Does anyone know if any Aspie "Houses" were ever s

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Does anyone know if any expressly Aspie houses/co-ops/apartments/condos/floating palaces have been set up? I'm looking at some old posts, and I notice at least two threads that went no where a few years ago. I was wondering if anything has happened with the concept(s) to date.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt138474.html

(Aspie 8-bedroom house)

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt177889.html

(Aspie Co-housing/co-op)

Nope, no poll this time.

Can you imagine living in an 8 bedroom house where all the tenants were like Sheldon Cooper? Kill me now!

Aspies aren't all like Sheldon Cooper, you know. Anyway, I'd prefer Sheldon to a bunch of loud-music-playing, party-throwing ultra-NTs. Nothing against extroverts--I just prefer to live in a place that isn't Party Central.

I don't know if a bunch of Aspies would have an easier time living together than a bunch of NTs. You'd get on each others' nerves just like roommates usually do. What if one is messy and another needs things to be very neat? What if one person stims in a way that annoys another's sensory issues? There are lots of things to work out just like there would be for any roommate arrangement.

Not saying it couldn't be done; just that it would have to involve the same sort of negotiation that NT housemates have to engage in.

I've got the perfect solution. A comically long and detailed "roomate agreement".

Maybe we should seperate "roommate" from "apartment neighbor". The two have very different meanings in the United States (not sure about anywhere else). Apartments have seperate secure areas (behind doors), while "roommate" usually means you share most if not all communial areas (bathrooms, kitchens, etc.).

I prefer the apartment concept myself.

To my knowledge i have read in the past that folks in NJ were working on getting houses to house their now adult age ASD children.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/0 ... ew-jersey/

As per the article, which I will have to read again later, there are concerns that federal spending rules (medicaid?) might block some of the proposals in this bill, which has not recieved a floor vote in either chamber of the NJ legislature.

I'll have to look at this in more detail when I get a chance.

LOL.

Having roommates sucks AS or not.

It's unclear if we're discussing roomates or neighboring apartments.

Theres another group, Eden Autism Services that has waiting list (non profit) that offers housing & more for Autistic adults (no floor vote needed):
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthte ... /10953209/

Here's a site, worth taking a look, i'm not familiar:
http://www.foundationforautismsupportan ... Homes.html

NJ seems to have a ton and also a huge waiting list for many of them. NJ has clusters

I think the potential for success with something like this would depend greatly on the individual Aspies involved.

If everyone's fairly high functioning & has their symptoms under control, it could be pretty cool. If anyone's in a prolonged state of depression and prone to sporadic random meltdowns, it could be a very frustrating & stressful environment to be in.

I couldn't do it. I already have a neighbor who is occasionally prone to loud meltdowns, and it completely sets me on edge when I hear it. Multiply that, and I'd be packing my bags pretty quick.

Not to my knowledge, no. There are a couple of places I've seen where autistic people are ... "mainstreamed", if you will, into existing co-ops, but that's not quite the same thing.



The thread I started was intended to be more a discussion about the "neighbouring apartments" kind of co-op housing
....mostly because of my own personal bias (me + roommates = disaster), but also because I think it would be the easiest way to meet the needs of both people who like to keep to themselves and people who are more social. In apartment-style co-op housing you have a community around you, but you have your own separate home and you are free to socialize or not with your neighbours (although all co-ops require some level of participation because they are member-run).

The problem I have with all the different kinds of housing models I've come across (at least in North America, but even then I haven't heard of all of them) for autistic people with any functioning label is that it's not just autistic-friendly housing -- instead there always seems to be some sort of intervention or support services or program that's a central part of living there...

What if I just want to live in a place where applying (interviewing) isn't a nightmare -- where maybe the landlord or interview committee is aware that autistic people can have communication difficulties/differences and won't write me off as a nut job or judge me as "sketchy" just because I don't speak well, or my voice and mannerisms aren't "normal"?

What if maybe I just want to live in a place where there's autistic-friendly adjustments made to the actual physical building....



.... like sound-proofing in the walls between apartments?

(....Or low-VOC paints and flooring which would accomodate those with hypersensitivity to smell? Or no flourescent lights?)

What if I just want to live somewhere where the folks who collect rent know about executive functioning difficulties and won't evict me if I forget about paying rent and the cheque is a week late? Or, better yet, where there's a designated person you can ask to remind you about rent or help you set up a system to remind yourself, if you have problems with remembering to pay bills, but who doesn't have to help you unless you ask for help -- and won't impose their help upon you either?



If you're using a roommate-style housing model then absolutely it would depend on the individuals involved. If you're trying to start up an any kind of housing co-op for the first time, then whether or not you ever got it started would also depend on the individuals involved, for sure....Otherwise, I think that success would depend more on the kind of housing model you're using, and the specifics of building structures.

I think it would be very possible to create a flexible apartment-housing model that would work for a wide variety of people with autism by making adjustments to buildings and management practices, and by separating the housing from any support services offered (i.e. making supports available by request instead of automatially imposed upon you, either on-site or by just networking with community services so that those who ran the housing could offer referrals to supports for residents who were struggling or asked for help).

Meh I think sharing 8 rooms is tough, but depending on the people it'd be much easier than living with a bunch of nts.

there are some very basic concerns when living with an aspies, which basically relate to cleanliness. Simply having a fining procedure similar to what is found in most dorms and that issue takes care of itself.


Otherwise in my experience things are far easier than living with a bunch of random nts.

Granted I'm not talking about a person that simply has aspergers, but a person who's actually gone to counselling, and has properly adjusting living with other adults.

If your experience with aspies is that of people who haven't adapted than obviously your results may be very different.

Can you post (or send) a link to that thread? I'm not sure if I've read that one.


That makes sense to me, and is well along the lines that I advocate. The grouping of Aspies would create a demand for services, as opposed to services being forced on Aspies.

Did I explain myself there?



Yes, Yes, Yes. Pretty much the above.

Now, how little in "services" would we need to start such a location, that's a question for another thread.