Holly - The moderator

Dear Indigoangie and community members, 

I have responded to you in your original post as well here. 

Firstly, I am sorry that I am only responding to you now, and I hope the response here helps to clear up the reasons behind the post being deleted. We would like you to know that we have spoken to Ian about the permission given, and although he agrees that he suggested the community as a place to seek information, there has unfortunately been a miscommunication and misunderstanding about what the community can offer in regards to research, formal or informal. 

The community rules have always stated that any posts that are for research purposes will be edited or deleted without warning. The reason for this is so that the community remains a place just for the community users - to chat and converse - and not to be part of research for others to use in any capacity. This applies to the National Autistic Society as well. We will not conduct research here, as the community is not here for that reason, and therefore we do not want to encourage others using it for research either. 

We appreciate that everyone on the community are able to make the choice of how much information they give in their posts, and we want to create a safe, open space, but occasionally we have to edit or delete posts that we deem to have broken the rules. This is a wonderful community to be part of, because you chat, support and advise each other amazingly. As Moderators we try our best to not intrude, but also be as helpful as we can, when we can. I am sorry if you felt on this occasion and on others that the wrong decision was made.  

Dear Indigoangie and community members, 

I have responded to you in your original post as well here. 

Firstly, I am sorry that I am only responding to you now, and I hope the response here helps to clear up the reasons behind the post being deleted. We would like you to know that we have spoken to Ian about the permission given, and although he agrees that he suggested the community as a place to seek information, there has unfortunately been a miscommunication and misunderstanding about what the community can offer in regards to research, formal or informal. 

The community rules have always stated that any posts that are for research purposes will be edited or deleted without warning. The reason for this is so that the community remains a place just for the community users - to chat and converse - and not to be part of research for others to use in any capacity. This applies to the National Autistic Society as well. We will not conduct research here, as the community is not here for that reason, and therefore we do not want to encourage others using it for research either. 

We appreciate that everyone on the community are able to make the choice of how much information they give in their posts, and we want to create a safe, open space, but occasionally we have to edit or delete posts that we deem to have broken the rules. This is a wonderful community to be part of, because you chat, support and advise each other amazingly. As Moderators we try our best to not intrude, but also be as helpful as we can, when we can. I am sorry if you felt on this occasion and on others that the wrong decision was made.