own views. What I post here does not represent the official position of my employer, any organizations with which I’m affiliated, or anyone else. In that sense, these musings are mine and mine alone. I share them here to promote open discussion and with the hope that discussion of the issues I raise will be beneficial to the area of LD in the long run.