A new year and the state of BT

[agate]

hey mike !

yeah, i think the word "child" or childhood" should come first in the name of the forum category. it gets your attention right away.

are you going to give each category it's own forum and see how much traffic it gets before maybe making sub-forums or cutting them?

-Child Neurology
-Add & ADHD
-Autism Spectrum DIsorders (In 2013, the DSM-5 replaced autism, Asperger's Disorder and other pervasive developmental disorders with the umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.)
-Children's Epilepsy
-Coping with the Loss of a Child
-Tourette Syndrome

possible names:

Childhood Neurological Disorders
Children's Neurological Problems
Childhood Neurology
Children's Neurology

anyone else want to add any other suggestions?

jeannie

Just seconding the idea of putting Asperger's under a more general heading, like Autism Spectrum Disorders, since as jeannie says, the diagnostic status of Asperger's has changed, and it's now commonly known that Asperger's is no longer considered a separate disorder.

I just ran across an article in the Atlantic by Hannah Rosin that discusses the new thinking on Asperger's:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

Thanks to Moderator 7 for calling my attention to tic chick's post!

[Debbiejm]

Hello

I'm just wondering..is this site used a lot? It says I have been a member since Nov 13. I don't remember signing up but then again my brain at times is mush!!! LOL

[agate]

Hello

I'm just wondering..is this site used a lot? It says I have been a member since Nov 13. I don't remember signing up but then again my brain at times is mush!!! LOL

Hi Debbiejm,

Not sure what you mean when you ask if these boards are used a lot. These boards aren't as lively as they were 10 years ago or so but they're still active, and you can see how active by watching how fast the threads move down on the first page of whatever forum you're looking at.

If you're wondering why a person hasn't replied to a post of yours, it's possible that that person hasn't logged in recently.

You can find out when someone has last logged in by clicking on the user name and going to the person's Profile. Look under General Information and see if Last Activity is listed. The date shown there will be the date when that person last logged in.

This information isn't shown if a member has opted to be "invisible," though.

[Mike Weins]

I just finished pruning the following 18 forums, I also made Coping with the loss of a child a subforum of Child Neurology.

• Career Search Support
• Domestic Abuse
• LGBT
• Survivors of Suicide
• Medications and Medication Toxicity
• Obesity and Neurological Disorders
• Smoking and Tobacco
• Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency
• Arthritis
• Fractures, Sprains, Strains, etc
• Osteoporosis
• Scoliosis
• Urinary Disorders
• Visual Impairments
• Autoimmune Diseases
• Diabetes
• Eating Disorders
• Irritable Bowl Syndrome

More forums may be cut in the future. We are also still open to the idea of new forums if they get enough support.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Mike)))))) ~

Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for sparing Coping with the Loss of a Child.

I was anticipating its removal and feeling a bit blue about that prospect. So much so that I didn't really want to read your list of eliminated Forums.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am that CLC is still here. Bless you, dear Mike, for this gift.



Love & Light,

Rose

[alex44]

Mike - in my humble opinion, a general notice should be put up for ALL members to BOMBARD other forums using our name Maybbe tryusing it in your signature line - most other forums get real snotty when you bring up Braintalk - the original - I got one forum to back off ( sorry - I was a pain in the but to them) but - they don't try to trade on our good name anymore. As far as I know, we were First and our good name should not be shilled - as you can see from my join date, I've been here awhile so I should know. Shame that certain people took advantage of BT (No Names) and remind our ?former? members that we are alive and well. Hope this message does not violate T.O.S. also use ALL the search engines to get to BT. this will increase our ranking. Hope this gets thru - last time I tried to post I got some bs about a security token.
Blessings
Alex44
Skypilot

[funnylegs4]

Really sad to see the visual impairment forum go because it is the only visual impairment forum that I'v ever found. :( But I think the rest of the cuts were pretty good decisions. Thank you for keeping Cerebral Palsy, Coping with Loss of Child, and Tourette Syndrome,and PTSD up! If people want a forum that was removed to be brought back and it had enough support, would you consider bringing it back?? Also, what happened to the forum posts when you deleted the threads? Are they on your computer or do they disappear? Just curious.

[Mike Weins]

Really sad to see the visual impairment forum go because it is the only visual impairment forum that I'v ever found. :( But I think the rest of the cuts were pretty good decisions. Thank you for keeping Cerebral Palsy, Coping with Loss of Child, and Tourette Syndrome,and PTSD up! If people want a forum that was removed to be brought back and it had enough support, would you consider bringing it back?? Also, what happened to the forum posts when you deleted the threads? Are they on your computer or do they disappear? Just curious.

If a forum garners enough support/interest it can be brought back. The forums weren't actually deleted, just locked and invisible so the posts are still there (and counted).

[funnylegs4]

If a forum garners enough support/interest it can be brought back. The forums weren't actually deleted, just locked and invisible so the posts are still there (and counted).

Oh cool! I had no idea it worked that way. Good to know. Thanks!

[Prot]

With each new version of BT activity and posts have dropped. Under different names I used to post mainly in the bipolar forum ,as I had a similar dx of schizoaffective but then my dx changed and the forum covering my new diagnosis was dropped a couple of versions ago. I also posted articles I found on various forums. However I have not posted much since getting a dubious infraction and having been told quite spitefully that I was posting articles for malicious reasons.
I now check here once in a proverbial blue moon out of curiosity, but it has long since lost it's community spirit and is a travesty of what it used to be.
It 's a shame because despite a few personal difficulties over the years for me BT used to be one of the leading forums around. Now it's unlikely to come off life support.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

With each new version of BT activity and posts have dropped. Under different names I used to post mainly in the bipolar forum ,as I had a similar dx of schizoaffective but then my dx changed and the forum covering my new diagnosis was dropped a couple of versions ago. I also posted articles I found on various forums. However I have not posted much since getting a dubious infraction and having been told quite spitefully that I was posting articles for malicious reasons.
I now check here once in a proverbial blue moon out of curiosity, but it has long since lost it's community spirit and is a travesty of what it used to be.
It 's a shame because despite a few personal difficulties over the years for me BT used to be one of the leading forums around. Now it's unlikely to come off life support.

((((((Prot)))))) ~

As a very active BT participant and member of the BT community, I take great umbrage to your comments (specifically, the ones I bolded).

Just because BT isn't enormous with 10,000 members doesn't mean that we don't have community spirit. For example, this thread has 7 pages of member comments regarding the state and future of BT. Members, who come together to discuss ways of improving BT, certainly indicates community spirit.

You want to see community spirit? Visit the MS forum. Or the Child Neuro forum, where there are only a few of us still posting, but we discuss important issues and provide each other with love and caring. Check out the Caregivers Forum. The Emotional Support forum.

A travesty is a false, absurd or distorted representation of something.

Calling the current version of BT a travesty is an insult to Dr. Hoch, David Hosobuschi, and Mike Weins, who volunteer their time and resources to keep BT on line and available to anyone, who needs support or information about a neurological condition. All three of them could have said, easily, "Forget it. Too much work. Too much hassle."

But they didn't. And they continue their commitment to the BT community, despite issues, which inevitably arise.

It's also an insult to the members, who participate here, both regularly and periodically to refer to BT as a travesty. We congregate at BT now for the same reasons we always gathered here: information, support, camaraderie.

We moved to a different building, with new landlords. That's all. Members decided to vacate the premises for Social Media, because they prefer its buildings to ours. That is technological evolution, but it doesn't make BT extinct or pathetic.

It is unfortunate that you have had issues with BT moderation in the past, but if that was during the John Lester era, then things have changed in that regard as well, for the positive. Moderation in this version of BT is extremely fair.

I have no idea what your reference to BT being "unlikely to come off of life support" even means. I only know my visceral reaction to that capricious use of the term "life support," since I had to make that unbearable decision for my son 11 years ago. Other BT members may have experienced loved ones, who were on ventilators, and they may find that remark offensive, as I did.

Moreover, we're not on life support, whatever your definition of it is. We are a functioning community of loving, caring people, sharing journeys with neurological conditions.

Perhaps, if you visited here more than once in a blue moon out of curiosity, and participated in some discussions, and got to know us, you might not feel compelled to tell us how much we suck.

You get out as much as you put in.

I'm just weary of former members posting to tell us how we're a skeleton of what we were once, but not participating to bring back the level of activity of BT in the old days. I'm tired of hearing "Gosh, nobody is here anymore," from people, who aren't here anymore.

Our BrainTalk community doesn't deserve your scathing remarks. There are wonderful, beautiful people here, struggling with assorted issues and challenges, while also lending a helping hand to someone else in need. Our administrators and moderators volunteer their time and resources to maintain BT, and they deserve our respect and appreciation.

Please, just ponder that. Thank you.

Love & Light,

Rose