Cognitive Disparity

Post Reply New Topic

I post a lot in PPR, and an issue that I run into there is arguing with people without knowing their level of functionality. It's problematic when things get heated, and while you want to vigorously argue your position you're unsure of how far to go when you're not sure if your opponent is all there. It's particularly tricky when someone is being really rude but at the same time showing signs of maybe being more impaired than you are or suffering from other issues, so you're not sure how to respond. Getting a mod involved isn't always desirable either, as you don't want someone who might genuinely be getting support from the site to be sanctioned for behavior they can't help, but you also don't want to accept abuse.

I've also run into this in real life, as I run an AS meetup group and have occasionally had trouble with difficult behavior, mostly unwittingly stalker-ish behavior towards women and off-putting negativity that I've had to correct. It mostly goes OK, I did have to 86' one man that would not leave certain women alone (female Aspies are very hard to make comfortable in a group in the first place), and I've had to kick a few counselors and such that wanted to use my group as a sales pool for their services.

Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if they've found effective ways of dealing with it without coming off as condescending.