Is it just me or are people on this board getting really mean?

[Anonymous]

I can't believe the level of vitriol in the posts about the mother whose son is 2e and has run out of options and I am shocked at the hostile posts attacking the OP in the research post. I used to think that people on this board were very helpful and kind. We've always had people who are blunt and kind of harsh but they are usually just telling it like it is and I have been grateful for those posts.

Lately, however, I feel like there are a lot of people who are just in a bad mood and get off on attacking others when they are simply asking for help. If you're one of those people please GO AWAY.

[Anonymous]

It comes and goes. Generally, if there is a thread that gets a certain number of responses it shows up on the "Hottest Topics" feed and we get comments from people who don't realize they are responding on the special needs board and some of those can be harsh.

It is also very difficult to read tone. Some people write succinctly and to the point but their intent is not harsh- it just read that way.

One of the phrases I learned in college that illustrates this is "I did not sleep with your husband." If you emphasize a different word in the the sentence the meaning of the whole sentence changes.

I did not sleep with your husband.
I did not sleep with your husband.
I did not sleep with your husband.
I did not sleep with your [i]husband[b].

So, if a post rubs me the wrong way, I try to see if I am reading in tone or meaning that isn't intended. That said, some posts are indeed meant to ruffle feathers and get a negative strong reaction. Those we need to ignore and report (this is the hard part IME). Jeff is very good about deleting posts that are obviously mean spirited, but he can only do that if we report it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the level of vitriol in the posts about the mother whose son is 2e and has run out of options and I am shocked at the hostile posts attacking the OP in the research post. I used to think that people on this board were very helpful and kind. We've always had people who are blunt and kind of harsh but they are usually just telling it like it is and I have been grateful for those posts.

Lately, however, I feel like there are a lot of people who are just in a bad mood and get off on attacking others when they are simply asking for help. If you're one of those people please GO AWAY.

I think the 2e post is off the rails b/c OP is way in denial and not responding to the thread. People are just having fun with it at this point.

Is the research post the one where the parent has a 10 year old in private school and wants to find some justification that chalks up to having messy handwriting and losing homework to being a boy? I don't think there's vitriol there except to the troll who was talking about the castrating effects of public school.

[Anonymous]

I didn't find the post about 2E mother to be mean. It was very honest, but in a good sense. I am also a parent of a 2E child, I have posted here before couple years ago about DS being kicked out from 4 preschools for hitting. Yes, some responses were very raw "snap out of it, get some help" but they were exactly what I needed, that extra push. If the OP thinks Easter Seals were "inflexible", wait till you get you to the mainstream classroom where your kid will fail w/o extra services and accommodations. Get him help NOW. I did. Sure it was expensive at times, no one said therapeutic programs are cheap and covered by the insurance but if they can help my kid, hell, I'll borrow money, I'll get another job if I have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the level of vitriol in the posts about the mother whose son is 2e and has run out of options and I am shocked at the hostile posts attacking the OP in the research post. I used to think that people on this board were very helpful and kind. We've always had people who are blunt and kind of harsh but they are usually just telling it like it is and I have been grateful for those posts.

Lately, however, I feel like there are a lot of people who are just in a bad mood and get off on attacking others when they are simply asking for help. If you're one of those people please GO AWAY.

+1000000

[Anonymous]

Of course, neither of the threads you mentioned have interested me, but now I'm going to read them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the level of vitriol in the posts about the mother whose son is 2e and has run out of options and I am shocked at the hostile posts attacking the OP in the research post. I used to think that people on this board were very helpful and kind. We've always had people who are blunt and kind of harsh but they are usually just telling it like it is and I have been grateful for those posts.

Lately, however, I feel like there are a lot of people who are just in a bad mood and get off on attacking others when they are simply asking for help. If you're one of those people please GO AWAY.

Which post was mean?

[Anonymous]

I think posters have been intentionally severe and insulting.

God forbid you miss a comma or spell check changes a word...

[Anonymous]

Many of them were not nice, IMO...asking what they are doing. Oh probably tiptoeing around his triggers. Those are just the latest!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of them were not nice, IMO...asking what they are doing. Oh probably tiptoeing around his triggers. Those are just the latest!

I agree that comment was snarky, a little mean, but probably true, sadly.

Having read every post in that thread, it's troubling that a mom whose kid is going to entering K is more concerned about coverage for the summer than the bigger picture. This kid has been kicked out of Easter Seals and turned down by Auburn. The parents need a long term plan to address the behavioral issues not just a plan to get through the summer.

Over the last several months there's a poster who tries to police the "niceness" of the forum and that's more annoying than the snark.

[Anonymous]

If we want to solve any issues here, you have to be specific. So which posts were mean? The ones asking questions?

[Anonymous]

I must say, I may have been one of the police trying to keep it nice as I was relatively new to this place. But I have gotten meaner just being on this board. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

PP here - it's like the NW Mom version of FIGHT CLUB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I must say, I may have been one of the police trying to keep it nice as I was relatively new to this place. But I have gotten meaner just being on this board. Seriously.

Well then, please do say which post you thought was mean....
Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we want to solve any issues here, you have to be specific. So which posts were mean? The ones asking questions?

I'm not the OP, but in the researchers thread, I found this one to be without tact and unnecessary:


[Post New]06/10/2014 10:01
Subject: Re:Non-responsive, obnoxious, insensitive researchers
[Up]
Anonymous You just repeated an entire post. The receptionist was probably right, you sound pretty clueless.