Update on the new board

[RageBeoulve]

No.  Al and El Pres are the new Amy and Gareth. 

I prefer that board, though. Its more like this one.

Yes, it is and that's cool. 

We just want something more like what AFF was - supportive, informative, with an emphasis on advocacy.  It would be hard to add a youth component to a site like that, and that is important to us because autistic kids need that support more than anyone.

And they need a different kind of support than us. I understand. Their place is not my place.

[AspieMomma]

No.  Al and El Pres are the new Amy and Gareth. 

I prefer that board, though. Its more like this one.

Yes, it is and that's cool. 

We just want something more like what AFF was - supportive, informative, with an emphasis on advocacy.  It would be hard to add a youth component to a site like that, and that is important to us because autistic kids need that support more than anyone.

There was a small youth section on AFF. The young members mostly posted where everyone else did, and their contributions were treated the same.

We all find commonalities in others online. Why set the youth apart?

AFF may have started as an advocacy forum. but it was mostly a support and general discussion forum near the end. Are you looking to set things back to the way AFF once was?

Also, why can't there just be one thread on the skyblue1/AspieMomma forum? Why do I have to click back and forth?

By "youth" forum, I mean younger than AFF would have allowed. 

My oldest son is 9.  He would benefit from interacting with other kids with AS and learning about self-advocacy from someone other than his mommy.

Different age groups would have more/less moderation in their forums and access only to certain forums.  Adults shouldn't have access to the youth forums unless they have children there.  They should remain private forums so that what is posted there isn't easily available on the internet. 

I would like to see a greater emphasis on advocacy, but that really is up to the membership.  I hope to have a more active advocacy component to the site beyond forum posting. 

You must click back and forth as penance for you misdeeds in a past life. 

[Semicolon]

No.  Al and El Pres are the new Amy and Gareth. 

I prefer that board, though. Its more like this one.

Yes, it is and that's cool. 

We just want something more like what AFF was - supportive, informative, with an emphasis on advocacy.  It would be hard to add a youth component to a site like that, and that is important to us because autistic kids need that support more than anyone.

There was a small youth section on AFF. The young members mostly posted where everyone else did, and their contributions were treated the same.

We all find commonalities in others online. Why set the youth apart?

AFF may have started as an advocacy forum. but it was mostly a support and general discussion forum near the end. Are you looking to set things back to the way AFF once was?

Also, why can't there just be one thread on the skyblue1/AspieMomma forum? Why do I have to click back and forth?

By "youth" forum, I mean younger than AFF would have allowed. 

My oldest son is 9.  He would benefit from interacting with other kids with AS and learning about self-advocacy from someone other than his mommy.

Different age groups would have more/less moderation in their forums and access only to certain forums.  Adults shouldn't have access to the youth forums unless they have children there.  They should remain private forums so that what is posted there isn't easily available on the internet. 

I would like to see a greater emphasis on advocacy, but that really is up to the membership.  I hope to have a more active advocacy component to the site beyond forum posting. 

You must click back and forth as penance for you misdeeds in a past life.

Here you run into problems. Read this before you decide to let young children join. Will the site be based in the US?

What's the point of segregating people? Philosophically, it only serves to divide us as a community. Don't curebies do that enough? Also, why be ageist about moderation? Are you trying to create an online preschool for aspies? If so, why would adults want to join? Practically, it limits options. I can see an adult forum for sex-related issues, just for legal reasons. AFF's youth forum was rarely used. Why not allow adults to comment on youth threads? Are you worried about online predators?

[sg1008]

No.  Al and El Pres are the new Amy and Gareth. 

I prefer that board, though. Its more like this one.

Yes, it is and that's cool. 

We just want something more like what AFF was - supportive, informative, with an emphasis on advocacy.  It would be hard to add a youth component to a site like that, and that is important to us because autistic kids need that support more than anyone.

There was a small youth section on AFF. The young members mostly posted where everyone else did, and their contributions were treated the same.

We all find commonalities in others online. Why set the youth apart?

AFF may have started as an advocacy forum. but it was mostly a support and general discussion forum near the end. Are you looking to set things back to the way AFF once was?

Also, why can't there just be one thread on the skyblue1/AspieMomma forum? Why do I have to click back and forth?

By "youth" forum, I mean younger than AFF would have allowed. 

My oldest son is 9.  He would benefit from interacting with other kids with AS and learning about self-advocacy from someone other than his mommy.

Different age groups would have more/less moderation in their forums and access only to certain forums.  Adults shouldn't have access to the youth forums unless they have children there.  They should remain private forums so that what is posted there isn't easily available on the internet. 

I would like to see a greater emphasis on advocacy, but that really is up to the membership.  I hope to have a more active advocacy component to the site beyond forum posting. 

You must click back and forth as penance for you misdeeds in a past life.

Here you run into problems. Read this before you decide to let young children join. Will the site be based in the US?

What's the point of segregating people? Philosophically, it only serves to divide us as a community. Don't curebies do that enough? Also, why be ageist about moderation? Are you trying to create an online preschool for aspies? If so, why would adults want to join? Practically, it limits options. I can see an adult forum for sex-related issues, just for legal reasons. AFF's youth forum was rarely used. Why not allow adults to comment on youth threads? Are you worried about online predators?

EXACTLY.
 Thats what I SAID. I told you would have to get parental consent...also separating the forums makes them more vulnerable to predators who pose as children.

[Semicolon]

No.  Al and El Pres are the new Amy and Gareth. 

I prefer that board, though. Its more like this one.

Yes, it is and that's cool. 

We just want something more like what AFF was - supportive, informative, with an emphasis on advocacy.  It would be hard to add a youth component to a site like that, and that is important to us because autistic kids need that support more than anyone.

There was a small youth section on AFF. The young members mostly posted where everyone else did, and their contributions were treated the same.

We all find commonalities in others online. Why set the youth apart?

AFF may have started as an advocacy forum. but it was mostly a support and general discussion forum near the end. Are you looking to set things back to the way AFF once was?

Also, why can't there just be one thread on the skyblue1/AspieMomma forum? Why do I have to click back and forth?

By "youth" forum, I mean younger than AFF would have allowed. 

My oldest son is 9.  He would benefit from interacting with other kids with AS and learning about self-advocacy from someone other than his mommy.

Different age groups would have more/less moderation in their forums and access only to certain forums.  Adults shouldn't have access to the youth forums unless they have children there.  They should remain private forums so that what is posted there isn't easily available on the internet. 

I would like to see a greater emphasis on advocacy, but that really is up to the membership.  I hope to have a more active advocacy component to the site beyond forum posting. 

You must click back and forth as penance for you misdeeds in a past life.

Here you run into problems. Read this before you decide to let young children join. Will the site be based in the US?

What's the point of segregating people? Philosophically, it only serves to divide us as a community. Don't curebies do that enough? Also, why be ageist about moderation? Are you trying to create an online preschool for aspies? If so, why would adults want to join? Practically, it limits options. I can see an adult forum for sex-related issues, just for legal reasons. AFF's youth forum was rarely used. Why not allow adults to comment on youth threads? Are you worried about online predators?

EXACTLY.
 Thats what I SAID. I told you would have to get parental consent...also separating the forums makes them more vulnerable to predators who pose as children.

At least, it will make you more paranoid about members. Will you turn into skyblue1 and see new members as potential psychopathic sock puppets?

It might work if you have a special forum only for children of established members, but I don't know if that's worth the risk to you.

[sg1008]

If you guys are prepared to go through all the privacy crap and monitor the boards like a muther-fuckin hawk on ritalin (and I would suggest having a child health professional or two on your team), then i wish you best of luck.

If not, I strongly advise on not putting up a youth forum (for the sake of the kids safety and your own legal protection).....at least hold off on it.

[sg1008]

Also, I suggest checking out TeenCentral.net for a model of a good support forum.

It is for teens though.

A site which has been heavily modified for ALL ages to safely interact is pottermore.com.

They are also a good model for a kids site. Of course, no real interaction can occur there.

Other sites like game sites and such as riddled with perves and lurkers. I know this from my own experience from when I was a kid. Also, if you have a site for kids, you will get a particularly aggressive spazz attack from time to time...and well, just consider how facebook utterly fails at protecting kids and they only let them in at ages 13+.

So much sticky tape. The kids forum would be great if it was localized. Like semicolon said, for former AFF parents or something like that. Otherwise the risks are incredibly high.