NAS = "Not Autistic Suitable"

I'm still here; though I'm busier, than usual, so visits are less frequent.

Yes, a lot of us can't hack the vitriol of others. As I heard, once, "If it's hysterical, it's historical!"

We're not used to being around others, so we can't second-guess reactions. Etiquete was something we never learned, as life when we grew up was simpler; and less caustic.

Thank you all for your thoughts on this.  It is kind of you all to do so..

As a forum for autistic people to share their thoughts and interests, this place is fully functional. I know some people have had issues with posts being held in moderation, but mine have been going through now, perhaps that’s because I generally keep within the guidelines and avoid repetition and numerous links. 

Any group or forum will have people coming and going. This forum is functioning as intended and autistic people are free to move away and return without question or judgement from the users, and that is a good thing.

I find the forum really useful and I value the service the NAS provides.

I am happy to offer my insight, but can somebody clarify what we are including under the umbrella of functionality? As I only recently returned, I missed many of the technical issues that have been mentioned.  

Number said:

My friends (and acquaintances) from this place, acquired over the period of a few years+, seem to feel DRIVEN away from this place, at the moment.

I've been on here for many years now and do see there being cycles of people coming and going so I think this is just another one of the periodic changes.

To be honest the issues are pretty minor in relation to the benefit of the site for the masses  - there are rules around how the spam filter works and we know these now so a bit of better publicity would help the more prolific posters I think.

Once we know how it works it is trivial to stay within the guidelines and have our conversations, provide some support and maintain the community.

For the issues where we post support responses like the mods with lots of links, I think it may be better to link to a previous post which has these already - not a perfect solution but one that works well and does establish that the support links are endorsed by a mod.

Number said:

Is there value in being "subjected" to the current Zeitgeist here?

I see the Zeitgeist as being fluid (as is its nature) and it may just be out change aversion making it seem worse than it is - just my view of course.

Seeing how many new people come here with urgent questions of in desperate need of support, I think we still do an outstanding job given the limitations on what we are allowed to recommend, and the help is given in the vast majority of cases as it always has.

It is an imperfect situation but still one where the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

I honestly don't know what the problems so many people are that so many people are having. What zeitgeist are we being subjected too? I was part of a conversation about functionality, but I still don't really understand why this place dosen't function for so many, or what they want, I only remember feeling confusion and that I'd be left behind again if more changes happen, but then I'm in a tiny minority of non techy people, so I guess I don' count.

It's a pain, but where there is little money, I don't see what else they can do. I still think there is a very real chance of all the complaints leading them to just throw their arms up and pull the plug.

I've not experienced major problems myself, maybe I have been lucky but not posted many things with links. I have struggled with using the forum itself as it is not very intuitive at least to me. I struggle to follow posts and often miss replies. I hate to see people leaving the forums as a result of issues here, I personally get a lot out of it and would not like to see it turn into a wilderness, I've seen a few posts along these lines on the forum but have not seen any real response from NAS itself?