Wednesday 13 April 2011

internet and online communities

An online community is a virtual community that exists online whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual.information retrieved on 14 April 2011 from  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community -

The chosen topic I chose for online communities was people living with disabilities.  
I chose 
  • the Autism Network 
  • the cerebral palsy network
  •  the adult aspergers support community on face book
These three sites have similar purposes
  • They are there to educate about the condition and different aspects of living with it (either as the person affected, or as the carer).
  • To allow communication with other people with the same experiences of live.
  • To provide a community where people feel supported and where there is access to information or help when it is needed.

The first community I looked at is the Cerebral palsy network http://thecpnetwork.netfirms.com/enter.html 

This site has a lot of information and advice and ways of getting hold of support groups .The main interactive area is the chat-room which has a lot of activity one post i read went something like this

Sometimes, I just get soo angry! No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work not to, I am always going to have c.p....and that just kills me inside to have to live with that fact every single day. To know that every single day I am going to have to live with this...
There were three replies to this of support and understanding. This site may be of extra importance as it is for a group of people mend who will communicate easier and more honestly by typing and in this context.


The second community or site I'm looking at is the autism social network http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/ 

The autism support network is a very well thought about and interactive site it has  many forums for people to discuss on

  •  Coping / Daily Challenges where every day difficulties of living with ASD  are discussed .it is a safe environment so people can vent their feelings

  • Therapies this forum is talming about different therapies such as OT, speech, ABA, and other therapies. 
  • Ive taken this comment about OT from this site
Auditory learning.I was talking to my friend who was a teacher,and she was telling me I should have Hayley tested by an occupational therapist.She sounds like an auditory learner.Which i kind of picked up on,as when i`m having her read these scholastic books I bought her with sight words,she always wants me to read it first,and then,it`s like she is reading them from memory.She is not even looking at the page when she is reading.I would not have known to send her to an ocupational therapist,so i`m glad I was talking to her about it.I`m trying to get an appt for her to see one,and I want to have her vision tested,but I may need to take her to a developmental optomotatrist.I need teaching ideas,becasue i`m not getting anywhere.

  • Education of course a forum for educational issues.This large area includes schools ppts,Ieps educational funding and so on
People are contributing on these discussion forums, or if they want to write an article on a subject it will be posted. News can also be put up from a regional group about a meeting, social.

Comments can be made on a lot of the articles and a lot of the people can be contacted for more information.


People choose to contribute for many reasons, to give their views.
To ask for help or information .Many of the people contributing are parents of carers of people living with Autism they are having to deal with large bureaucracies ,peoples biasseness or their prejudgments.
They definitely need to place to have a bit of a rage or to express their negative emotions.
Also as autism is such an unknown quantity to get information that may improve your or the life of a loved one whether it is from experts such as Dr Temple Grandin giving her views on medication



People as always will be seeking many different things but generally to create a community of people in like minded people in a world that they feel is biased against them at times.

Most information that is put up is reciprocal and can be replied to and commented on .


The third community is the adult aspergers support community on face book

http://www.facebook.com/AdultAspergersSupportCommunity#!/AdultAspergersSupportCommunity?sk=wall&filter=1

This site has a smaller community but is truly interactive and will attract people who dont ussually go to the more formal sites there are the same themes of information support as the other sites but there is more of an emphasis on just cahtting with like minded people .
  • J P W
    wow only just found you. im 40 years old and only within last 6 months been diagnosed with aspergers. life is so hard but im tryin 1 very tiny step at a time.
  • TG
    Thank you for creating this page. I have Asperger's Syndrome. I didn't know about it, until I was almost 16. Before then, I always wondered why I was so different from others (besides my visual impairment). Then, when I found out about it, it took a while to know exactly what it was. Now, I am a part of a group for adults with Asperger's, and it's really helping me a lot.

    The ethical issues are huge each group is trying to set up the protection and improvement for the lifes of these individuals  .
    Information needs to be correct as people will rely on this information.
    As these sites are for improving the lifes of these minorities and are set up by people that realise soceity is balanced against these groups it is obvious to see they are being treated as ethically as possible .
    Also that any information or pictures being shared is done with permission,One  point i have here is a lot of the information being shared is by the parents .

    For all these communities the benefits these communities provides over traditional geographical community are huge.People in geographical communities may feel like outsiders or not understood by their own communities .To have a large community on call for people that may need it is quite a wonderful thing.When needed they can access important information i.e funding ,rights or just talk to people that understand issues like having y our life confined by a wheelchair or ruled by technology

    I think these communities are different to ordinary communities so rather than lack they add or compliment to people everyday communities.Both the cerebral palsy and autism networks have regional network links where people can meet for coffee nights ,talks or training




Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)