This week’s article is a guest post by Sarah, a web designer, blogger, Twitter fan and Girl Guide troop leader from Hampshire who has Aspergers Syndrome
Disabilities can hinder progress people make in the world and it is crucial that they are not misunderstood when they communicate.
Some disabilities really can not be made considerably better because they may have some physical problem. However ones that can sometimes be un-noticed can appear as sheer rudeness. I am talking about Aspergers Syndrome.
Aspergers Syndrome is about people who appear normal, but don’t always understand the world around them.
My main idea of this post is to find out if having access to social networks, like Twitter can help conversation. Or is Twitter one network to avoid.
I have gathered some ideas since joining Twitter a year ago in 2008. This is based on my own experiences as I have AS myself.
Problems faced by being on these networks:
Thousands of people are able to see what you write on Twitter so write facts and make sure you can explain your reasons.
Write what you know. You will get more respect if you broadcast truth and fact.
Don’t be rude.
When making a comment about someone or something refrain from swearing or judging them because you think they are wrong. Many people with AS often say the wrong things but don’t mean it like they said it. If you wouldn’t say it to their face don’t say it at all!
Don’t boast about how many followers that you have.
One bad thing is boasting and it is not good on social networks. You may lose followers or people just wont talk to you anymore. You can tell them it is great to have friends but not to boast that you have more than someone else or more followers than the amount of people you follow.
Don’t put out private information. (e-mail, House name/number, mobile number, land-line number, personal finances details etc)
As nice as it is to have lots of friends and contacts. Don’t put all that info in your Tweets because you may end up regretting it and getting phone calls and e-mails that you don’t want. A throw-away email address is great if you get hassle.
Great rules for a positive Aspie to follow:
If you like people to know that you have a disability then great.
The idea of letting people know that you have AS or a different disability is by explaining that you have it and then people will usually understand if you put out a quirky message. I personally enjoy telling people I have AS because I like to talk about it and help others. Promote awareness for us!!
Try and interact if you can and make friends.
It may help you to have a better conversation. The main reason to join social sites is to have fun.
If you want to have interaction outside of Twitter with someone DM them when you know they are genuine people.
If you get on with someone really well there is no problems sending a DM to them so they can contact you in other forms of social media. STILL be careful of who they are though! And you could even make a false email address to make sure they are genuine. Then you have no worries if they turn out to be strange. (check with the e-mail provider that you can have throw-away addresses)
Express your talent if you have one.
You may be interested in photography or website making for example so Tweet about that and you may find some people who also share your hobby.
Go follow people that have your interests.
Gain knowledge and experience from professionals and other people who may be interested in the same subjects as you. If you like photography, go put the keyword in the search box and see what happens.
Closing remarks
To be on a social network you have to be very careful and maybe check with a friend/relative before you join so they can look out for you and help you. There are many positive things about the social networks but don’t get fooled by it. There will still be bad people out there who want to take advantage.
If Twitter/Facebook/Myspace etc is used sensibly you should have no problem and get a really good experience out of it. I sure have had a great experience since joining and I hope to see you on soon talking to me at @GoldChoiceUK. I’m a (female) web designer and I have Aspergers so come and ask me some questions about anything you have seen on this post.
I think that the positive things are far better than the problems of being on a social network such as Twitter.
This concludes the blog post about Twittering with Aspergers!