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Noam111g
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30 May 2023, 1:52 am

Thanks to wrongplanet I was able to participate in very helpful discussions and receive alot of good advice, hear peoples thoughts and more. Its all thanks to alex plank, the wrongplanet staff team, and the members here, my autism spectrum disorder has improved significantly and live a better life thanks to wrongplanet, so i thought that deserves some appreciation.

Can you also share how much you love wrongplanet and how much you appreciate it?

thanks.



Joe90
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30 May 2023, 8:21 am

What I like most about this site (and what keeps me here) is the high amount of empathy that goes on here. I'm more likely to get a friendly response here than I am (by strangers) on other social platforms.

I know there's a lot of bickering and intolerance of certain views here but that's just called being humans, nothing to do with empathy. I'm sure it's probably the same on other sites, which is why I just stay put. I suppose I've become so comfortable here that I get more easily narked by things and not afraid to express it (familiarity breeds contempt, like loving families living under the same roof).


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carlos55
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30 May 2023, 10:43 am

WP has improved my non verbal communication skills as well as debating skills well done.

One good thing about the site you can criticise ideas but not get personal so discussions don’t collapse into a twitter storm of verbal diarrhoea of insults and F U’s


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KitLily
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30 May 2023, 11:04 am

What I like is that usually here, I can get a clear explanation as well as empathy.

You know what I mean. When I ask a question of an NT, much of the time I get the replies: 'why are you asking?' 'why don't you understand?' 'what do you think I mean?' etc. So annoying! :x

Whereas on WP, I can get a straightforward answer.


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FleaOfTheChill
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30 May 2023, 3:54 pm

I like that you get a bunch of people from all over who all have very different ways of viewing life, past experiences, areas of knowledge/expertise, and so on. It's a diverse bunch and that makes for interesting things to read, imho.

While I don't relate to a lot of things here all the time, there are things I do relate to and for me, that is a rare thing in my day to day life. Sometimes I just want to be in a place where someone has a chance in hell of catching my drift, or me catching theirs. Something to be said for that, I think.

I also like the fact that I can come and go, take time to read, process, and decide if I want to write/participate or simply lurk. No pressure human interaction scores high with me.



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31 May 2023, 5:01 am

All of the above plus.

This is one of the rare autistic spaces where us older Autistics are a significant part of the membership. I think that is one reason for the mostly mature ways things are handled here relative to other online spaces.

A lot of discussions above about advice. As important as that is sometimes people just need to vent among others who've had similar experiences. This is the place for that.

There is wide consensus that online socialization is not real socialization or is lesser socialization than in-person socialization. To me, this place is real socialization and far more than I have ever had in my life. This is not perfect by any means but here we do not have to worry about nonverbal communication and the forum format unlike other online formats and especially in-person communication does not require or come with the expectation of immediate response.


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KitLily
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31 May 2023, 6:27 am

^^Good point about older autistics and late diagnosed ones. Most autism advice is geared to children and young people isn't it.


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envirozentinel
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31 May 2023, 8:06 am

Great to see positive feedback. I see a lot of rudeness and toxicity on other (NT) websites that I occasionally venture to look at, and compared to them WP is well mannered and a pleasure to observe, for the most part. I earned such a great deal here just after finding the site and joining. It's good to be able to use such knowledge from others as well as that gained from personal experience to benefit others who seek guidance.

No site will be perfect but an effort is made to keep potential trolling to a minimum and protect the more vulnerable members here.

Since I lost my original email address some time ago I no longer get notifications on threads I follow but feel free to PM me with any concerns.


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KitLily
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31 May 2023, 10:58 am

envirozentinel wrote:
Great to see positive feedback. I see a lot of rudeness and toxicity on other (NT) websites that I occasionally venture to look at, and compared to them WP is well mannered and a pleasure to observe, for the most part.


It reminds me of 'the old days' online before Facebook and Twitter etc. The days when we just had message boards that were run by admins and moderators, and were lovely places.

I remember many years ago I was mildly annoyed with someone on a message board. The other posters were horrified and told me off. Imagine that happening on social media now! People are throwing insults left, right and centre, no one cares.


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IsabellaLinton
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31 May 2023, 2:03 pm

I never used a "message board" or any other type of forum in the past. I don't even use Twitter or Facebook. No idea what My Space is or was. When I stumbled into WP in 2017 it's because I'd been googling to know if I was the only person alive on Earth who didn't like daylight, and looked forward to the end of Daylight Savings Time every autumn. You'll notice I joined on 1st November, and that's why. DST had just ended and I was feeling like myself, as I do every year when I'm cocooned in a cradle of darkness and quiet by 4 pm. I thought I was a freak, and googled to see if there was a name for my unusual condition, rather than vampire or goth girl. I knew it was something bigger than daylight that made me different, but I was yet to know I was autistic.

My google search brought me here. Straight away, the name Wrong Planet caught my attention. There was a thread about light sensitivity and other people said they didn't like DST. I was still confused about what a forum was or how this all worked, but the more I clicked around I knew I'd found my home. I'll be honest, I've never had a home before. Not with my parents, never with friends, and even in my adult life I'd endured so much trauma I didn't feel safe anywhere. I remember watching "Cheers" on TV as a teenager and literally crying about that idea "Where everybody knows your name ...." I needed and wanted that more than I'd ever admitted to myself. In fact I used to think of Diane from Cheers as my alter-ego, because she's a consummate social misfit. Too obsessed with literature and academics to mix with "real people", and yet too "real" to fit with a posh elite.

I crept in to have a peek around, and found blabby. Blabbs already knows he gets credit for winning my anxious heart, so that I could feel comfortable enough to shut the door behind me. It was a comment he'd written, reminding people to be careful with their personal details. That's exactly what I needed to hear, because otherwise I would have been too afraid to join. I was scared that I'd be found or identified, and that fear would keep me from opening up in the way I so desperately needed to do. I started much more on the down low than I am now. I didn't even admit to having kids because I was so afraid of their personal privacy being in jeopardy. I read my oldest posts and I can tell I was masking, although it was subconscious. It was so engrained in me as a defensive mechanism, I was scared of opening my heart.

The rest is history. I've come a long way by getting real, and dropping some of my original persona. I've made friends who will last a lifetime, who have literally saved my life at times of despair. Shouts to auntblabby, RiversongK, Prometheus18, DeepHour, Magna, Booya, Save_F, and especially Raleigh for that. I don't know what I would have done without those people (among others) back around 2018 / 2019 in particular. Now the list has grown and I love so many people here, I wouldn't know where to start naming you all.

Beyond the fact I've made friends, I've grown because WP taught me to think. I've never had an avenue for reading, writing, and critical thought to be interactive like this. As a mute person who is terrified of the outside world and of interpersonal relationships involving speech and / or body language, this has been perfect. I can interact with people philosophically, intellectually, and emotionally, or just use the space to rant into the wind. I can post music or play word games when my ability to communicate fails me for the thousandth time per day. I've learned how to deal with conflict, how to express myself, and how to forgive. I feel connected yet also sovereign and safe, because my privacy and identity are always protected even when I feel vulnerable or exposed.

I've been to the other autism sites but this will always be my home. Thanks to everyone who helped make this place everything it is today. I love you all and hope we continue to thrive.



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31 May 2023, 3:02 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
I never used a "message board" or any other type of forum in the past. I don't even use Twitter or Facebook. No idea what My Space is or was. When I stumbled into WP in 2017 it's because I'd been googling to know if I was the only person alive on Earth who didn't like daylight, and looked forward to the end of Daylight Savings Time every autumn. You'll notice I joined on 1st November, and that's why. DST had just ended and I was feeling like myself, as I do every year when I'm cocooned in a cradle of darkness and quiet by 4 pm. I thought I was a freak, and googled to see if there was a name for my unusual condition, rather than vampire or goth girl. I knew it was something bigger than daylight that made me different, but I was yet to know I was autistic.

My google search brought me here. Straight away, the name Wrong Planet caught my attention. There was a thread about light sensitivity and other people said they didn't like DST. I was still confused about what a forum was or how this all worked, but the more I clicked around I knew I'd found my home. I'll be honest, I've never had a home before. Not with my parents, never with friends, and even in my adult life I'd endured so much trauma I didn't feel safe anywhere. I remember watching "Cheers" on TV as a teenager and literally crying about that idea "Where everybody knows your name ...." I needed and wanted that more than I'd ever admitted to myself. In fact I used to think of Diane from Cheers as my alter-ego, because she's a consummate social misfit. Too obsessed with literature and academics to mix with "real people", and yet too "real" to fit with a posh elite.

I crept in to have a peek around, and found blabby. Blabbs already knows he gets credit for winning my anxious heart, so that I could feel comfortable enough to shut the door behind me. It was a comment he'd written, reminding people to be careful with their personal details. That's exactly what I needed to hear, because otherwise I would have been too afraid to join. I was scared that I'd be found or identified, and that fear would keep me from opening up in the way I so desperately needed to do. I started much more on the down low than I am now. I didn't even admit to having kids because I was so afraid of their personal privacy being in jeopardy. I read my oldest posts and I can tell I was masking, although it was subconscious. It was so engrained in me as a defensive mechanism, I was scared of opening my heart.

The rest is history. I've come a long way by getting real, and dropping some of my original persona. I've made friends who will last a lifetime, who have literally saved my life at times of despair. Shouts to auntblabby, RiversongK, Prometheus18, DeepHour, Magna, Booya, Save_F, and especially Raleigh for that. I don't know what I would have done without those people (among others) back around 2018 / 2019 in particular. Now the list has grown and I love so many people here, I wouldn't know where to start naming you all.

Beyond the fact I've made friends, I've grown because WP taught me to think. I've never had an avenue for reading, writing, and critical thought to be interactive like this. As a mute person who is terrified of the outside world and of interpersonal relationships involving speech and / or body language, this has been perfect. I can interact with people philosophically, intellectually, and emotionally, or just use the space to rant into the wind. I can post music or play word games when my ability to communicate fails me for the thousandth time per day. I've learned how to deal with conflict, how to express myself, and how to forgive. I feel connected yet also sovereign and safe, because my privacy and identity are always protected even when I feel vulnerable or exposed.

I've been to the other autism sites but this will always be my home. Thanks to everyone who helped make this place everything it is today. I love you all and hope we continue to thrive.


I didn't have access to the internet at home until late 2009, and the only time I had internet access before was at school, which we were only allowed to use for school-related purposes. So as soon as I had my own internet at home, I thought I'd find out more about autism for the first time (I know I was diagnosed in 1999 but I only knew what I was told, even though my mum had a Tony Attwood book about Asperger's but it was quite outdated and I never read it, I just threw it across the room every time I saw it because I hated my diagnosis, so my mum had to hide it in the end). So when I first got internet on my own home computer I decided to learn more about autism independently, and I stumbled upon this site. I wasn't intending on joining any forums, as I was quite new to the social internet world and hadn't really heard of internet forums.
I stumbled upon a random thread here and I had (the same as I get now) an urge to respond to it, so I quickly signed up just to post one post in one thread. :lol: It asked me for a username, and I chose the first thing that came in my head - Joe90 (which was a nickname for a guy I liked at the time).

So that's the origin of Joe90. And, 26,000+ posts and like 200 arguments later, I'm still here! :cheers:


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IsabellaLinton
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31 May 2023, 3:43 pm

I was experiencing my "trauma years" through the 2000's and didn't have access to a computer which could be private. I was still dealing with identity theft. People were posing as me online. They even hacked my email account to write to my family and lie about why I was out of touch. The real me was so frightened I was sure I'd never use a computer again. Even when I joined here, my trauma therapist was very concerned and said I shouldn't play with fire. There was a potential I'd be trolled or say too much about my private life, since I tend to info dump. I didn't want to tell any lies but I had to be very guarded about what I'd share or not share. Even now it might seem like I'm on here all the time and I write a lot about my life, but you'll probably notice it's the same 5-10 stories and themes on repeat.

I'm still really scared to say much that will identify me or cause trauma flashbacks. Thank goodness my daughter finally encouraged me to start talking about her. She said she didn't care and it was fine because she had an account too. That was kind of my turning point. I didn't talk about my biological son until the last couple of months. It feels so much better to be real about my daily life, and I couldn't have done any of it if I didn't feel comfortable with the mods' support. Thank you again to Cornflake for making that change, and ensuring we're all safe from trolls or dangerous people.



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31 May 2023, 5:03 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
I was experiencing my "trauma years" through the 2000's and didn't have access to a computer which could be private. I was still dealing with identity theft. People were posing as me online. They even hacked my email account to write to my family and lie about why I was out of touch. The real me was so frightened I was sure I'd never use a computer again. Even when I joined here, my trauma therapist was very concerned and said I shouldn't play with fire. There was a potential I'd be trolled or say too much about my private life, since I tend to info dump. I didn't want to tell any lies but I had to be very guarded about what I'd share or not share. Even now it might seem like I'm on here all the time and I write a lot about my life, but you'll probably notice it's the same 5-10 stories and themes on repeat.

I'm still really scared to say much that will identify me or cause trauma flashbacks. Thank goodness my daughter finally encouraged me to start talking about her. She said she didn't care and it was fine because she had an account too. That was kind of my turning point. I didn't talk about my biological son until the last couple of months. It feels so much better to be real about my daily life, and I couldn't have done any of it if I didn't feel comfortable with the mods' support. Thank you again to Cornflake for making that change, and ensuring we're all safe from trolls or dangerous people.


:heart:


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31 May 2023, 8:17 pm

I'm relatively new here but I like it a lot so far. A couple years ago I tried a different site (just called autism forums) and I didn't feel as welcome there, in particular because there was a lot more open transphobia.

Here there seems to be a wide demographic of people while still maintaining a welcome atmosphere. It's nice to have a place to speak your thoughts, and hear thoughts from people of all walks of life, in a friendly and open setting



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02 Jun 2023, 8:17 am

Yes Isabella and Joe, I learned a looooooooong time ago not to give my real name or a clear, recent photo of myself, it's too risky isn't it. I keep as private as I can, I don't even like private messages as I've been bullied in those in the past.


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KitLily
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02 Jun 2023, 8:19 am

And it was pointed out to me a while ago: the reason message boards are nicer is because they have moderators and admins. The moderators keep everyone behaving politely.

The reason Twitter, Facebook etc. are horrible is because there aren't any moderators and admins so people, trolls and bots run riot and get out of control saying what they like.


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