I am deeply grateful to Sane for providing these forums!

Hello everyone,

You have seen me post on the forums a lot as of late, and I think the primary reason for this is because as a person with autism I have found that this particular space is highly inclusive of my ASD/ neurodiversity. I have explained to you all in the past how there are spaces within my personal community that are by no means inclusive, that these spaces actively exclude me and do not tolerate my neurodiversity at all. When I say spaces these are places that are ran by actual corporations and businesses, that 'enable' community members of my town to come together and sit with one another in the flesh. These spaces have let me down again and again and have continually excluded me in a way that I feel is an injustice and in a way that I think is immoral and cruel. No individual deserves to be excluded from certain spaces in their personal community; that is a form of discrimination and bullying. I would also add that it is an abuse of a person's fundamental human rights. The thing that I find interesting is that none of the people who run the community space I am thinking of have a background in psychology or mental health, none of the staff members at this community space have even a certificate IV in mental health or disability; the company thinks it is enough for their staff members to just have a 'lived experience' of mental health.

At any rate, I do not wish to dwell on this space too long that excludes me because I have now found an additional space that I can access that is highly inclusive of me: the Sane forums. I find it interesting that an online environment is more inclusive of my personal difference than an actual physical space in my own community. Also, I have a couple of other spaces in my community that are very inclusive: I attend a gamer group (video games) with another company entirely, this company I am convinced is very inclusive - it is amazing! Most of the people there have level 3 autism, but are very talented people indeed. One of my friends there has level 3 autism but he has 2 PhDs: one in history another in physics. Fun fact: did you know there was a man named Otto Hirsch who also held two PhDs. He was Dr X2!

I have been attending the gamer group for 11 months now. I very much doubt I will ever stop going to gamer; because it is a place that truly respects me and truly welcomes me. I will continue to use these forums also, I will always do my best to talk to everyone here with high loving kindness and with empathy for your personal life situation. I believe very strongly in Confucius Golden Rule, "treat others as you yourself would like to be treated" but another Confucian principle you may not have heard of is the additional "all day, everyday".

Wishing you all a very positive weekend ahead!