Did I say "happy outcome" ? hmmm. (the old Autism Speaks controversy)
[EDIT: I have just received a PM to the effect that the offending thread on that forum has now been modified! woot!]
Would appreciate some feedback from the autistic community here, on this one. I was really happy this time last week, since the motivating force behind the event in question (herself the mother of an autistic child) had looked into the Autism Speaks controversy, decided not to support them (or maybe just be careful which branch of As the donation went to this time, and then blank them next time) and exchanged a series of very warm and encouraging PMs with me.
I think this latest PM to her and her two co-organisers pretty much tells the whole story.
The issue blew up on a gaming forum of all places.
Btw, again I've nade this fully public because its hard to figure how to give all the right people access to it , otherwise. Will also repost to a private group, if that presents any problems)
- Walkie
PS. the full text of my " projected PM to the mods is in the first comment, below. Following an enquiry in the Asperger group, i would like to add that the forum is properly concerned with an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) and I felt it only fair to suppress the name of the game, along with other identifying info, whilst the issue still remains open to resolution. However, I might well decide to send the link to this thread to some of the protagonists, so they can see just how far from being a quirky little personal thing it is. (Thus hoping for plenty of replies!)
Here goes with the text:
Guys,
Following the last PM from *****I recently wrote to some of my friends/supporters in ****** that “with this much goodwill, I am sure this issue will soon be resolved to everybody's satisfaction”
I am wondering now if that was premature/overoptimistic, as I see that, irrespective of any behind-the-scenes decision, AS is still being promoted in the OP of the event thread.
I think I must clearly state that my issue at this stage is rather with the mods than with yourselves. I did agree, all along, with *****, in principle, that you are free to donate to any charity you choose; he therefore did not get what my problem was.
My main problem, all along, was that Autism Speaks are receiving positive publicity via the thread. This raises two issues:
1) the right of autistic people and others to gainsay the positive publicity
2) the fact that many autisitic people are in ******, and many of these will be/ already are offended by such promotion.
I think the 2nd point is more of an issue for you than for me, as it will put those people off supporting the event, irrespective whether they are allowed to say so in public or not. And also inasmuch as offending autistic people (albeit adults) is rather against the spirit of the thing. That said, I would not leave the forum on this account, as it not my problem, and I do accept that you are free to promote whatever you choose to promote. If this remains as is, I will simply avoid supporting the event, as I initially said (in my deleted post)
The first point, however is unignorable, IMO., as I hope that my projected PM to mods makes very clear. The fact remains that every post I have made criticisnig Autism speaks, whether directly , or indirectly (eg as a completely unavoidable inference in my explanation as to why I was ceasing to post) has been wiped out by the mods. I find it unacceptable that AS can be promoted here, but not criticised, however mildly or obliquely.
As event promoters this is not your problem, but may prove an insurmountable problem to me.
The point that this a more a political issue than a private one of what charity people choose to support was entirely lost on ******. I'm pretty sure that if somebody made an event that promoted the Tory party here and nobody was allowed to disagree, people would be leaving the forum in droves, and quite rightly too. That this issue is less well-known does not affect the principle at all, except in that makes it all the more important to stand up for it.
My hope was that
a) you would cease to promote AS via the thread, and
b) we could, between us, work out some kind of statement on the issue that would leave all parties happy, and be acceptable the mods.
c) I could then lend my support to the promotion (at least verbally; whether I can afford to *******, and whether I even will be online during the event is open to question, due to RL issues)
Since many people did read (and some responded to) the deleted posts, I don't think that saying nothing is a serious option. And for myself, if the mods won't permit any kind of posthumous statement, explaining what the problem was, then the principle has not really been satisfied, IMO, and there only be more grief the next time someone has the same bright idea.
[B]Alternatively, I would have gladly chosen to stay, if only the mods had allowed me to publicly state my POV, which would not require anything from you guys at all, but has not happened[/B]
Well, I hope to be able to make a firm decision one way or another before April , if not sooner, not only because your event starts then, but also I badly need to make alternative plans (if necessary)for promoting my in-game business, keeping in touch with friends etc, and it is awkward for me that things are up-in-the-air for so long.
Still hoping (but rather less optimistic, atm)
I do hope you will understand where I'm coming from, at least.
Would appreciate some feedback from the autistic community here, on this one. I was really happy this time last week, since the motivating force behind the event in question (herself the mother of an autistic child) had looked into the Autism Speaks controversy, decided not to support them (or maybe just be careful which branch of As the donation went to this time, and then blank them next time) and exchanged a series of very warm and encouraging PMs with me.
I think this latest PM to her and her two co-organisers pretty much tells the whole story.
The issue blew up on a gaming forum of all places.
Btw, again I've nade this fully public because its hard to figure how to give all the right people access to it , otherwise. Will also repost to a private group, if that presents any problems)
- Walkie
PS. the full text of my " projected PM to the mods is in the first comment, below. Following an enquiry in the Asperger group, i would like to add that the forum is properly concerned with an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) and I felt it only fair to suppress the name of the game, along with other identifying info, whilst the issue still remains open to resolution. However, I might well decide to send the link to this thread to some of the protagonists, so they can see just how far from being a quirky little personal thing it is. (Thus hoping for plenty of replies!)
Here goes with the text:
Guys,
Following the last PM from *****I recently wrote to some of my friends/supporters in ****** that “with this much goodwill, I am sure this issue will soon be resolved to everybody's satisfaction”
I am wondering now if that was premature/overoptimistic, as I see that, irrespective of any behind-the-scenes decision, AS is still being promoted in the OP of the event thread.
I think I must clearly state that my issue at this stage is rather with the mods than with yourselves. I did agree, all along, with *****, in principle, that you are free to donate to any charity you choose; he therefore did not get what my problem was.
My main problem, all along, was that Autism Speaks are receiving positive publicity via the thread. This raises two issues:
1) the right of autistic people and others to gainsay the positive publicity
2) the fact that many autisitic people are in ******, and many of these will be/ already are offended by such promotion.
I think the 2nd point is more of an issue for you than for me, as it will put those people off supporting the event, irrespective whether they are allowed to say so in public or not. And also inasmuch as offending autistic people (albeit adults) is rather against the spirit of the thing. That said, I would not leave the forum on this account, as it not my problem, and I do accept that you are free to promote whatever you choose to promote. If this remains as is, I will simply avoid supporting the event, as I initially said (in my deleted post)
The first point, however is unignorable, IMO., as I hope that my projected PM to mods makes very clear. The fact remains that every post I have made criticisnig Autism speaks, whether directly , or indirectly (eg as a completely unavoidable inference in my explanation as to why I was ceasing to post) has been wiped out by the mods. I find it unacceptable that AS can be promoted here, but not criticised, however mildly or obliquely.
As event promoters this is not your problem, but may prove an insurmountable problem to me.
The point that this a more a political issue than a private one of what charity people choose to support was entirely lost on ******. I'm pretty sure that if somebody made an event that promoted the Tory party here and nobody was allowed to disagree, people would be leaving the forum in droves, and quite rightly too. That this issue is less well-known does not affect the principle at all, except in that makes it all the more important to stand up for it.
My hope was that
a) you would cease to promote AS via the thread, and
b) we could, between us, work out some kind of statement on the issue that would leave all parties happy, and be acceptable the mods.
c) I could then lend my support to the promotion (at least verbally; whether I can afford to *******, and whether I even will be online during the event is open to question, due to RL issues)
Since many people did read (and some responded to) the deleted posts, I don't think that saying nothing is a serious option. And for myself, if the mods won't permit any kind of posthumous statement, explaining what the problem was, then the principle has not really been satisfied, IMO, and there only be more grief the next time someone has the same bright idea.
[B]Alternatively, I would have gladly chosen to stay, if only the mods had allowed me to publicly state my POV, which would not require anything from you guys at all, but has not happened[/B]
Well, I hope to be able to make a firm decision one way or another before April , if not sooner, not only because your event starts then, but also I badly need to make alternative plans (if necessary)for promoting my in-game business, keeping in touch with friends etc, and it is awkward for me that things are up-in-the-air for so long.
Still hoping (but rather less optimistic, atm)
I do hope you will understand where I'm coming from, at least.