Treatment of High Functioning Vs Lower Functioning on W.P

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Going back to a point made several pages ago-

I do not agree that having subforums for "low" and "mid"- functioning people would amount to harmful segregation. No-one is forcing anyone to just post in that one forum- they are completely free to explore and interact with the rest of the site. But the subforum would be a place to talk to people with similar issues, without the replies being swamped by tactless "high"-functioners. Including those who "see no need for a safe space" because they don't need it themselves. Failing to recognise other people's problems as real is a general human trait that us lot are far from being immune to.

I've definitely seen less frank discussion of "low-functioning" issues here lately than when I joined a few years ago. I've not always been as tactful as I should, and I've encountered people who don't see why I can't magically fix my life. Most of the time, "Haven rules" have been reasonably effective in getting people to think before they reply- some variation on "Please don't talk about your wonderful almost-NT life here!" would be helpful as a header.

Thank you everyone who has made positive contributions toward recognizing the issues and or making suggestions about how to solve the issues raised in this thread. The problem is lack of inclusivity and invalidation of others viewpoints. I have witnessed attacks against everyone on this website from 'lower' functioning individuals (intellectual, sensory, etc), Neurotypicals, and even rarely against 'high' functioning individuals. Obviously, there is no way to prevent every attack from occurring, but maybe there is more we could do to give the website a sense of tone than it already has. The moderator team already made the first step by modernizing The Haven subforum rules. Now that we've established what the issues are, how can we fix them/prevent them to an acceptable degree and promote a more accepting atmosphere?

So far I have seen the following suggestions on ways of behaving, things we could possibly implement:











indicating possible solutions.


And to sum up what I thought were the important points:

I just don't like segregation. It sets a bad precedent.

I hope I'm not one of those "tactless high-functioning" folks you speak of.

I hope I never made you, or anybody, feel uncomfortable.

I don't really respond to low functioning issues because I cannot relate to them and I don't know how I can help them. People here have talked about being ignored, I can reassure here that this is not intentional and maybe people just can't relate. I don't ignore anyone here intentionally.

I do not think having a Low functioning section would be segregation because I see this stuff all the time online like there are trauma forums online and they are only for people with trauma, no one else. There are autism groups that are only for autistic people and those who suspect or self diagnosed, no one else. I do not see how this is any different. People like to create safe spaces only for those people with it. It's done for a reason because they don't want their issues to be dismissed or trivialized from those who do not have that experience. It's meant as a safe space. Perhaps here, mods can make a rule about no dismissing issues, no unsolicited advice, no "try harder" posts, no "I did this and that and now here I am in this situation because I worked so hard at it" posts.

And I have even see exclusive childfree forums where they do not allow parents or fence sitters. People will always complain about discrimination and about forums not letting everyone post there. But IMO, I believe it is their right to have their own safe space and can decide who can post there. There are lot of places online I can post in so I couldn't careless if I can't post in a group just because I am not childfree. I wouldn't find it a problem here if Alex decided to create a new board here for low functioning members and those who have more issues and don't want to hear that other talk. We can make those posts anywhere else on here but The Haven.

I was pretty "low-functioning" (in the objective sense) when I was a young child. And I was good friends with a girl whose older brother was quite low-functioning (no speech, had to be watched 24/7, perhaps not toilet-trained, but I don't remember). I sort of grew up with that family.

I think stickies and other special spaces for various groups are not really "segregation" as long as the vast majority of the site is common space.

Right. There is a large thread opened up by somebody named Super Trouper-----which speaks of "not so mild" autism and other disorders.

I find you pretty tactful, and you have a wider perspective than most. Others I could name (some of whom I do consider friends) ... not so much.

It could do people good to shut up and simply listen, as much of a monumental task that seems to be. While people here are splitting hairs and getting nothing accomplished as usual though, here's the tidbit I was talking about:

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/wr ... ost-341152

She's not the only one who left. I'm only bringing this up seeing as it's relevant to the topic of "lower functioning".

That sounded very awful what she went through. I didn't know there was more to the story.

Jesus, that is horrific. Puts the whole thing in perspective.

Who will feed me in the dungeon? I am getting peckish. I'll have roast deer and a barrel of ale.

Agreed.
There's not one member here who I ignore intentionally. I ignore some threads, but it's nothing to do with who created the threads, it's just that the threads don't interest me or I don't relate to.

I have been accused of ignoring people personally here, but I really do not mean to and I wish people wouldn't take things so personally on a discussion site. I have ADHD so I often read a message then forget to reply back. When I first came here I didn't open my PM bit for a couple of years or more because I just didn't notice that we had a PM feature here. So when I got a load of "why are you ignoring my PMs? You are so rude!" messages, I was rather taken aback.
But some members prefer not to do PMs. I've sent out countless PMs to different members but never got replies back, but I don't start interrogating them in threads asking why they're ignoring you. Some members just don't do the idle social chitchat thing here. I don't so much, I do that on Facebook.

Ouch, I hope you got that resolved.

But I'm next in line, right?