I often talk to my cats and they often answer, I try and work out what they're trying to say. Boris my tuxedo cat has a good range of swear words, especially when I put any flea or worm drop on him, it sounds to me like 'FILTH, FILTH, HASSOCKS!' I can get the filth bit as hte stuff does smell a bit, but hassocks!?
He says milk, and if he dosen't it or dosen't get it fast enough, he stretches up and digs his claws in a bit just under your bum cheek and then tries to pull down your trousers!
Hi Number, I don't think Rosie's post was aimed specifically at you, I think it was just because you were the last person to post the "offending" word when she was moderating.
I was a bit confused at first by what she said as I couldn't remember anyone swearing. Then I looked through the posts again and saw that you, Cat woman and I all had a word redacted from our posts - the word that can be used to describe a cat.
I wasn't aware that this word was swearing, but I think it was flagged because it can be used in an offensive way, although using it offensively would have nothing to do with cats (the feline species) and I wasn't aware that "double entendres" (double meanings of words) was banned here.
OK then.....I'll try that again....
Oh my Goodness Rosie.......Thank you for my targeted reminder about MY heinous swearing in this forum. There can be ZERO doubt in EVERYONE'S mind that I am a stand-out example of a "sweary bloke" who needs reminders.
I am interested by this targeting......I seem to be a Number one priority at the moment.....whereas I think most of the members here, have slightly deeper concerns about the functionality and use/abuse of this forum in a MUCH broader sense?
Notwithstanding, I would be grateful if you could email me to explain PRECISELY which words, or "structures of language" have made me fall foul on this occasion.......compared to ALL THE OTHER choices of language currently on display in the public threads (that haven't been hidden, censored or lost of course!)
This is another attempt to reply to you Rosie - testing.
Censorship is a difficult and sensitive issue. Many insults are context related. For example calling someone, "A mother", can be insulting under certain circumstances.
BTW I knew about the cat description issues on this site. So I used the four letter word rather than five.
Dear Online Community users,
We would like to remind you that we do not allow swearing on the Online Community. This is published in rule 7 of our Online Community rules:
Rule 7: Be respectful in discussions. Disagreements are fine, but personal attacks and insults are not. Swearing is not allowed. Please respect other viewpoints and avoid taking sides in arguments. Comments can be misinterpreted, and posts may come from users who are anxious or distressed. If something upsets you, take a break before responding.
Kind regards,
Rosie Mod
A thread celebrating cat language has turned into a disagreement about human language.
A thread highlighting the ability of two different animals to communicate with different languages has highlighted the inability of one set to communicate in the same language.
There is a paradox here though.
Can we cater for all? It seems not and this is the crux of the issue - the "older" adults feel gagged.
I fear that any dissatisfaction with the NAS's approach might be fuelled, at least in part, by a combination of internalised / unintentional ableism, coupled with a lack of awareness of the issues faced by those whose difficulties are different and/or greater.
This is intended to be a forum in which all autistic adults can participate - and it's also open to everyone (including children) to view / read.
It might help to regard using it as being similar to choosing to watch a U-rated (Universal, suitable for all) or PG-rated (Parental Guidance) film, which can - for example - feature only "very mild" or "mild bad language".
We know what to expect when we choose to watch films with these ratings, can all still enjoy them, and should rightly feel alarmed to find anything stronger featured in them.
It's not a perfect analogy, but I feel that the same general principle rightly applies here, and it might help some people to reframe how they view this forum's rules and practices.
In my view, the NAS's approach helps to ensure that this forum is welcoming, suitable, and age appropriate for all autistic adults, not just those who don't also have learning disabilities.
There is a paradox here though.
To be welcoming to those with a lower mental age or who are easily triggered then we have to be "nice" and not use bad words yet for the high functioning adults they want to be able to talk about adult stuff, use some rude words and cover contentious issues which probably upsets those at the other end of the range.
Can we cater for all? It seems not and this is the crux of the issue - the "older" adults feel gagged.
Seeing as we're all supposed to be adults here, then I think then I think the AI bots that control what we are and are not allowed to say, should be reprogrammed to be more relaxed
This site makes it clear that it's for adults only, so we should be able to use the word in a gentle sense of fun without offending anyone.
In my view, the NAS's approach helps to ensure that this forum is welcoming, suitable, and age appropriate for all autistic adults, not just those who don't also have learning disabilities.
Autistica:
Autistica - Learning disabilty and autism
Patient.info:
"The WHO classifies severity of an intellectual disability as:
- Mild: approximate IQ range of 50 to 69 (in adults, mental age from 9 to under 12 years).
- Moderate: approximate IQ range of 35 to 49 (in adults, mental age from 6 to under 9 years).
- Severe: approximate IQ range of 20 to 34 (in adults, mental age from 3 to under 6 years).
- Profound ((below 0.003 percentile): IQ under 20 (in adults, mental age below 3 years)."
I do not except that this is a valid approach, I think it's a curtailment of free speach of the most insidious kind
Fair enough, but if you signed the terms and conditions of usage when you joinedthe site then you have agreed to their standards, even if you may find them uncomfortable.
We have no free speech in the UK so there is nothing to defend. We have a freedom of expression which is a bit vague but offensive words are certainly allowed to be banned:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_United_Kingdom
It is worth understanding that your freedoms are not really that free.
Are we so vulnerable that the names of small garden birds, male chickens etc might be offensive?
Those same words used in other contexts are offensive so there are grounds for the block, even if it seems absurd when we want to use the other meaning.
Don't get me wrong, I have censorship as much as anyone but there are reasons and justifications for it here - their house, their rules so to speak.
Are we so vulnerable that the names of small garden birds, male chickens etc might be offensive? We might be vulnerable but will we not have heard far worse walking down the street?
I do not except that this is a valid approach, I think it's a curtailment of free speach of the most insidious kind, one that makes having an everyday conversation about normal things difficult, difficult enough that I for one often don't bother having because censors make it so difficult. I have better things to do with my intellect than constantly trying to outwit a AI bot, if AI bots are learning from sites like this, then all that will happen is it will get more sophisticated in its attempts to censor us.
Seeing as we're all supposed to be adults here
I think NAS see us as vulnerable people which is why we are treated like children.
There is more than a grain of truth in this so I suspect it is a valid approach.
At least we have a pretty good idea of the constraints being put upon us so we can use our intellect to find ways to work around them.
Seeing as we're all supposed to be adults here, then I think then I think the AI bots that control what we are and are not allowed to say, should be reprogrammed to be more relaxed. Some of the words that get redacted are ones that I can't think of a "rude" use for them and that saying something as I have a filthy mind and a wide vocabulary.
I'm fed up of being treated like a child by these AI bots, its degrading, marginalising and stops me from being able to communicate fully, beause I'm having to find euphemisms for euphemisms or euphemisms for proper words. A lot of the words in the banned lists seem to be proper British words that are used in a different context in America, such as certain birds, the full name for cats and now I wonder about this one, beaver?
I just think that kind and polite people [like us - I feel] just need to keep doing our thing, as best we can.....even if I do flip-the-f out occasionally?! I aspire to your current displayed grace/restraint/avoidance (something that I also used to have here....until I learnt the ropes perhaps?!)
I am just genuinely becoming a bit afraid of where "things" are heading......and I know that I am late to that"fear" party.....despite my robust knowledge of current affairs!
I think that our kind can get used to saying pu55y rather than the pure spelling of it for a while.....and then we can adapt again, when/if required to do so.
Fwiw, I can READILY foresee a situation where I am only REALLY comfortable to share Number secrets when I am out in the woods with just one soul at a time......and yet that now makes me sound like a ceral kilr - and yes, I deliberately spelt those wrong to avoid another wave of bot invaders here!!
I'm with you, Number, however I don't know how we can stop the censorship when the internet seems to be controlling more of our lives every day.
This site makes it clear that it's for adults only, so we should be able to use the word in a gentle sense of fun without offending anyone.
It reminds me of some quotes from Mrs Slocombe
I thought this had "posted" earlier! - Weird how great (or aged Spergian minds), "think alike."
Do you remember "Are You Being Serv ed" on the TV?......late 1970's...?
I simply cannot hear the word in question *** [That is official Spergian spelling for this word, to bypass gormless computer fun-sucks btw] without IMMEDIATELY seeing Mrs Sloakham in my mind's eye.....and the steps leading up to the lifts in the background.
This particular word has been 'played upon', in jest, literature and culture for AGES!?
Their ain't nowt new under the sun, sister.....but the censorship and "officialdom" seems to have become more "blanket" in it's presence and power in our lives.......because we are letting it be? Perhaps?!?
Hi Cat woman, did the AI bots redact the word *** in your post?
So are we not allowed to mention the song, What's new, p**sycat? Or the poem The owl and the p**sycat?
It reminds me of some quotes from Mrs Slocombe, a character in the sitcom Are you being served, who was devoted to her cat:
"The least sign of danger, and my *** hair stands on end!"
"Mrs Axelby..went straight up to the sergeant at the desk and said - have any of your constables reported having seen this lady's ***?" 
Oh dear another word we're not allowed to use in it's correct context
