I thought it was fairly clear...

[conuly]

But since some people seem to have a problem with it, does anybody have suggestions for my disclaimer to make it more obvious?

I am mildly autistic. I only bring this up because sometimes I manage to unintentionally offend people. If this happens, I would appreciate it if you could explain what I said, exactly, that upset you, and, if possible, why. Sometimes I do mean to offend, just like everyone else, but most of the time it's an accident caused by misunderstanding. If you can't do that, please don't mention that I was rude or tactless, because this causes me a lot of unneeded stress, and will likely lead to an angry post about you in my livejournal. And yes, this IS important, despite what you think... otherwise I'll keep blindly upsetting you because I don't know any better.

The whole point of it is to (hopefully) get people to reconsider when they're upset and not just flip out. That just ends badly. I'd rather they tell me why they're upset, because 90% of the time it's a misunderstanding, which can't be cleared up unless I know why they're upset. I thought it made sense that I wasn't dodging responsibility for my actions, but just in case....

Edits, anybody?

Comments

[snarkophagus.livejournal.com]

Perhaps bolding it would help, if the masses seem unable to find it by themselves? I caught it, and it doesn't look like an excuse to me. It looks like a rational explanation and an invitation to tell you if you somehow misspeak. Which, by the way, I can't say that I've ever seen you do since I've had you on my friends list. To my way of thinking, this just goes to underscore the "mildly" part.

If people who should have read your userinfo page haven't done so, I see it as their problem. I see it as a kindness to people, to warn them in advance just in case, as you're aware that it's possible for you to accidentally upset someone. This is especially true when you consider that you're sharing something a number of people wouldn't choose to make public. If other people would like to fly off and make a big deal out of something that could have been easily resolved with a polite sentence or two, that's down to a failing on their part as far as I'm concerned.

Welcome to my pre-coffee attempt at helpful conversation.

[conuly]

To my way of thinking, this just goes to underscore the "mildly" part.

I sometimes wonder if these misunderstandings aren't caused more by other people's stupidity than anything else. But saying that doesn't allow them to feel superior, so there's no point to it.

[snarkophagus.livejournal.com]

Saying that to them certainly doesn't serve a purpose, but I got a kick out of it. ;)

I agree with you, and may I add narrow-minded selfishness? I rarely see one without the other in other people, and combined, they make it difficult for any experience with these people to be productive.

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

Yes - I find that disclaimer to be stunningly responsible and helpful. I wish I'd written it myself. It is certainly the same as the basic spiel I give new people I have to work with, but more eloquent and concise. I do the spiel almost right away when I have a new co-worked, and not as an EXCUSE, but to make the interaction of the relationship make sense from the get-go. On top of essential misunderstandings, when I have to interact with people in real life, I have lots of issues with AFFECT - mine and my interpretation of others'. At least I don't have that problem in LJ. :-)

I think Conuly's disclaimer rocks, and I am pretty sure that reading it was one of the reasons I added her to begin with. That and all the clever grammar/linguistics stuff. :-)