I'm trying to start a social group under the umbrella of an organization that I'm in, which we'll call "Barge". There's another social group I'm in, which we'll call "Jeans." The Barge group is run by two organizers, one who is the main lead and is very friendly, but with a tendency for rigidity in a way that has a lot of people lose interest in staying in the group long term. The other organizer is more open and helps mold things together, but does not take the forefront with the organization. Barge also wants to start a social component to their group. They were thinking of staying in the same area as where we meetup. Since Barge is near a big city, I'm encouraging doing a variety of locations to be open to possibly other people as well and not excluding the group to just one small area based on proximity. I'm also willing to lead this portion of the group.
The group, Jeans, is a group that runs successfully, no membership fee, and has social activities open to people with multiple disabilities. Barge, even though it has an aim for people on the spectrum, is also open to people with disabilities. Jeans looks for people who want to be independent, and Barge tends to have people who are mostly independent and usually struggling, or want to be independent. Barge tends to have people much older the Jeans. Barge used to have many people of all ages, but lost a lot of people due to the rigidity of the prior leader basically.
In addition to the social group I start under Barge, I'm also hoping to call the group Jeans on a Barge where both groups may or may not collaborate on a few events. Unlike Jeans for now, Barge would also plan on attempting some support group meetings just specifically for the support group. We could have a theme for the meeting, but could also go off-topic depending on people's emotions. The aim would be to make people feel valuable and to understand life for what it is, and how to deal with it. The leader of Barge does not want to do support meetings because they are too hard for him, and he wants everyone to like talking about information and meditation only. The other leader is more open, but doesn't take the forefront for the group. I feel that the group won't grow with it being so restrictive, and I feel confident about managing the social events and the support group logistics.
I mentioned this idea to the main leader in Jeans, and she could not process everything. I also accidentally told her that she could ask other board members or her parents to communicate with me. She was insulted by me asking about her parents, but she did feel that I was trying to make good work. I apologized to her and told her I look for everyone's good success. There is a sense of frustration inside of me because I can tell that her lack of processing and understanding of how much effort I have to make to go to their events (30 - 1 hr driving one way plus toll plus I consider if the event is 4 hours+ and if the date and time are confirmed and not being changed on me last minute) have held me up before. This socialization might not end up happening. Not sure. Feeling frustrated that things may not pan out, or that I may accidentally turn people away because apparently I do process more than most people I've met on the spectrum.
The group, Jeans, is a group that runs successfully, no membership fee, and has social activities open to people with multiple disabilities. Barge, even though it has an aim for people on the spectrum, is also open to people with disabilities. Jeans looks for people who want to be independent, and Barge tends to have people who are mostly independent and usually struggling, or want to be independent. Barge tends to have people much older the Jeans. Barge used to have many people of all ages, but lost a lot of people due to the rigidity of the prior leader basically.
In addition to the social group I start under Barge, I'm also hoping to call the group Jeans on a Barge where both groups may or may not collaborate on a few events. Unlike Jeans for now, Barge would also plan on attempting some support group meetings just specifically for the support group. We could have a theme for the meeting, but could also go off-topic depending on people's emotions. The aim would be to make people feel valuable and to understand life for what it is, and how to deal with it. The leader of Barge does not want to do support meetings because they are too hard for him, and he wants everyone to like talking about information and meditation only. The other leader is more open, but doesn't take the forefront for the group. I feel that the group won't grow with it being so restrictive, and I feel confident about managing the social events and the support group logistics.
I mentioned this idea to the main leader in Jeans, and she could not process everything. I also accidentally told her that she could ask other board members or her parents to communicate with me. She was insulted by me asking about her parents, but she did feel that I was trying to make good work. I apologized to her and told her I look for everyone's good success. There is a sense of frustration inside of me because I can tell that her lack of processing and understanding of how much effort I have to make to go to their events (30 - 1 hr driving one way plus toll plus I consider if the event is 4 hours+ and if the date and time are confirmed and not being changed on me last minute) have held me up before. This socialization might not end up happening. Not sure. Feeling frustrated that things may not pan out, or that I may accidentally turn people away because apparently I do process more than most people I've met on the spectrum.
