2. No comments of a sexist, racist, or homophobic nature.
3. Discussion not related to Asperger's Syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders are only welcome in the "Off-Topic Discussion" subforum. Topics which I feel bear very little relevance or no relevance to AS will be moved there.
4. This is not a role-playing guild, so do not role-play here.
5. Do not insult others for their personal tastes and interests.
6. Do not fill a thread with a private argument. If you have an issue you need to discuss with another user, please take it to PMs or another form of private communication.
7. Pictures are only permitted for posting in the "Post Your Picture" thread and the "Post Your Pet Pictures" thread. Please do not post pictures which are large in size. Link to such pictures instead.
8. Do not post anything of a sexually explicit nature.
9. No spamming. Spamming is considered any pointless off-topic posting, such as "bump" posts. Bumping is only appropriate if you feel the need to resurrect a thread which is not on the first page.
10. Keep your posts readable. While a few typos and spelling/grammar mistakes are understandable (no one's perfect), netspeak and l33t speak are just plain annoying and unnecessary.
11. Please minimize how much you quote with "snips" and such, especially if you're quoting long posts.
12. This guild is for people who have Asperger's, people who suspect they have Asperger's, and people who are close to someone with Asperger's (friend, family member, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.). Please be courteous. It's understandable that from whatever perspective you're coming from, you have some frustrations. However, please be polite and respectful about it.
For example, use this:
Quote:
It's hard to deal with my sister sometimes. She makes fun of me and calls me "stupid Aspie" a lot. I wish she wouldn't do that, and that some people would be more understanding.
Instead of this:
Quote:
Oh my god, my sister pisses me off! She's a b***h and she's always bullying me! Ugh... why do people without Asperger's have to be such losers?
13. Please do not flood threads with posts like "why is no one replying?" or "I knew no one would care!". I understand that it can be frustrating to post a thread which no one replies to within an hour. People could just be sleeping, at work, at school, or not online at the moment for any reason. Keep time zones in mind, too.
14. If you are interested in self-diagnosis, we'd prefer it if you are serious about it. We expect that you have done plenty of research and have a well-informed opinion and good reason to believe you may have AS or a related condition. If you just "read a little about it somewhere and think you may have it", you may want to think about it more and do more research.
15. There are a few topics which have been shown to be "sensitive" when it comes to the topic of AS, mainly:
- "pro-cure vs. anti-cure". This is a big one when it comes to the topic of Asperger's, and there are two main trains of thought.
- - Some people feel that AS is disorder which impairs people who have it in their daily life from being happy and/or living functionally, and therefore, a cure should be sought out. Some individuals with this stance will point to individuals they know of who have AS or other autism spectrum disorders who are not able to function properly (or are, at least, very inconvenienced), and for whom a cure would benefit. This is the "pro-cure" stance.
- - Some people feel that AS is simply a part of who someone is or, in some cases, not a disorder but a personality trait which has been labeled a disorder for any number of reasons. Some will state that it is a further way that society tries to divide "normal" from "abnormal", or that it is a way for people in the medical field to make more money. This is the "anti-cure" stance.
- "I don't like / get along with / understand / am uncomfortable around / am annoyed by (other) people with AS."
