This article is written from a personal viewpoint and all statements made are either correct at the time of publication or an expression of opinion.

Autism Web was a website that claimed to be a parents guide to the Spectrum. I had issues with the site itself in general as I was dismayed that they had no literature listed from Tony Attwood or Lorna Wing, and they listed Jenny McCarthy’s garbage publication. They also claimed that the name of the site was trademarked, when a search has revealed that they did not. The real problem area though was the forum.

Despite rules about conduct being present, the moderator of the forum failed to apply them consistently and therefore failed to maintain a forum that any reasonable Autistic can cope with. And when he decided to act, he turned to the person complained about the most – not the person who created the problem to begin with.

There were many people on the forum who are only there to cause trouble, especially when it came to improper education of the Autistic Spectrum. People like enemy of Autism Diane Davis (as DGDavis), TamiW, Alex’s Mom, Williams Dad and Rick Neubrander (as Rlneub) were always quickly onto anyone who defied their own belief in vaccines being at the root of the Spectrum and uses patronisation and baiting as weapons to antagonise. This went unpunished by the moderator.

But when I responded in their sort of language, I was jumped on. This was a serious breach of consistency by the moderator, who turned around and told me to remove the insults.

Please do not call forum members names used as insults (i.e. “uneducated fool,” etc.) Please edit your posts to remove insults aimed at other members. Thank you.
Moderator Bill in PM on March 26, 2009

Because of the problem that was present, I felt I needed to learn about what he wanted specifically. So;

Please link the posts to make it easier for me – and please ask Williams Dad to do the same where he called me a “meathead” (if you haven’t already).
Timelord Phil (as TLPG) in PM on March 26, 2009

But the moderator turned the blow torch back on me, expecting me to make a social instinct call about what constituted an insult. The moderator also threatened me with a three day ban if I didn’t remove the insults.

Please search through your own posts and remove insults, including the post in which you call a physician a “q u a c k” by name. I do not have time to send people URLs of each questionable post they make. If you do not wish to do this, your account can be suspended for a period of three days while I do this for you.

I also suggest you read the Announcements and Rules section. There is a thread there about the appropriate use of people’s names, along with other important information.
Moderator Bill in PM on March 28, 2009

I was offended by this response as it showed a lack of understanding of the Spectrum. I didn’t make that statement, and instead made a more general statement about what I needed.

This is not a case of “not wishing to do so”. It’s a case of “I can’t without links”. I feel very insulted that you expect me do something without specific references. I don’t have time to trawl all of my posts and under those circumstances I think I am entitled to ask for assistance.

I need your help in order to comply with your wishes. I can not (I am not refusing) do what you ask without it. It will also assist me with regards to any other words that you don’t like aside from the ones you have mentioned. It’s no good me removing material that “I” consider an insult. I need to know what “you” consider an insult. The rules you refer to are ambiguous to me and provide a very jaded guide at best. I need more specific information. 
Timelord Phil (as TLPG) in PM on March 28, 2009

But he refused to pay attention, and went ahead with the suspension. That caused me to forward the copies I had of the PM’s to the webmaster once the suspension ended and I made a formal complaint. Meanwhile, I also took note of the changes that the moderator made to see if he acted against anyone else. The fact that he didn’t (aside from removing the “meathead” comment) also went to the webmaster as a complaint.

I didn’t post anything on the forum and I wasn’t going to until I got a response from the webmaster about the whole issue, but that didn’t matter in the end. On the night of Sunday April 5 I found my IP had been denied from the forum. That was clearly the answer from the webmaster, and I knew that Autism Web’s forum was unsafe for us Autistics. I created another account via a proxy using Scratcher’s email address with his permission, and waited for it to be approved. It never was and I suspect I tried to create the new account too soon and they figured it was me. It proved they were scared – so I took the email address from the forum of the moderator and sent the following email to him.

You are pathetic. The Autism Web forum doesn’t help parents. It hinders them, and doesn’t protect people from offensive behaviour. You fail as a moderator and you fail in understanding the Autistic Spectrum.
Timelord Phil in email on April 20, 2009

I signed it “TLPG”. I gave the same basic message to the webmaster also in email noting the IP ban and what it clearly indicated as his or her failings as a webmaster, and shut off the ability to respond for both of them.

I tried to slip into the Spectrum Sleuth forum that Williams Dad was so keen on and send him a nasty PM as he deserved calling him a failure as a parent because of his support of abuse of disabled children per his horrible swipe at Australian Authorities. But it was admin activated so I kept it for an Autistic Enemy article. I was thinking about PMing Diane Davis on the Autistic Living forum but that was bound to bounce onto the Autism Speaks Social Network so I didn’t bother. She has an article here anyway.

The Autism Web forum was a haven for bad parents who believe that vaccines are the reason for all the issues they have with their Autistic children. This forum represented a major hold back to the understanding of the condition, and is the main reason why it is an Autistic Enemy. Along with the fact that they expected ALL members to have NT style social skills. A contrary attitude to take when it comes to proper education of the Spectrum as a whole, and I intended to take this up with the appropriate people in order to make sure the site lost it’s gloss as a reliable source for information on the Spectrum. It was not.

As a footnote, the forum also tolerated John Best Junior. Even my enemies knew that “Timelord” on the forum was him, but the moderator and the webmaster wouldn’t do anything about him. The final nail in the coffin.

Thankfully the forum and website is now gone and the domain parked. A check of the Wayback Machine reveals this take down occurred at the beginning of 2018. Hopefully it will never return. It was a hate forum – no doubt.

PHIL GLUYAS