I am rather displeased with the new section

Post Reply New Topic

Yep. Alex is now touting for members who have nothing whatsoever to do with the autistic spectrum. Wrongplanet.net can no longer justify calling itself a voice for autistics, as it won't be. That seems to be a good result for Autism Speaks - as they can discount anything said here, now, as we'll just be another bunch of nutters.

Alex does need to at least add "Other neurodiverse" to the "Diagnosis:" on our profiles. Plus maybe allowing for "Have a friend who said he had an uncle who though he was god". And while he's there, he could spell "Asperger's" correctly, or remove it completely.

What can we do about this, autistic members rely on WP being a safe place for people on the spectrum, I guess
we are powerless and have to roll over and accept this change or just leave WP to what ever fate it has coming.
It seems like this is to do with Autism Speaks getting chummier with WP, I would hope this wasn't true, but maybe
there is a grain of truth all the talk here and on other ASD forums

I want to help people with other conditions. Wrong Planet is a public service, not a "private enterprise" as I aim to help people. My sister has Bipolar so I thought it would be a good idea to add the section.

And based on the number of posts in the new forum, it is obviously something people want.

I understand Alex. I was a member of a bipolar support group in my area years ago & I'm not bipolar but I was suspected of it at one time but those people were much more accepting, understanding & sympathetic of me than typical NTs. I've had a lot of online bipolar friends as well & it was the same thing & I find people with other disorders in general to be more accepting; NOT always thou

even if there is, as you say, a subset of schizophrenics whose symptoms can be primarily eliminated with a gf diet (or if some mild or moderate depression can be cured or eased by diet, which i believe), your claim that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are curable with diet is dismissive to those with those conditions.

i am neither schizophrenic nor bipolar, but i have been on a gluten free diet for years and other than alleviating physical ailments and allowing me to feel significantly less fatigued overall, it has not changed me. it is not a cure for everything. it may have cured your mood disorder, but be careful with your wording making claims like that. "bipolar disorder is curable" is a significantly different statement than "my mood disorder was cured by a gluten free diet."



could be.

the new subforum is not a problem; the problem is with the wording as it implies an open invitation to those who are not here due to any interest in, knowledge or questions about, or diagnosis of an ASD. it makes sense and will likely rile up no one if the subforum is primarily for discussion of other psychological (and neurological) issues as they relate to discussion about autism: comorbidities, differential diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and that kind of thing. those discussions already exist, and now will be easier to find.

I personally see no problem with it. Many of us suffer from those same co-morbid issues so that gives us a dedicated place to talk about those without having to search them out in GAD. I don't see it as dumping aspies in favor of bipolar, depressives or whatever since this is still primarily an aspergers site. People will come here because of aspergers and that's what's WP is known for. I doubt we'll get flooded by non-aspies.

Well maybe Alex could tweak the wording a bit so it's more about co-morbids if it's really putting some people off.

If you have any non-anecdotal evidence, share it.

It seems like it would be to be more appropriate to name the new forum something like "ASD Comorbid Conditions", which would indicate this site's continued primary focus on topics about ASD.

This.

Also, schizophrenia isn't that common a co-morbidity nor is it purely a psychological condition.

I wish some of the more commonly occurring co-morbid conditions (anxiety, ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, OCD, depression) were highlighted in stead.

Alex, since I was the first one to state that, the concept of private enterprise, I apologize if I have mischaracterized your intentions. And I have stated that I do think the new forum fits in. But, long run, seriously ... if you think of this as a public service and not a private enterprise, you might be more accountable to your members and public opinion than I would assume you want to be. As a private enterprise, you have final say, period. One can be a private enterprise that has public service intentions. But being purely public service presumes a level of fiduciary responsibility to the public. There isn't an advisory board, or supervisory board, or any other mechanism here, to my knowledge, for taking that sort of information in or assessing it, which is something an organization like a PTA does constantly. It may be done informally, to the extent you or certain other members have time, but it isn't a visible part of the structure. I mean no disrespect to the reality of all the good this site has done when I say I believe it to be a private enterprise, and I don't mean to imply greed when I suggest you might have some interest in traffic; as a CPA, I am well aware that even pure charity has an economic component. I guess I was just surprised reading this thread to see no discussion of the practical side.

A very cogent statement, DW_a_mom, that I echo.

There is a fundamental question here. What is the goal of WrongPlanet.net? So long as it remains a private entity, that seeks to provide nothing more than a forum for its members, and a sufficient revenue stream to continue its operations, then that question can remain unanswered, other than in the mind of the owner.

On the other hand, if WrongPlanet seeks to become one day a voice for people on the spectrum, then more transparency is required. For whom does WP speak? How does it derive its legitimacy? What are its vision, goals and values? One owner cannot be a voice for 39,832 members without some articulation of those questions.

It strikes me that WP might be becoming too big and too unwieldy for a single directing mind.

Thats a great idea, I agree, since AS should be the primary focus, IMO

Ouinon wrote the above, but this is not necessarily an answer to Ouinon,

Alex explained it simply as

I have spent some time in the past trying to sleuth out the rules and TOS of WP thinking (mistakenly) that they were written for maximum effectiveness and efficiency. (After all, this was a site for exacting Aspies and methodical Auties, how could it be otherwise???) However, I found out almost by accident that they were added to each other when something happened (rule about not discussing lower distal digestive functions) and the reaction was seen to be a good idea at the time. Members rightly question why such a thing should be when other fabulous fantasies were openly discussed with no rule at all. Some of the rules haphazardly disput other rules, and enforcing this rule negated other rules.

I know, I know, some of us think there must be some sort of master plan and some might assume there was thought and care put into the building of this community, but it is just a good a chance that WP is a sandbox, basically. Oh, well . . . aren't we all works in progress?

Play nice, now. . .

Merle

They do tend to flow. This thing is okay, while this very similar thing is not, and such.

Bipolar is curable? I'm pretty sure it isn't...

Not that I am any expert, but if Bi-Polar was curable, why aren't people being cured?