Poll: Should this forum be a space for people with autism?

I guess the same reason why we need to mask for NTs in general.

so many of us have to endure emotional and psychological trauma by masking?

100% I've had my fair share too but on here we don't need to mask when we talk to NT's, we can be honest and open to them whereas as in "real life" we might not be. We have a chance to tell someone who is NT how we think and feel in an honest manner and if they listen they can take little piece of extra knowledge with them and pass it on to someone and so on. So if we struggle to do that in person we should have a platform where we can (in my case at least) be anonymous if we chose and voice our opinions and views without the worry of negative recourse.

My view on this is basically this: I see the appeal of having an autistic only forum/sub-forum/posts, I would like to see what gets spoken about too.

However we should take every opportunity we can to educate NT's so that they can better understand us so that we don't have to live in THEIR world but in order to do that we need to be able to speak freely and listen to each other a forum like this doesn't get much better especially if you have issues doing that in person which I most definitely do. By separating us it could turn out to be a very US and THEM platform which I wouldn't like, I would want it to be a space of honesty and exchange of knowledge and separation isn't the way to do that. At the very leat there would need to be a balance, that would look something like a sub-forum within the community page, I don't think the way forward would making the entire NAS community page locked to autistics only.

Why would you feel the need to mask for NT's on this forum?

I don't think I like the idea of it. It's unlikely that you would see a NT person coming to the site for S#*ts and giggles. If they did, they would soon be found out and asked to leave. By including NT people in the conversation, they can get a better understanding of how we function. They can offer their own thoughts on how to deal with situations, they can also then educate others around them which in turn, can help us to navigate the NT world that little bit better.

It might also discourage people like myself who are still waiting assessment. It was hard enough to pluck up the courage to join let alone try and do so when there is a real 'us vs them' attitude being promoted.

That's a good point, Peter.

O said:

having a space where we can talk to NT's and try to understand there perspective on things

Isn't that what we do in life in general and why so many of us have to endure emotional and psychological trauma by masking?

No, I can't say I am.   I would probably need to own a car before a bumper sticker.  

I'm not trying to exclude anyone. Just floating the idea of creating a space (or system of identification) in which NDs can interact without having to mask for NTs.

In practice it would be difficult to implement an are you autistic button at sign up and even if you could you'd have to make a tradeoff between making the forum sign up more complicated for autistic people or making it easy for non autistic people to circumvent the restriction (even to the point of them doing it accidentally)

Thanks, Deep. I didn't know about Wrong Planet.

Are you bumper-car-ist?

Who are you trying to specifically exclude?

I would find that super helpful.

Morning Plastic,

Is being less inclusive necessarily a bad thing?

You would have to make more forums for looking after autistic adults, and undiagnosed autistic adults. It would just fracture the conversation. I think people can already tell which topics to click on if they don't want to see things from people without a diagnosis.

Edit: Although a separate autistic-only forum as well as this one could be good.

I think an issue arises in that the description of who the NAS online community is for seems to vary on different websites/web pages.

That's fair enough I don't really have an issue with it being open for all or for autistics only but I though the questions should be asked and you're right that NT's have the whole internet to interact with too  and we do too.

As you suggested maybe a separate sub-forum might be nice within the NAS community page where we (autistics) can talk among our selves but for as much as I don't have an issue with the forum being locked for autistics only I don't think that would be the right thing. I haven't been posting here for very long at all but I think that having a space where we can talk to NT's and try to understand there perspective on things whenever they pop up is a good thing and it gives us a chance to help educate the NT population about autism. I've seen a few posts recently posted by I would assume NT people by the way they were written (apart from the one that stated he/she wasn't autistic) and we can help those people as much as we can.

I also saw Aidie I think post that the helpline will be turned off soon and this forum will be the only place for people to ask for support. But yes having something in your profile that people can see on the forum to indicate clearly whether who you're talking to is autistic or not would be good just so you know who's who.

I think it should just be on your profile as suggested in this thread so that you can see if the person posting has identified themselves as being Autistic or not.

All sounds less inclusive to me.    

Don't we also have to respect everyone's bonkers self-declarations of anything these days or be classed as a bigot? 

Today, I'm a bumper-car.  

Is it too much to ask for carve a little bit of space for autistic people on a national autistic website? 

Given that the National Autistic Society began in the early sixties as a group of parents who sought for better support and campaigned for greater awareness about autism, not to include those who are neurologically typical and atypical would be counterproductive, being that in the terms and conditions of using this website ~ the NAS's stated purpose is:

The purpose of the Community is to provide a safe and supportive forum for people on the autism spectrum, their parents, guardians, family, friends, colleagues, and those working in the field of autism to share experiences, views and opinions.

Basically all the things you request are offered elsewhere, with I imagine the most suitable option for you being perhaps Wrong Planet ~ just possibly.

O said:

What would be the benefit of making this forum an autistic only space?

The biggest benefit for me would be a retreat, a safe haven away from NT's and the NT world.

O said:

Why shouldn't non autistic be allowed to speak on here?

Well, don't they have millions of other forums to visit? Are we not worthy of our own space?   

O said:

how would you know who autistic or not because if it's just a simple: are you autistic?

One idea would be that when you join the site, you declare whether you are autistic or not and so whenever you post or comment, your avatar and/or profile indicates whether or not you had autism (diagnosed, undiagnosed, or waiting for assessment). This would at least be a way for autistic members to know whether or not they were interacting with an NT or not. 

I don't know. I suppose the question is: why is the forum on an autistic society website an open one? it doesn't make sense to me that absolutely anyone can become a member. I mean it's not like NT's don't have the whole of cyberspace to play with!

Is it too much to ask for carve a little bit of space for autistic people on a national autistic website?