Published on 12, July, 2020
(Updated July 2023)
Our Community is designed to be a safe and welcoming place for those that use and visit it for support and information about autism.
Comments made on the forums are those of individual users whose views may not be shared by the National Autistic Society. Content found in links to external websites, the views they express or the products/services they offer are also not endorsed.
By joining the Community you agree to be bound by the following rules:
Please note:
All the above rules apply to private messages, with the exception that people may wish to arrange to meet in person or contact one another by other means. In these cases please take the utmost care, and ensure that others are aware for your own protection. If you experience difficulties please contact communitymanager@nas.org.uk for assistance.
By joining the Community, you accept that the Community Moderating Team reserve the right to edit or delete comments and may suspend or delete accounts that break these rules.
Continuously breaking the rules may lead to posts and comments being pre-moderated before being published, suspension of accounts, or deletion if rules continue to be broken. Any attempts to circumvent bans will result in accounts being deleted.
A message from the moderators
The Online Community aims to allow autistic individuals, family members, friends and professionals space to support one another. While we do have a team of Community moderators, their primary role is to ensure that the community is a safe place for all members, and to ensure that rules are followed.
Very occasionally, moderators may step in to provide signposting if it is relevant, or if there are concerns for somebody’s safety. The community is not a crisis service however, and moderators are not able to provide emotional support and advice. They may post details of services that can help you if they have concerns about your or some one else’s wellbeing. If you feel you are at immediate risk, please visit our urgent help webpage for information on how to get help.
If a moderator has not responded to a post, this does not mean that the team are not aware of the situation. There may be a number of reasons that a moderator has not responded, for example, if the community has already provided all of the signposting that a moderator would be able to give, and they are comfortable that there is nothing else that they are able to add. There may also be reasons that the moderation team are not always at liberty to discuss publicly.
In certain circumstances, the moderation team may need to get in touch with a member directly. If this happens, it will not always be publicly posted on the community thread. This is in order to protect the member’s confidentiality, as it may be a private and sensitive matter.
Our Community moderating team are here to help; we will not tolerate any abusive behaviour being directed at them and will suspend accounts if this happens. Please remember that the moderators are real people who are volunteers. We are here to make sure the community is a safe environment.
We do appreciate feedback, as this helps us to improve. If you have feedback, a concern or a question, please contact the Community Manager (communitymanager@nas.org.uk) in the first instance.
You can read the full legal information related to the Community in our terms and conditions. Thank you for respecting our rules; we hope that you enjoy being part of the Community forum and find it a friendly, helpful place.
All rules may be subject to amendments.