Tutorial Six - The internet and online communities.

In my first fieldwork, the OT practice area that interested me was Autism. I previously posted videos about this in my tutorial five, so there should be an understanding of what Autism is. 
In this tutorial I am to find three online communities that relate to Autism. 

These three communities are:

Drive for Rebecca 
 http://www.drive4rebecca.org/?gclid=CJnOy9TU268CFUNMpgodRFSOBQ 

Autism Blog
http://knowledgeforpeople.blogspot.co.nz/

Autism Forum
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asphttp://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asp

 Drive for Rebecca is a website which is devoted to one girl called Rebecca who has Autism. It is Rebecca's father's "Relentless crusade to help his daughter and help change the world" Rebecca's father drove cross-country 2002 to raise money for their daughter and is an ongoing effort to raise funds for education, research and advocacy. And he did it again in 2011. There are links on this site helping others and especially a questions and answers page linked where 400+ families talk about special needs by giving their questions and answering other. There is also a handbook, free to download on this site, useful for parents. 

This site is the fathers seeking to help other parents who also have children with Autism and to make people aware, it is also to help raise money and there is the option to donate money. 

"Drive4Rebecca helps increase awareness of autism and asperger’s syndrome, raises funds for research and education, and helps parents become stronger advocates for their children with special needs"

Rebecca's father is experiencing occupational disruption to his life and by creating this community he has helped out parents who are in the same book, and well as contributing to research for cures and education.

Ethical issues may arise over if this site is authenticated, personally i would be reluctant to donate because I don't know exactly where my money is going. 
 


Autism Blog is a blog which I found called Knowledge for People- World Autism Education. This blog is very informative and updates on all the things this group of people is doing for Autism in underdeveloped countries. They tell of trips they go on to educate people all around the world.
This site relates to occupational deprivation, but in a positive way as it educates people about Autism and therefore allows people to get back into occupations informed of positives and negatives.
The information shared is one way, although there can be comments made on the blog postings, they may not reply?

'We are very excited to announce that we will be heading to the Maldives this summer to provide autism training and education to teachers, parents, doctors, and other professionals in Malé, Maldives. We will be hosted by the Maldives Autism Association (MAA) and are working closely with the teachers and staff. The MAA was founded by Madam Ilham Hussain in 2011 and they are working very hard to improve the quality of life for children with autism in the Maldives.'

I cannot see any ethical issues that arise with this blog, it is purely for people to see how people are contributing greatly to the education of Autism.

Autism Forum is a forum with many different sub headings to enter into, which discuss in depth the topics.A few key topics are : Autism and the Law, Autism Education Issues, Autism Diets, Studies and Surveys and many more. 
The intended purpose for the forum in education, to help people with someone who has Autism. The forums are specific and to the point. Any one can contribute, but I believe they have to register and there is also professionals who join the conversations to give professional opinions. 

People contribute to this community to help each other out and to know that they are not alone. 

This site seeks nothing in return but for the sharing of education.

There are very few ethical issues I could think of for this community, but possibly the fact that anyone CAN post, this means things could be said that offend others quite easily. There may be administrators to scan this though.  


This is obviously a very popular site judged on how many posts and topics there are (recorded on page). And with a forum section titled 'Alternative Autism treatments' I can also see how ethical issues may arise with this also.


I enjoyed reading some of the forums on this and if I was parent with an Autistic child, this would be my go-to to help me.