How about instead of daily discussions having them Tuesday and Thursday?

@DonaldK

Fine with me, but to clarify, are they the check in things or chat room stop? I don't honestly know the difference between the myriad of possible discussions u can be involved in, there's a lot and I don't know what the names are for almost all of them

but...I love Tuesday and Thursday for the discussions, I just don't know what discussions will be on those days

@K87 I'm referring to chat room discussion Tuesday and Thursday.

@DonaldK

Out of curiosity, what are they about and is it at a specific time? I went into a member room accidentally and saw they were having a discussion, but I have been never participated one

@K87 I'm here every from 2 to 4 p.m. So I usually run them about the hour so for example the next one will be next Tuesday this coming Tues starting at 2 PM EDT I'm not sure what the topic is going to be yet any ideas?

@DonaldK

Possibly, it depends on what u have already covered in the past, though

Is it possible to create something like this for teens?

@DonaldK. It sounds like a good idea to me . I’ll try to attend.

@DonaldK

I really liked having it daily. I think if that overwhelms people, they can come when they want to come. It seemed like you wanted to make a change to the feeling of the Disability Support room, educate people about disabilities and the people who have them, and have a safe place for people to gather and talk about them. I don't think that's going to happen if you take it down to only Tuesday and Thursday.

I know this two hours of disability group discussion time is my favorite part of 7 Cups. I felt a part of something great, a sense of community, and it's the only room and time I felt safe on 7 Cups. I've been emotional about losing it all day, to be honest. It's been nine hours since I learned about this Tuesday/Thursday idea and I still feel the same, so I decided I needed to say something.

I think, Donald, we should have it as many days as you can handle it. Members can come when they can come.

@Jewels012222

I can understand your frustration and you feeling emotional over this. And I'm sorry that us ppl that found it overwhelming caused all those emotions in you.

I understand because I felt the same way when the discussions began. I've been in the room daily for a long time and it's been my safe space for that long time. And it stopped being that with this change, because I didn't have a place to go anymore. And some other regulars don't come there anymore either. I did hope having these discussions would bring more people in outside them too, because ppl can learn from each other and support each even without them. I've seen that happen here a long time ago. And I miss it, honestly.

My intention wasn't to upset ppl when I brought it up, and if it does, I'll find a new community to feel safe in, no problem.

@OneErased

I'm so sorry it stopped being your safe space. You certainly deserve to have that. The regulars... they stopped coming at all times because of the discussion time? I wasn't aware of that. I didn't consider that that would happen at all. I don't want to see that happen.

I think that's going against Donald's whole point of changing the room and having the discussion time. What's the answer? Is it having it less days? Having it at a different time?

@OneErased erased please do not put the blame on yourself. I did a quick change and I'm sorry for that when I left in 2016 I didn't think that it would be the way that it is today. That being said I have an idea. @ASilentObserver can we either do one of these two options? One make a disability support lighthearted chat room or is it possible to make a separate room for discussion disability support? I want to accommodate everyone erase I never want you to think that you're at fault so please don't think you are and I did not put your name on my post but I appreciate your feelings and I hear you. I never wanted to cause problems when I return I just wanted Life disability support again so I am not trying to offend you by saying that. It is my Child in a way. Around 2014 it was born with the help of 7 cups CEO. I don't want you guys to fight so please let's just be safe kind and courteous. Please know you are loved all of you.

@DonaldK

I don't mind the discussions as a whole, nor lighthearted conversations. I would just rather have regulars in the room, an actual community and not just discussions. Like it used to be, honestly.

Another option would be to have daily discussions, but at different times of the days. I'm mostly here in my evenings, which is when the discussions have been taking place now. So maybe have some of them in my morning, when I'm not here? I do want to join some of those discussions too, but daily just makes it too much in many ways due to my disabilities. And I know morning would mean finding someone to host them, since time zones and all. But having them at two different times would bring in more people from different time zones, too, maybe. And give people like me those times of the day to feel safe there, too.

@DonaldK @OneErased @Beck1

One and I aren't fighting at all. We're talking a lot outside of this forum about all kinds of other things.

I don't invalidate what he's saying at all. If the discussions daily at the current time are causing a problem for him and the other regulars that were using the room, then it's a problem and we need to find a solution for it. I think we all want this room to be a safe space for more people, right?

I like the discussions because I like learning about people, different kinds of people, how to relate better to people, how to make people feel safer with me, etc. I also like the safety I feel when Donald and/or Beck are in the room.

BUT I've also been in the room outside the discussions and have noticed how empty it is. It's often One and I talking and that's it. If it used to be more vibrant than that, then there's definitely something that needs to be addressed. I'm all for having a discussion about it. A different time is great for me. Less often than daily, but maybe more than twice a week is okay with me. I'd like to get some more people talking about it.

@Jewels012222 @DonaldK @OneErased

I'm really glad that this discussion has started because I know people feel very differently about the discussions in the group.

I'm newer to this group so since I've been here, the discussions were already in place. I didn't know how the room was prior to them becoming a staple of the group. @OneErased , I would love to hear a little more of how the group used to look and what you enjoyed about it. What kind of talks did you guys have? Was it just allowing everyone to freely speak about whatever was going on for them? Like I said, I wasn't there before discussions started so I would like to get your perspective on that.

I definitely think taking everyones opinions and feelings into consideration is very important. Thats why discussions like this need to happen and I'm glad that you guys are talking about what both of you feel. Lets all keep talking about it until a solution is made where everyone feels comfortable

@beck1 @OneErased @Jewels012222

I think I finally have a grasp on what one is looking for. He would like the group to be more involved have structured discussions just have more people and there to hang out with. Talking about problems is it OK but not every time. Like today I did a ask me anything topic proposed by @AffyAvo so I ran with it. Part of my training program for these next four weeks I have to do group discussions along with listener discussions but I don't have to do as many listen to discussion they are just part of honors. That being said disability support was more for today then it ever has been since I've been back.

Did I pretty much get it right you two or is there something I was missing?

@beck1 @OneErased @DonaldK

All of that sounds fine to me, Donald.

@beck1 @OneErased @Jewels012222

I think I finally have a grasp on what one is looking for. He would like the group to be more involved have structured discussions just have more people and there to hang out with. [...] Did I pretty much get it right you two or is there something I was missing?

I copied the questions in here, since I couldn't answer Donald's actual post. These new hindering forum restrictions.

Against popular belief, I don't mind discussions. I actually do like attending them every once in a while when I actually have enough brain capacity to follow them. But in my books a community is not a community if it only exists for a couple hours a day to discuss predetermined topics. What I hope this to be is a support community for those who need disability support. Cause not everyone gets it during discussions, where they are restricted to listening and discussing the topic chosen for that timeslot. And not all wait around for the end of it.

Talking about problems is ok with me, I prefer support conversations rather than the happy go lucky chit chat stuff personally - not that there's anything wrong with those either. But I wish that to be the norm of the community, not just for the discussions time slots. Like it used to be a long time ago. Discussions can bring ppl into the community, yes, but if no one is in the room outside of those discussions, then none of those ppl will stick around either. I've seen that many times.

In the last year or so, I've had a lot of amazing conversations in this community. I've met some amazing ppl in it. I've done the best I can to keep it a support area for those who need that support. That still remains all that I can offer.

And to clarify, I was never against having discussions in the room. I've been hoping for them for a long time. They've been scheduled many times within the past year but they very rarely actually happened, which sucked big time.

My only problem from the get-go was going from having no discussions at all to having them every single day. As someone with problems concentrating and participating in something like that, it leaves me no space to belong to, and I know I'm not the only one. That's the only reason I raised this up in the first place.

I'm still new here but not everyone who wants to talk in a disability support/discussion space is available at the same time - there are different types of disabilities and different experiences.

Some of us are able to work full or part-time jobs and need a time when we are *not* working.

I for one would love to form or find an actual support group on here for the combination of disability and trauma directly related to growing up with a disability and all have a space to workshop the kinds of day to day challenges that only someone else with a similar background might have helpful advice for.

Sometimes you need someone to sympathetically listen and sometimes you need to vent the frustration followed immediately by trying to seperate the emotions from the actual challenge and onto mitigation/solutions.