B. Posting
What not to send to alt.support.autism

Contents:

  1. "On" or "Off" Topic?
  2. Negative Statements on Autism
  3. The Miracle Cure
  4. Advertising
  5. Virus Warnings and Urban Legends

See also:


1. "On" or "Off" Topic?

The topic of this newsgroup is support, information and discussion around the subject of autism and related conditions. However, it can be very difficult to decide if something is truly "on topic", since a.s.a. is partly a social group, and the tendency of ACs to go off at tangents does make for some rather wandering threads (someone recently compared the newsgroup to a Monty Python script).

Also, AC social skills/communication difficulties can make the understanding of what is off-topic and what is not, rather confusing, and our attempts to define the rules to "an autistic level of detail" (a phrase I heard on BBC radio recently), are probably not helpful.

However, please try to put "OT" (Off Topic) in the subject line, if you wish to post something not directly related to autism support on a.s.a., so that people who don't have much time can just read the directly relevent posts and those of us who live our entire social lives on the newsgroup can make a beeline for them!

Examples:

  • OT: Vacuum cleaner parts
  • OT: Blonde Jokes
  • OT: Rats as pets

Please try to ensure your subject headings are relevent. If you change the subject of a thread, please change the subject heading too.

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2. Negative statements on autism

Any statements that refer to autism in a negative light are liable to provoke an angry, defensive reaction from ACs. For instance, if a parent complains that it is terrible coping with an AC child, many AC adults take that as a personal insult of themselves as children. Many eloquent, apparently high functioning ACs on the newsgroup were far less high functioning as children, and most have had challenging childhoods. They know what it's like to be a child with an ASD and will see things from the child's point of view.

It would be very sad if people struggling to come to terms with an ASD diagnosis, for themselves or their loved-ones, were unable to express those contradictory, and frequently negative feelings. You are free to do so on this newsgroup. However, be prepared for some possibly challenging and difficult reactions from those on the other side of the fence and try not to take such reactions personally.

Remember: to you, autism might be a terrible tragedy. For many of us on the spectrum, it is just the way we are.

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3. The Miracle Cure

It is common for people to join the list gushing about some new treatment or diet that they believe (probably sincerely) will "cure" a large number of ACs (please see Sections 5 and 8).

Please be aware that:

  1. most of us have probably already heard of it
  2. many have probably tried it and found it wanting
  3. many of us don't want curing, we want accepting (see: "The Infamous Cure Debate")
  4. certain posts of this nature have been interpreted as "Some ignorant NT telling ACs/parents of ACs how to live their lives".
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4. Advertising

"Spamming" and adverts for products and services, which, even when bona fide and directly relevant, cause a lot of bad feeling.

Unfortunately, any newsgroup associated with health/disability, particularly that pertaining to children's behaviour will attract a vast number of people hoping to capitalise on people's desparation. Some are not even subtle about it, and it causes tremendous offense. Plus, people have to pay to download this stuff.

Requests for money, even indirectly, will produce a bad reactions. You have been warned.

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5. Virus Warnings and Urban Legends

You won't be on the Internet long before you get your first phoney virus warning or are horrified by an Internet urban legend. The following sites may be useful in educating yourself. I have found that book-marking them has saved me from many a potential embarassment (recommendations from Jackie and Kitten).

If in doubt, DO NOT send it! If you send an unsubstantiated warning to the group, you are likely to be told off by a few people who have already seen that particular post 5 million times. You will probably be forgiven (eventually), but it's really best to err on the side of not sending any warnings to anyone at all. If it is a true threat, you can rest assured that the information will get out.

Another problem is Internet Scams and pyramid selling (which is actually illegal in many countries). The following recommendations are from Suzanne and Kitten:

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Originally compiled by Anna Hayward on behalf of the alt.support.autism newsgroup, November 2000. Original site design and HTML by Kalen Molton. Please address any general queries to Mike Stanton. Broken links and problems of a technical nature should be addressed to John Muggleton by entering details in the comments box of the form here. Any opinions expressed in this article are personal and should not be construed as medical advice. We are not representatives of any of the companies discussed, nor do we receive any form of commission.

The latest version of this faq is at www.mugsy.org/asa_faq