Separate forum/community for autistic adults ?

Trogluddite said:

@ Bob C

You asked about other web-communities that folks use.

I've joined two other sites where I read and post, and I feel that they are quite good examples of some of the issues with finding a community where one can feel comfortable.

AspieVillage.  This is a really nice, quite small and close knit community specifically for adults on the spectrum.  I love it to bits, and the people are great.  But that can also be it's weakness - the fewer people there are on a forum, the less likely it is that you will find someone who shares the same experience that you wish to share.  The few other UK base sites that I looked into seem similar in this respect, and it took me a while to settle on AspieVillage as the one where I felt most at home.

WrongPlanet.  Exactly the opposite problem.  It is very comprehensive, but used by so many people that several people can add new posts in the time that it takes me to write just one - the sheer quantity of posts can be very overwhelming.  As with several other sites I looked at, it is also dominated by users from the USA - so posts relating to UK specifics (e.g. disability law etc.) tend to be marginalised and hard to find.

As I mentioned before, I think we need to recognise that for many people, when they or a loved one first receives a diagnosis, the NAS site is the first resource that professionals will point them towards.  Getting a diagnosis can be confusing and frightening for some people, and sometimes people are looking for help with an imminent crisis - neither of which are the best time to be trawling the internet for an alternative.

Ideally, I feel that folks should be able to come here, and easily identify a "sub-forum" where they are likely to find people in a similar situation to themselves.  It is very difficult sometimes to think of a search string that will isolate only those posts pertinent to a given situation (the word "adult" can easily show up in a post about the education of children, for example) - and it would be wrong to assume that all users have extensive experience of using internet forums.

Hope you find this feedback useful.

Only just 'found' this thread. The briefest way to respond, for me, is to say that I agree pretty much 100% with Trogluddite's comments (in both posts).  

I'll go on to say that, in my opinion, an 'adults only' section should be set up, where over 18s only can join and where the odd bit of swearing won;t bring instant condemnation. The forum could set up some kind of filter, where certain words get published either as strings of asterisks or as alternative words. This should be reserved for the few really strong swear words, in my opinion. Using words like 'ar*e' of sh1t shouldn't be deemed beyond the pale, not on a forum for over 18s only anyway.

I am a member of several vintage motorcycle forums (one of my 'special interests'). It is interesting to notice how each forum has its own distint character. My favourite has exactly the bad language filtering system I've described above (the *** typre), and minimal moderation. The mods only step in when somebody clicks on the 'Report this post' button, or when they see for themselves that something obviously offensive has been published. As far as I know (it has never happened to me), they them contact the offender directly, propose a solution (eg: the offender contacts the offendee to make amends, and if the offendee accepts, the matter is closed. Or, if the offender refuses or the offendee still feels aggrieved [and presumably if the mods consider that sense of aggreievement reasonable in the circumstances], the offender is suspended from the forum. I think one or two people have been suspended for several months, and I believe that n very rare occasions - when people have uses race-hate for example - they have been banned permanently).

It seems to work, is my point. That forum is effectively self-moderating. There are oneor two members who like the look of their own tying and have massive egos, and tend to belittle others when they get the chance. I'd love it if they were barred, but in practice, other members pick them up and keep them in check.

Changing tack here: It seems in the ature of forums that people go to them when they have problems. Nobody writes in to say how everything is going along just about OK.  They use forums either to seek help, or in the hope that they might be able to provide help. The same process works on review sites - they are packed with negative reviews but that doesn't mean everyone has had terrible experiences at such and such a restaurant, or with such and such a product. There could be a vast majority out there who never even think about finding a review site becasue they've never had any problem.  Same kind of thing goes for forums. If they don't welcome people who only visit seeking help / advice / support etc, they will shrink and die, or become cliques where a handful of old-hands bang on ad infinitum.

Back to the point (I think):- I do not think any alternative forum exists which would fulfil the rold of providing a forum for adults with ASd.

I do think the NAS ought to provide such a service - I'd find it rather astounding if the NAS thought otherwise, in fact.  

Running a good forum probably takes a lot of time and effort. Users of forums should ask whether they'd like totake on the role of moderator before being too harshly critical of those who are already doing that job (especially if the existing mods are volunteers. Not sure what the situation is on this forum - maybe should be told?).

Finally apologies for typos, I'm too lazy to go back and correct them just now!

Trogluddite said:

@ Bob C

You asked about other web-communities that folks use.

I've joined two other sites where I read and post, and I feel that they are quite good examples of some of the issues with finding a community where one can feel comfortable.

AspieVillage.  This is a really nice, quite small and close knit community specifically for adults on the spectrum.  I love it to bits, and the people are great.  But that can also be it's weakness - the fewer people there are on a forum, the less likely it is that you will find someone who shares the same experience that you wish to share.  The few other UK base sites that I looked into seem similar in this respect, and it took me a while to settle on AspieVillage as the one where I felt most at home.

WrongPlanet.  Exactly the opposite problem.  It is very comprehensive, but used by so many people that several people can add new posts in the time that it takes me to write just one - the sheer quantity of posts can be very overwhelming.  As with several other sites I looked at, it is also dominated by users from the USA - so posts relating to UK specifics (e.g. disability law etc.) tend to be marginalised and hard to find.

As I mentioned before, I think we need to recognise that for many people, when they or a loved one first receives a diagnosis, the NAS site is the first resource that professionals will point them towards.  Getting a diagnosis can be confusing and frightening for some people, and sometimes people are looking for help with an imminent crisis - neither of which are the best time to be trawling the internet for an alternative.

Ideally, I feel that folks should be able to come here, and easily identify a "sub-forum" where they are likely to find people in a similar situation to themselves.  It is very difficult sometimes to think of a search string that will isolate only those posts pertinent to a given situation (the word "adult" can easily show up in a post about the education of children, for example) - and it would be wrong to assume that all users have extensive experience of using internet forums.

Hope you find this feedback useful.

Only just 'found' this thread. The briefest way to respond, for me, is to say that I agree pretty much 100% with Trogluddite's comments (in both posts).  

I'll go on to say that, in my opinion, an 'adults only' section should be set up, where over 18s only can join and where the odd bit of swearing won;t bring instant condemnation. The forum could set up some kind of filter, where certain words get published either as strings of asterisks or as alternative words. This should be reserved for the few really strong swear words, in my opinion. Using words like 'ar*e' of sh1t shouldn't be deemed beyond the pale, not on a forum for over 18s only anyway.

I am a member of several vintage motorcycle forums (one of my 'special interests'). It is interesting to notice how each forum has its own distint character. My favourite has exactly the bad language filtering system I've described above (the *** typre), and minimal moderation. The mods only step in when somebody clicks on the 'Report this post' button, or when they see for themselves that something obviously offensive has been published. As far as I know (it has never happened to me), they them contact the offender directly, propose a solution (eg: the offender contacts the offendee to make amends, and if the offendee accepts, the matter is closed. Or, if the offender refuses or the offendee still feels aggrieved [and presumably if the mods consider that sense of aggreievement reasonable in the circumstances], the offender is suspended from the forum. I think one or two people have been suspended for several months, and I believe that n very rare occasions - when people have uses race-hate for example - they have been banned permanently).

It seems to work, is my point. That forum is effectively self-moderating. There are oneor two members who like the look of their own tying and have massive egos, and tend to belittle others when they get the chance. I'd love it if they were barred, but in practice, other members pick them up and keep them in check.

Changing tack here: It seems in the ature of forums that people go to them when they have problems. Nobody writes in to say how everything is going along just about OK.  They use forums either to seek help, or in the hope that they might be able to provide help. The same process works on review sites - they are packed with negative reviews but that doesn't mean everyone has had terrible experiences at such and such a restaurant, or with such and such a product. There could be a vast majority out there who never even think about finding a review site becasue they've never had any problem.  Same kind of thing goes for forums. If they don't welcome people who only visit seeking help / advice / support etc, they will shrink and die, or become cliques where a handful of old-hands bang on ad infinitum.

Back to the point (I think):- I do not think any alternative forum exists which would fulfil the rold of providing a forum for adults with ASd.

I do think the NAS ought to provide such a service - I'd find it rather astounding if the NAS thought otherwise, in fact.  

Running a good forum probably takes a lot of time and effort. Users of forums should ask whether they'd like totake on the role of moderator before being too harshly critical of those who are already doing that job (especially if the existing mods are volunteers. Not sure what the situation is on this forum - maybe should be told?).

Finally apologies for typos, I'm too lazy to go back and correct them just now!