Independent Living on the Autistic Spectrum, or InLv for short, is an online support group for people with Autism or related conditions, including but not limited to Asperger Syndrome. We come together here to make friends, support each other, and share practical experiences and tips relevant to independent living with our condition. Our members live all over the world. The communication medium is e-mail; essentially, the group is a set of mailing lists divided by topic.
The group is open to people on the autistic spectrum (either officially or self-diagnosed). The group is also open to family and friends of autistic people, provided that they are interested in us as persons and friends, rather than research subjects or solely sources of information.
All messages are sent through e-mail only, so the chances of anyone else reading along are slim. We also have a privacy policy that prohibits distribution or sharing of anything without the author's permission. New members must introduce themselves to the group before receiving full access to all the forums. The introductions are saved and are available to all other members upon request. In short, you can feel relatively safe sharing personal information with the members.
On June 30, 1997, the New York Times published an article about InLv that describes well how many of the members experience this group. (link added Oct 14, 2003)
If you wish to join (which is free, as Internet mailing lists go), please mail the listowner at <martijn@inlv.org> and state your reasons for wishing to join. You will then receive further directions.
