Why nothing for us!!!!

I have enjoyed this thread with all its twists and turns and going off totally on a tangent - as we autistics are very prone to do!

Going back to Cricket's original post, I don't know why some sort of local groups cannot be set up, either through the NAS or through some other forum. 

What harm would it do for NAS to facilitate this?  I think the cost would actually be minimal and it would also partially remove the accusation that the NAS do not really cater for adults.  And I don't really think it would be seen as creating a dating service anymore than a gardening club, or an art class is a dating service.  You may meet someone, you may not, as in any other social situation.

Autistic people have enough problem trying to 'fit in' and generally do not have a social life as that is one of the impairments that define autism.  But it wouldn't be a bad thing for them to get together and be able to talk about their interests.

This is one of the things that it would be difficult to set up on this forum without help from the NAS, ,for the simple reason that anything which helps identify someone is removed by moderators, and I'm sure saying something like 'meet under the clock tower in Autisby High Street at 9:00am on Saturday for a walk to Aspie Gardens and chat with other autistic people' would also be removed by moderators for the reason that it could be leading people into a vulneraable situation.

As regards being a 'Charity' i note that the NAS certainly knows how to charge for its courses and events,  and even membership costs are very high - certainly far too high than for me to consider joining even though I might find the magazine interesting.  The NAS certainly is not a 'charity' in the traditional sense of the word.  It is a commercial business, funded by the government.  And it appears that the 'charity' element is a cover to divert the attention away from the fact it is a commercial business.  A charity is perceived by the majority of the population to rely on direct donations from the public, and not be in effect be some sort of government quango. 

My employment is with a similarly funded 'charity' and I feel the same way about that, having been TUPEd over from the NHS, in order to save the NHS money.  In fact the cost is probably not any cheaper, it is simply coming from another 'pot' and in the eyes of Daily Mail readers the government accounts look a better if it appears that the government is giving assistance to charities.

In another of my posts I asked if National Autism Awareness Week should be more than baking cakes.  I am at a loss to think what money donated to the NAS is for apart from to help boost the salaries of the directors.  We should be seeing articles every day on television, in the newspapes and MPs should be inundated with our stories about how we are affected - after all from each of us is our own unique story, and we will not make 'everyone understand' unless our points get across.

Funding should be available for subsidised services, membership of the NAS should be at a nominal only charge for those who are affected by autism, and we should all be able to access an NHS assessment and possible diagnosis without a two year or even more wait.  I am sure if the government reduced the grant to the NAS by half and gave tha money to the NHS for assessments it would more than cover the costs.  But then, I'm sure the government does not really want everyone with Autism to be diagnosed.  That would simply show the scale of help that really was required for support of Autistic people.

I have enjoyed this thread with all its twists and turns and going off totally on a tangent - as we autistics are very prone to do!

Going back to Cricket's original post, I don't know why some sort of local groups cannot be set up, either through the NAS or through some other forum. 

What harm would it do for NAS to facilitate this?  I think the cost would actually be minimal and it would also partially remove the accusation that the NAS do not really cater for adults.  And I don't really think it would be seen as creating a dating service anymore than a gardening club, or an art class is a dating service.  You may meet someone, you may not, as in any other social situation.

Autistic people have enough problem trying to 'fit in' and generally do not have a social life as that is one of the impairments that define autism.  But it wouldn't be a bad thing for them to get together and be able to talk about their interests.

This is one of the things that it would be difficult to set up on this forum without help from the NAS, ,for the simple reason that anything which helps identify someone is removed by moderators, and I'm sure saying something like 'meet under the clock tower in Autisby High Street at 9:00am on Saturday for a walk to Aspie Gardens and chat with other autistic people' would also be removed by moderators for the reason that it could be leading people into a vulneraable situation.

As regards being a 'Charity' i note that the NAS certainly knows how to charge for its courses and events,  and even membership costs are very high - certainly far too high than for me to consider joining even though I might find the magazine interesting.  The NAS certainly is not a 'charity' in the traditional sense of the word.  It is a commercial business, funded by the government.  And it appears that the 'charity' element is a cover to divert the attention away from the fact it is a commercial business.  A charity is perceived by the majority of the population to rely on direct donations from the public, and not be in effect be some sort of government quango. 

My employment is with a similarly funded 'charity' and I feel the same way about that, having been TUPEd over from the NHS, in order to save the NHS money.  In fact the cost is probably not any cheaper, it is simply coming from another 'pot' and in the eyes of Daily Mail readers the government accounts look a better if it appears that the government is giving assistance to charities.

In another of my posts I asked if National Autism Awareness Week should be more than baking cakes.  I am at a loss to think what money donated to the NAS is for apart from to help boost the salaries of the directors.  We should be seeing articles every day on television, in the newspapes and MPs should be inundated with our stories about how we are affected - after all from each of us is our own unique story, and we will not make 'everyone understand' unless our points get across.

Funding should be available for subsidised services, membership of the NAS should be at a nominal only charge for those who are affected by autism, and we should all be able to access an NHS assessment and possible diagnosis without a two year or even more wait.  I am sure if the government reduced the grant to the NAS by half and gave tha money to the NHS for assessments it would more than cover the costs.  But then, I'm sure the government does not really want everyone with Autism to be diagnosed.  That would simply show the scale of help that really was required for support of Autistic people.