Welcome and other important stuff

[Guest guest]

We have had quite a few members join in the last month, so I wanted to

say 'welcome' to everyone who has joined recently. Please feel free to

post any questions, share any programs or strategies that have worked

for you, any suggestions for resources, successes your child/grandchild

has had, or simply to vent your frustrations. All members are moderated

when they join, which means I have to approve your posts. If you don't

see your post straight away, that is why. They will almost always be

approved within 12 hours. If any post is rejected, you will get an

email saying that that has happened and why. One exception is if you

are posting something that you have already tried to post a number of

times, and know from previous rejections why it isn't acceptable. The

other is links to 'sexy' photos or 'great deals' that will make us all

rich overnight. They are simply deleted as SPAM. Anyone who doesn't

know that will happen shouldn't be allowed to access the internet

without supervision. Once you have posted once or twice and I know you

are a real person and no more inclined to sociopathic tendencies than

the rest of us here, I will remove moderation and your posts will go

straight to the group.

All new members are encouraged to write a short (or long if needed)

introduction. If you are asking about rules for what schools

should/must do for your child, stating where you live would help a lot.

Schools have been accused of wanting to make everyone the same, but that

certainly does not apply to school policies. It also helps when asking

for information if you let us know how old your

child/grandchild/student/partner, etc is. The traffic here gets heavy

at times, so if you find you are getting way too many emails, switching

to the 'daily digest' option may make life easier for you. If you do

use 'daily digest', remember to change the subject to the subject you

are replying to, rather than 'daily digest 12345'. Also remember to

delete all the post except that part which you are replying to. By the

time you get to the fifth reply to a daily digest, you are getting a

small book in your email box. Trimming any email you reply to is a good

idea, but leave in enough so we know who you are replying to.

Anything related to autism is acceptable as a topic for discussion.

There is no ban on mentioning religion, politics or sex - as they relate

to autism - but please don't try converting others to your views on any

of those topics. This is not the venue for sharing how wonderful your

beliefs are (on any topic) and how we should all join you. Keep the

discussion at the level of information, not persuasion. People who

don't share your views on religion, politics, sex, the cause of autism,

the best cure for autism, capitalism, socialism, saving the planet,

Reagan, Macs, music, etc, etc, may indeed be uninformed,

naive or just plain stupid, but please don't point that out here, or in

a private but uninvited email to the individual. If you can't stand

reading their views, delete their email while feeling grateful that you

are not like them. They also have the right to do the same with your

emails. if you want to email someone privately, make your first email

simply a request to do so. If you are told 'no', or get no reply, don't

email that person again. If someone says in their email that they would

like private responses, then go ahead and do so, but stay on topic.

A difficult issue is advertising. There is no problem with letting

people know you offer a service. I would prefer just one or two posts,

rather than this list being placed on an automatic list so we get your

advertising every Monday morning. If you have a business, put it in the

'files' section so it is there permanently. You can update details when

necessary. There is a file called " Professional Services " (currently

empty) where such information can go. Or you can place a link to your

website in " Links " . I check regularly, and any site not connected to

autism will be deleted, no matter how worthy it might be in itself.

There is also a new folder in the 'files' section called " Books Worth

Reading " . It is now 2 minutes old and empty. I would like people to

add short reviews of books they have found useful. Use the book title

as the title for the file, and include the author's name, publisher,

date, and a short summary of what it says. A brief explanation of why

you found it helpful would also be useful. For

parents/grandparents/teachers/etc who are new to autism, the number of

resources available can be overwhelming, so a little guidance from those

with experience can be very helpful. I would encourage everyone to

check out both the 'files' and the 'links' section of the group homepage

regularly. Every so often I go through and remove out of date files.

It is little use to anyone to know a great program was run on Dec 3,

2005. If you have a program that runs every year, post a link to your

website under 'links', because the announcement of this year's program

will disappear when the event is over.

There is a huge variety of views represented here on virtually every

subject. Treat everyone with respect and you will usually receive the

same. We are all under stress, and at times even the nicest person

sends an email they regret almost as soon as they hit 'send'. A brief

'sorry' usually solves any problems caused. We understand that dealing

with autism can stretch a person's patience and sanity. Make a habit of

posting inflammatory emails and you will end up on moderation. That

makes more work for me, but makes the group a nicer place for everyone.

If you continue after a couple of warnings, you will find you cannot

post to this group any more. As our parents used to say " play nice " .

It may also help to take the grandmotherly advice " if you can't say

anything nice, don't say anything at all " .

[moderator]

[Guest guest]

Thank you for a refreshing and Sheldon-like Post. This should be a model for

real, honest-goodness, how-to-play-nice groups.

>

> We have had quite a few members join in the last month, so I wanted to

> say 'welcome' to everyone who has joined recently. Please feel free to

> post any questions, share any programs or strategies that have worked

> for you, any suggestions for resources, successes your child/grandchild

> has had, or simply to vent your frustrations. All members are moderated

> when they join, which means I have to approve your posts. If you don't

> see your post straight away, that is why. They will almost always be

> approved within 12 hours. If any post is rejected, you will get an

> email saying that that has happened and why. One exception is if you

> are posting something that you have already tried to post a number of

> times, and know from previous rejections why it isn't acceptable. The

> other is links to 'sexy' photos or 'great deals' that will make us all

> rich overnight. They are simply deleted as SPAM. Anyone who doesn't

> know that will happen shouldn't be allowed to access the internet

> without supervision. Once you have posted once or twice and I know you

> are a real person and no more inclined to sociopathic tendencies than

> the rest of us here, I will remove moderation and your posts will go

> straight to the group.

>

> All new members are encouraged to write a short (or long if needed)

> introduction. If you are asking about rules for what schools

> should/must do for your child, stating where you live would help a lot.

> Schools have been accused of wanting to make everyone the same, but that

> certainly does not apply to school policies. It also helps when asking

> for information if you let us know how old your

> child/grandchild/student/partner, etc is. The traffic here gets heavy

> at times, so if you find you are getting way too many emails, switching

> to the 'daily digest' option may make life easier for you. If you do

> use 'daily digest', remember to change the subject to the subject you

> are replying to, rather than 'daily digest 12345'. Also remember to

> delete all the post except that part which you are replying to. By the

> time you get to the fifth reply to a daily digest, you are getting a

> small book in your email box. Trimming any email you reply to is a good

> idea, but leave in enough so we know who you are replying to.

>

> Anything related to autism is acceptable as a topic for discussion.

> There is no ban on mentioning religion, politics or sex - as they relate

> to autism - but please don't try converting others to your views on any

> of those topics. This is not the venue for sharing how wonderful your

> beliefs are (on any topic) and how we should all join you. Keep the

> discussion at the level of information, not persuasion. People who

> don't share your views on religion, politics, sex, the cause of autism,

> the best cure for autism, capitalism, socialism, saving the planet,

> Reagan, Macs, music, etc, etc, may indeed be uninformed,

> naive or just plain stupid, but please don't point that out here, or in

> a private but uninvited email to the individual. If you can't stand

> reading their views, delete their email while feeling grateful that you

> are not like them. They also have the right to do the same with your

> emails. if you want to email someone privately, make your first email

> simply a request to do so. If you are told 'no', or get no reply, don't

> email that person again. If someone says in their email that they would

> like private responses, then go ahead and do so, but stay on topic.

>

> A difficult issue is advertising. There is no problem with letting

> people know you offer a service. I would prefer just one or two posts,

> rather than this list being placed on an automatic list so we get your

> advertising every Monday morning. If you have a business, put it in the

> 'files' section so it is there permanently. You can update details when

> necessary. There is a file called " Professional Services " (currently

> empty) where such information can go. Or you can place a link to your

> website in " Links " . I check regularly, and any site not connected to

> autism will be deleted, no matter how worthy it might be in itself.

> There is also a new folder in the 'files' section called " Books Worth

> Reading " . It is now 2 minutes old and empty. I would like people to

> add short reviews of books they have found useful. Use the book title

> as the title for the file, and include the author's name, publisher,

> date, and a short summary of what it says. A brief explanation of why

> you found it helpful would also be useful. For

> parents/grandparents/teachers/etc who are new to autism, the number of

> resources available can be overwhelming, so a little guidance from those

> with experience can be very helpful. I would encourage everyone to

> check out both the 'files' and the 'links' section of the group homepage

> regularly. Every so often I go through and remove out of date files.

> It is little use to anyone to know a great program was run on Dec 3,

> 2005. If you have a program that runs every year, post a link to your

> website under 'links', because the announcement of this year's program

> will disappear when the event is over.

>

> There is a huge variety of views represented here on virtually every

> subject. Treat everyone with respect and you will usually receive the

> same. We are all under stress, and at times even the nicest person

> sends an email they regret almost as soon as they hit 'send'. A brief

> 'sorry' usually solves any problems caused. We understand that dealing

> with autism can stretch a person's patience and sanity. Make a habit of

> posting inflammatory emails and you will end up on moderation. That

> makes more work for me, but makes the group a nicer place for everyone.

> If you continue after a couple of warnings, you will find you cannot

> post to this group any more. As our parents used to say " play nice " .

> It may also help to take the grandmotherly advice " if you can't say

> anything nice, don't say anything at all " .

>

> [moderator]

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you, , for the clarifications. I've been a member for a few months (October or November 2011-I can't remember now), and I didn't know about the filtering options until you mentioned them recently and now in this email. I have learned a lot from folks here and it's nice to know that under all this stress we deal with in our lives with autism that there are others who are willing to be supportive or lend an ear. I appreciate all the efforts you continue to do in keeping this group a nice place to be able to connect with others like ourselves. Thanks again. :-) To: autism-aspergers Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 5:31 PM Subject: Welcome and other important stuff

We have had quite a few members join in the last month, so I wanted to

say 'welcome' to everyone who has joined recently. Please feel free to

post any questions, share any programs or strategies that have worked

for you, any suggestions for resources, successes your child/grandchild

has had, or simply to vent your frustrations. All members are moderated

when they join, which means I have to approve your posts. If you don't

see your post straight away, that is why. They will almost always be

approved within 12 hours. If any post is rejected, you will get an

email saying that that has happened and why. One exception is if you

are posting something that you have already tried to post a number of

times, and know from previous rejections why it isn't acceptable. The

other is links to 'sexy' photos or 'great deals' that will make us all

rich overnight. They are simply deleted as SPAM. Anyone who doesn't

know that will happen shouldn't be allowed to access the internet

without supervision. Once you have posted once or twice and I know you

are a real person and no more inclined to sociopathic tendencies than

the rest of us here, I will remove moderation and your posts will go

straight to the group.

All new members are encouraged to write a short (or long if needed)

introduction. If you are asking about rules for what schools

should/must do for your child, stating where you live would help a lot.

Schools have been accused of wanting to make everyone the same, but that

certainly does not apply to school policies. It also helps when asking

for information if you let us know how old your

child/grandchild/student/partner, etc is. The traffic here gets heavy

at times, so if you find you are getting way too many emails, switching

to the 'daily digest' option may make life easier for you. If you do

use 'daily digest', remember to change the subject to the subject you

are replying to, rather than 'daily digest 12345'. Also remember to

delete all the post except that part which you are replying to. By the

time you get to the fifth reply to a daily digest, you are getting a

small book in your email box. Trimming any email you reply to is a good

idea, but leave in enough so we know who you are replying to.

Anything related to autism is acceptable as a topic for discussion.

There is no ban on mentioning religion, politics or sex - as they relate

to autism - but please don't try converting others to your views on any

of those topics. This is not the venue for sharing how wonderful your

beliefs are (on any topic) and how we should all join you. Keep the

discussion at the level of information, not persuasion. People who

don't share your views on religion, politics, sex, the cause of autism,

the best cure for autism, capitalism, socialism, saving the planet,

Reagan, Macs, music, etc, etc, may indeed be uninformed,

naive or just plain stupid, but please don't point that out here, or in

a private but uninvited email to the individual. If you can't stand

reading their views, delete their email while feeling grateful that you

are not like them. They also have the right to do the same with your

emails. if you want to email someone privately, make your first email

simply a request to do so. If you are told 'no', or get no reply, don't

email that person again. If someone says in their email that they would

like private responses, then go ahead and do so, but stay on topic.

A difficult issue is advertising. There is no problem with letting

people know you offer a service. I would prefer just one or two posts,

rather than this list being placed on an automatic list so we get your

advertising every Monday morning. If you have a business, put it in the

'files' section so it is there permanently. You can update details when

necessary. There is a file called "Professional Services" (currently

empty) where such information can go. Or you can place a link to your

website in "Links". I check regularly, and any site not connected to

autism will be deleted, no matter how worthy it might be in itself.

There is also a new folder in the 'files' section called "Books Worth

Reading". It is now 2 minutes old and empty. I would like people to

add short reviews of books they have found useful. Use the book title

as the title for the file, and include the author's name, publisher,

date, and a short summary of what it says. A brief explanation of why

you found it helpful would also be useful. For

parents/grandparents/teachers/etc who are new to autism, the number of

resources available can be overwhelming, so a little guidance from those

with experience can be very helpful. I would encourage everyone to

check out both the 'files' and the 'links' section of the group homepage

regularly. Every so often I go through and remove out of date files.

It is little use to anyone to know a great program was run on Dec 3,

2005. If you have a program that runs every year, post a link to your

website under 'links', because the announcement of this year's program

will disappear when the event is over.

There is a huge variety of views represented here on virtually every

subject. Treat everyone with respect and you will usually receive the

same. We are all under stress, and at times even the nicest person

sends an email they regret almost as soon as they hit 'send'. A brief

'sorry' usually solves any problems caused. We understand that dealing

with autism can stretch a person's patience and sanity. Make a habit of

posting inflammatory emails and you will end up on moderation. That

makes more work for me, but makes the group a nicer place for everyone.

If you continue after a couple of warnings, you will find you cannot

post to this group any more. As our parents used to say "play nice".

It may also help to take the grandmotherly advice "if you can't say

anything nice, don't say anything at all".

[moderator]