Published on 12, July, 2020
I don't know about others, but I'm getting a little concerned that the arguments will put off new members.
Quite often people join and then disappear quite quickly.
I've been involved in these myself on occasion, so I'm not innocent.
However, maybe the mods could create a section where these potentially contentious threads could be placed that had a heading like NSFW (a new one on me but it seems to be well known).
If a seemingly innocuous thread then turns into a constant argument, perhaps it could be moved to there.
It's sometimes interraction between older males and older females (or non binary etc) and comes down to very different relationship/*ex points of view but can of course stem from any subject and any set of contributors.
I think it happens more often than it once did, and I've not been here a year yet.
What I see, probably due to my ultra-logical autistic brain, is not primarily the message - though I am vehemently against any form of prejudice - is that the statement does not make grammatical sense. To be grammatical and logical it would have to tie the quoted part in with the -isms and phobias, which is not the case as it stands as there is no real verb. What would work is something like: "We can disagree and still be friends", does not apply if you subscribe to racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia."
Yes, exactly. All argument that might be disagreeable to an individual should be countered by reasoned argument, expressed in a civil manner. Certainly not by making verbal personal attacks or by making baseless accusations of criminality or criminal intent. That should be quashed and immediately removed by the moderators. Meaningful sanctions should be imposed on the perpetrators of any such accusations.
provided those reasoned arguments are lawful made in a civil way and I’m not attacking individuals, personally I think they should be allowed even if I personally disagree with them, and I’m not slow to openly say I disagree with people and probably would.
Hi Ree,
If you see a post that breaks our rule on hate speech, please do contact us directly at communitymanager@nas.org.uk or report the post as abuse.
Kind regards,
Clare Mod
OK.
What about a space where people are free to make reasoned arguments without being accused of crimes by extremists? A space where people who make baseless accusations are brought to book. A place where anonymity is not abused, simply because there are no 'real life' consequences.
I would support that. It is shameful that the National Autistic Society does not police its forum effectively enough that people who accuse others, with no basis in fact, of crimes are not suspended or expelled.
you may personally feel that way. But if 'not being friends' spills over into vitriolic personal attacks it is a problem for the forum.
Also people need to acknowledge is just because they personally view something as an 'obia' or 'ism' it doesn't mean others (or mods) will. People don't get to abuse other forum users because they are frustrated that mods do not agree with their definitions of what is and isn't banned material.
Dear online community users,,
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I assure you if I set up such a forum it will be for everyone. EVERYONE. And a place of tolerance, including tolerance of views people don't like so long as they are made in a civil way.
An autistic safe space must be a queer safe space, an ace safe space, and a trans safe space, given the enormous overlap in these already marginalized identities. The current rules would ensure this if they were enforced, but they are not, which has turned this place into an echo chamber where the existence of trans people is up for debate and men proclaim their right to sexually harass / coerce others and encourage new posters to do the same.
Peter said:If this happens I will have to seriously consider setting up my own forum for autistic people for those leaving this forum.
Go for it! That would be fantastic. I'm not saying that there can't be an autistic space run primarily for the benefit of and dominated by straight men, but it's shameful that the National Autistic Society is hosting it.
You know I have a vision for this forum as an autistic safe space. What is an autistic safe space? It's a place where its safe to be your self and honest about your self and your issues with out having the outside world accuse you of being a weirdo and a creep. It's a place where we can be honest about our special interests with out apologising for the fact that they make other people uncomfortable. It's a place where people can honestly relate to each other with out having to do a stressful mental risk assessment on every word and joke. It's a place of tolerance where when people express views or tell jokes that upset each other they can work it out in a civil manner with out hurling accusations or villainizing each other.
It's a place where autistic people can come to discuss the difficulties they have interacting with the neurotypical world, whether that be in work, or relationships, or sexuality or anything else, without being made to feel bad because they don't conform to societies expectations and norms. Because they struggle to traverse a social landscape not made with them in mind.
What a safe space is not is a place where young autistic men new to the forum open up about the difficulties in their relationships / sex lives only to be dog piled by people vilifying them, even accusing them of being criminal.
People have been leaving this forum because of this. Lots of people have been put off when their 1st or second thread is filled with hateful comments against them only to be locked by a mod without any reassurance that they have done nothing wrong.
The last thing I want to do is create an echo chamber. This forum is better if its full of a diverse set of views and robust debate. However as they are subject to repeated abuse by a small subsection of this forum people are already starting to vote with their feet. If this continues, if this tirade of abuse is allowed to continue, this forum will become an echo chamber anyway.
If this happens I will have to seriously consider setting up my own forum for autistic people for those leaving this forum. I already run my own autistic rights advocacy type website and I'm more than capable of doing this. I don't want to do it. But I'll have to consider it if things don't improve going forward.
I do not understand this in relation to the post that it is ostensibly replying to. Perhaps I do not understand it at all.
OMG. This is sooooooooooo irritating. You want to convince me that someone who was kicking in the wounds and triggers of a human with PTSD until late last night, a human who didn't do anything to hurt them, is feeling bad about bringing the mods down on someone who actually hurt them so bad and "accused" them of crimes?!?! We are autistic but not fools!!!!! OMG I'm sorry but this is so damn irritating!!. Please solve your issues with the mods and LET US BE!!! Gosh.
100%
Great question!!!
The problem is I don’t think they see it as insulting I don’t think they can imagine it is anything other than a righteous crusade in their own heads. That’s why it would probably be good to make it a bit more explicit.
Agreed! I’m fed up with it.
The forum 'Rule 5' effectively bans any poster from accusing anyone else of a sex crime, or any other criminal activity.
I quote: "Be nice to one another and enjoy chatting with others. We encourage conversation and respectful debate; please be aware that individuals may give opinions which are not shared by other members. Insulting posts or comments making personal jibes will not be tolerated."
I would assert that not making "insulting posts" or "personal jibes" encompasses the more serious infringement of accusing someone of criminal activity or intent. Presumably, the person or persons drafting the rules did not envisage people on the forum accusing one another of crimes.
Personally, I think that people who seriously or repeatedly infringe the rules of the forum should be sanctioned by being blocked from posting for variable time periods, or indefinitely.
Thats exactly how I feel. It never used to be like this on here, it used to be lovely