What is the purpose of this forum?

I think the primary purpose is (or at least should be) for people to find a place of belonging. Whether that be to get advice about their autism and situations that affect it or to be able to socially interact in a safer environment. (When I say safer I mean easier for a lot of us who struggle with it in person).

I don't see an issue with threads that go off the subject of autism. It can allow some good discussions and allow that social interaction many of us miss in real life.

I do think people need to be mindful of topics that can upset others and I think there is a limit to freedom of speech, as in we shouldn't be discussing anything that is offensive or discriminatory against others. There was a thread a while ago that made me very uncomfortable with it's comment as its motivation seemed quite hateful. In a community of people that can be rejected and discriminated against, I don't think we should allow that in this forum.

However, I also think we need to remember that some people on here may have very little interaction with others. They may really want to discuss a particular topic and have no other means to do so. Is it not a good thing that they can come on here to discuss it.

I think it is important that people title the thread clearly so others don't get an unpleasant surprise when they open the thread but I do struggle to understand why people open some threads that they do if they don't like what the titled topic was. Can we not just scroll past? As long as what is being discussed isn't hateful, I do think we should be challenging and reporting anything like that. But if it's just a discussion can we not scroll past and say that ones not for me.

As far as I'm aware the NAS hasn't written anything about the purpose of the forum and I don't think they like to be too prescriptive about what is discussed as long as the rules are followed. I think that is right. I don't think adults should be told what they can and can't talk about as long as it isn't hateful.

Expecto_Patronum said:

I think the primary purpose is (or at least should be) for people to find a place of belonging

It is for me. I'm very happy and grateful that this forum exists. 

Expecto_Patronum said:

But if it's just a discussion can we not scroll past and say that ones not for me.

Yes, the characteristic of any forum is that it consists of many various topics and it's likely that most of its users won't be fully satisfied. I scroll whenever I can see topics related to politics, news, etc. But as the "big world " these topics come from, is too much for me, I just ignore and scroll down.

I absolutely agree, we have to be mindful of others and avoid spreading stereotypes about people of various origins, cultures etc. We all are humans and Autism affects humans of all origins. I just googled - countries with highest autism rate. The result showed USA, Qatar and South Korea. It's important to note, that these are diagnosed cases. 

Expecto_Patronum said:

I think the primary purpose is (or at least should be) for people to find a place of belonging

It is for me. I'm very happy and grateful that this forum exists. 

Expecto_Patronum said:

But if it's just a discussion can we not scroll past and say that ones not for me.

Yes, the characteristic of any forum is that it consists of many various topics and it's likely that most of its users won't be fully satisfied. I scroll whenever I can see topics related to politics, news, etc. But as the "big world " these topics come from, is too much for me, I just ignore and scroll down.

I absolutely agree, we have to be mindful of others and avoid spreading stereotypes about people of various origins, cultures etc. We all are humans and Autism affects humans of all origins. I just googled - countries with highest autism rate. The result showed USA, Qatar and South Korea. It's important to note, that these are diagnosed cases.