Is there a forum about autism/non-neurotypical children on Mumsnet?

[guilty100]

Maybe I dreamed this but I am sure that, a while ago, I stumbled across a sub-forum about this, and I can't find it. Asking because my friend's child has just been diagnosed as autistic, and I remember it being quite an empowered place where autism was not treated as an illness - I think she'd really benefit from seeing it. Any help appreciated.

Most of us here who have autistic children / are autistic themselves do not see autism as an illness (because it is not). It is a neurological difference.

Any advice that is offered is usually based on that.

There is a strong community on twitter of autistic advocates - you can find it if you search the hashtag #actuallyautistic

Troll again?

The majority of posters here know autism isn't an illness, quite a few have autism themselves. advice, though normally varied is based on that.

We pretty much said the same thing CaptainKirk

The deleted post looked like it was advertising something, I didn't really read it properly before it went

@guilty100

If you look on the main boards, you'll find a lot of posts from goady people just wanting a bunfight about autism, so you may find a lot of people, me included, are a bit more prickly than usual.

Forgive me but with a username of guilty and this frankly goady phrase "where autism was not treated as an illness " you may not get the type of replies you were hoping for.

Autism is not an illness and anyone using that type of phraseology especially on an SN board is not going to have the warmest of welcomes.

If by a tiny chance your enquiry is genuine, then you've already found the SN section. Ask your friend to use this link www.mumsnet.com/Talk scroll down to Special Needs and she should find one of the boards there contains whatever information she needs. I'd suggest she finds a board that has a lot of posts on it and is actively used, then has a good read.

Marshmallow and Captain
The deleted post was advertising some form of art therapy in Scotland that could be suitable for autistic kids.

I reported it so MNHQ could advise on the best place for the artist to advertise.

I

I KNOW AUTISM IS NOT AN ILLNESS!! If you read my original post, it should be absolutely bloody obvious I don't think that way.

I am posting for help because my friend - you know, the one whose child has just been diagnosed, as I mentioned in my initial post - is incredibly upset by this diagnosis. She clearly thinks it is an illness. I would like her to be able to experience a community of people who do not think in that way.

What an odd reaction to a bunch of posters agreeing with you.

eh?

where does op say it is an illness? she specifically says about wanting somewhere where it is not treated like that.

ohh.

Nobody has said the op thinks its an illness, everyone is reaffirming the fact that poster here do not think that way.

I am not being "goady", I'm actually genuinely asking for help!

I'm angry because I recognise how damaging the idea is that autism is an illness, and I resent being accused of it. You can't have it both ways: you can't both insist that it's awful and terrible that some people think autism is an illness, and then wonder why someone is offended at being misinterpreted in that way.

My friend is embarking on all sorts of quack "cures" for her son, including homeopathy. I am worried to see her so anxious about this, and I think she would benefit from talking to people who do not discuss autism as a disorder or an illness to be cured. She comes from a culture where it is not seen as any kind of positive, and has been seriously distressed by the diagnosis.

I thought there was a specific forum on here for discussing autism in a way that treated it as equal but different, but I must have been mistaken about that.

Are you actually reading what people are typing?

You know what, this definitely ISN'T the place my friend needs right now.

Guilty100: is there a forum here where ASD isn't treat like an illness and just different?

Everyone on the thread: yes here, most posters have experiane with day to day autism, we know its not an illness.

Guilty100: how dare you accuse me of saying that, horrible people this isn't what I asked for!!

"Forgive me but with a username of guilty and this frankly goady phrase "where autism was not treated as an illness " you may not get the type of replies you were hoping for.

Autism is not an illness and anyone using that type of phraseology especially on an SN board is not going to have the warmest of welcomes."

^^ If that isn't a direct accusation of saying exactly what you've just said everyone isn't saying, then I'll eat my hat.

If you read the whole post the context is about goady fuckers on the main site and how your post could be misinterpreted.

What type of hat do you have?