residential

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I wonder if any stats. have been made of Autistics living arrangments ie location choice and single dweller or shared housing? Autistics like to be left alone yet sometimes we may need help from others to know what's the socially acceptable thing to do. Do any of you feel strongly drawn to bushy, forresty or sparse areas? Or do some of you love the lights/noise of inner urban environments and watching how normal people socialise? How do you balance the need to work (usually inner urban area - busy) with the need to be alone? Do any of you love just hearing nothing also...I mean no water or nature noises, or music but just pure silence? Do you think if you were in a more remote location you would ie. stim/stress less or has anyone had personal experience of a change in demenour based on moving from one distinct location to another?

I tend to alternate at roughly seven-year intervals between periods of living in outer suburbs while being employed in city centers and working independently in reclusive or isolated areas. My demeanour always changes, the nature of the change depending on the circumstances for moving. While commuting to the city here and there is not intolerable - and can be enjoyable on occasion - doing it on a daily basis becomes intolerable after a couple of years. My response is to leave that employment for an alternative where I work almost exclusively at home. These moves are essential for relieving at-the-limit accumulated anxiety levels and "resetting" to my ordinary baseline (still quite high) anxiety level. However, this type of work tends to be unreliable, and eventually the effect of unpredictable income triggers a need to return to city employment. These back-to-the-city moves are trading one set of stresses that are becomng too much for a new set, which will build over time. And around and around it goes...

If I didn't have to work, I would live in a quiet and pretty place, visiting the city every so often. The city is not all bad - especially cities with good transport systems - but is best enjoyed in small doses. Only out of economic necessity would I actually live in the city; if I need to work there, I live out somewhere close to the commuter rail line.

I do better in quiet, country like or rural settings. I get overwhelmed with booming car stereos, barking dogs, sounds of other people's conversations, etc. I like being able to access public transportation and shopping easily, but need a place in nature to retire to when the day is done. I have lived in big cities, and been driven mad by constant noise and stimulation.