The membership of PAN-L is comprised of parents, autistic individuals and friends and relatives of autistic people. The purpose of PAN-L is to provide *any* type of personal or emotional support for anyone who has a personal connection to autism. This means that there are no restrictions placed on the actual topic of messages - although general informational posts, discussions of a political nature and those involving the theoretical merits of particular treatments are inappropriate for PAN-L and should instead be restricted to the Autism List which is also hosted at this site.
PAN-L was created to fulfill a more human need than the mere gathering of information on autism - a forum where the primary focus is on FEELINGS. Any post which helps the author or the reader to achieve a more positive and/or peaceful state of mind is highly valued on PAN-L. Posts which diminish or disrupt the supportive atmosphere of PAN-L will result in that member being placed on moderation without notice.
If a post is of an impersonal or controversial nature then it should be not be posted to PAN-L. The main reason behind this is that the majority of members joined PAN-L just for the personal and emotional support and PAN-L is unique amongst all the autism-related lists in that it's the only list that offers this exclusively. There is however a reason secondary to this one. It is to keep the number of posts and the size of both the digests and archives at reasonable levels. Many members are unable to cope with a high volume list given the limited amount of time they have to spend online each day.
The only way to subscribe to this list is for me to add you. Before I can do that however, I need to know your full name and sufficient information about your relationship to 'autism' to execute a brief introduction to the other list members. These precautions are taken to protect the confidential nature of discussions on the list. Breaches of confidentiality are considered most serious and can result in that member being deleted.
Since this is a private list I am entitled to rules, but I have only a few rules that I want obeyed:
'Helpful hints' can be passed on to other parents of autistic children, provided the source or author of the information is not given or identified and it is conveyed personally and is for their own personal use. That is, NOT REPRODUCED IN ANY NEWSLETTER, etc.
If you are in doubt over whether information is considered 'general' or 'personal' information, ASK before the information is shared with anyone outside this list. It is your obligation to obtain permission from the original author of the post before redirecting it elsewhere.
This doesn't mean that you can't disagree with another's opinion - free exchange of differing opinions is welcome, but members are expected to respect the rights of others to hold opposing opinions to their own.
These lists exist to bring people together so any action which thwarts this aim will not be tolerated.
All complaints regarding posts or a member of the list should be directed only to the listowner and not posted to the list. Public criticism of the posts or behaviour of other list members will also not be tolerated.
The purpose of these rules is to ensure that the lists remain a comfortable and positive haven for all members.
It would be appreciated if when replying to posts the previous message is not quoted in total, in any case please delete the headers of the previous message as this will cause the post to be bounced to me instead of being sent to the list. There is no restriction on the length of posts provided that length is the result of original writing and not due to quoted material that has already appeared on the list. Elaborate signatures also take up unnecessary space in the digests and archives, so it would also be appreciated if they could be kept simple taking up no more than 6 lines.
If you would like to join us then please complete this
form and I will contact you or email me directly. Don't forget
to include your full name and a brief introduction outlining your 'connection to autism'.
The address for posting to PAN-L is:
If you ever have a problem in sending or receiving mail then please contact
me (cas@boronia.apana.org.au) immediately and I'll try to isolate or fix the
problem for you.
The PAN-L listserver email address for changing your options is:
If you send an email with HELP as either the subject or first line in the body of a message
to the above address
the listserver will send you a list of commands and options you can use to do this.
Or you can change your options online at this webform.
I hope you will make a lot of friends; have a lot of fun and find all the
help and support you need on my lists.
Welcome to my world!
Carolyn
I'm here to help you, so if you have any problems then please contact me
immediately.
Archives
The archives from 1994 to date are available and searchable
here.
Also included are the archives for the no longer available lists, PANINFO and PANCHAT.
For more links or to add your own link please go to my links page.