Thursday 17 May 2012

Tutorial 6: Online communities

This Blog has links to online communities that are avaliable on the internet.


http://autismspeaksnetwork.ning.com/


This website is a social networking website called Autism Speaks. It allows members to sign up to thier own account, interact with other members, post in forums, create your own page, and acces other blogs. I think this website would be very benefical to those who are living with an autistic family member who wan to reach out and share thier experiences with others in similar situations.
Often people with disabilities in the family can feel embarrased or be made to feel different. This website is a excellent way for these families to unite and create thier own unique community. Members are free to cintribute pictures, tell stories, and give support to all those that seek it.



http://www.schizophreniaforums.com/


This website is a forum for people suffering from, or living with someone suffering from schziophrenia. members can remain annonymous or have an identity in whic great relationships can be made. There are other links to other mental illness sites, aswell as games and fun stuff on the page to look into. a section detailing about therapy and medical issues surrounding schziophrenia are there aswell.
This is another good place for suffers to go fo discuss issues with people who understand what you are going through. mental illness often has high levels if stigma attached, so these forusm are a great place for outsiders to explore also and gain a little more insight.




http://www.mygriefspace.net/


This website is an online community for people who have sufferd a loss, and are in a period of grief. Grieving periods can last for only a short time, and some can last a life time. Some grievers can even have times when they are managing, and others when they are struggling with the loss.
This page allows for people to express their feelings with others. People who are grieving can often feel alone, and that no one really understands how they are feeling, so a blog or website like this allows for this expression. There is also a tribute page in this site for people to share with others the identity of thier loved one.



Issues with websites like these could be:


People get too attached to thier online communitues and start to neglect the ones arround them.

Fake accounts are made by people that dont actually have any relevance to the site.

The sufffer of the diease, may not actually want to be on these websites, it could be the family members pushing for involvement.





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