Autistic Roommates.

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With my SSDI claim starting to come together, this is something I have been thinking about for a while. What do other people here think about the idea of trying to get a group of ASD people together as roommates to rent a large house or something?

It seems to me that it could be a good affordable living arrangement for autistic people. Plus the benefit of having other people around who you can actually understand. ASD friendly house rules. Example loud parties would be out. Quiet social activities in.

It would probably have to be only for people on disability. Because 1. everybody would have to have a steady income, to be able to keep the bills paid and 2. the rental would probably have to be in an economically depressed area to be as affordable as possible. Living costs are too high around good employment centers where you can find jobs easily.

So good idea? Bad idea? Would you be interested in living with other ASD people?

have lived with autistic people entire life; dad and sister [both aspies] up till nineteen and from then on; living in a intelectual disability institution and residential care with other severe and profound autistics.
am now living in a new purpose built large one level care home for females who have; severe or profound autism with intelectual disability and MH issues,still waiting for the others to move in.

personaly prefer living with people with down syndrome [or DS with autism] than purely autism as find them much more compatible and easier to get on with.

They like things done their way, I like things done my way, we both don't like change so none of us can agree to live together.

I don't want to live with anyone at all to be honest. I just want to be alone, with some pets.

Yes, but living alone costs a lot more money then sharing housing. If you are on disability or have a low income that can be difficult.

Plus don't you think that sometimes it is good to have other people around to talk to? Once in a while?

My idea would be a house where everybody has their own room, and everybody respects everybody else's privacy. The rules would have to be to socialize when people are in the common areas of the house, and leave them alone when they are in their rooms. I think that could be accomplished with ASD roommates. It would be difficult NT roommates. They would never get it.

I find living around other people very trying in general, and I have all sorts of bad habits others would likely find objectionable.
Moreover, I don't imagine that other adult autistics aren't as demanding and full off bad habits as I am in terms of their living environments, so I think that in general unless the people involved had really compatible issues it'd be a very difficult thing to successfully arrange.

Personally, I'd much rather live in a tiny place alone than in a bigger place with anyone I'm not completely 100% comfortable around, and there really aren't too many of those in the world so far that I've seen.
It's really inconvienient that things are that way, and it makes it difficult to some large extent for me because housing costs are very often cheaper in shared spaces, but I really, really hate living with other people, and for the most part everyone I've ever lived with has felt the same about me.

First: For the OP question, no I wouldn't want any autistic roommates, but I don't want any roommates. I actually own my own house.

Now, KingdomOfRats, I am curious do the people who run this care facility know what you are doing on the internet, do they monitor your post, this is for my own curiosity, You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just wondering how much freedom do people in these places have.

Last edited by DVCal on 06 Apr 2014, 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

That question betrays some really bizarre assumptions.

I think it's a good idea.



Well....being autistic doesn't necessarily mean you will always be able to understand each other, find it easy or comfortable living together, or that you will be able agree on house rules. Autism varies a lot, and autistic people even more so as individuals.

I don't mean to discourage you nor say it would be impossible -- I really do think it's a good idea. I'm just saying you'd have to consider more than whether or not everyone was autistic. If a group of ASDers were all compatible on an individual level, then renting a house together could be an ideal affordable housing solution for all of them.



I'm not very interested in living with roommates to begin with, autistic or not. There have been exceptions, but I generally do very poorly living with others....I do not function well.

But if I had to live with roommates, I would be interested in exploring the possibility.

But were your roommates ASD or NTs? I think it is very difficult for autistic people to live with NTs. Especially if they don't understand your condition. Thats why I'm thinking it would be better for autistic people to be roommates together.

I guess I would expect ASD people to understand some basic common rules. Such as not slamming doors in the middle of the night. I know many NT people, who would do that. Though I agree that everybody would need to agree to the same house rules in advance. Some ASD people could have different tolerances for different things. But over all I would think that people with ASD would have more similarities, then differences.

My roommates were humans.
Many things most other humans do bother me.
Many things I do bother them.

I understand your conjecture, and I don't entirely reject it in principle, but in practice I'm pretty sure my particular habits, behaviors, and needs are too extreme for other autistics to deal with as well, and frankly I'd feel terrible about subjecting them to me & my lifestyle for extended periods of time.

Yeah, ok, I'm a pathetic excuse for a human who can't live with others, I know.

Yeah, me too, Bodyles. I'm better off completely alone and isolated.

Autistic people can clash really hard. For example one person might have stims or other behaviors that sets off the other's sensitivities. Or they could have incompatible personalities. Or one might be messy and the other might be neat.

Yep.

You'd think we'd understand each other and be able to accomadate each other's needs, but that really never happens.

Personally, I live alone. It's worth spending the extra money to not have a roommate.

So ,I think it good to have somebody having same kind of stims, and having compatiable personality.

not interested in ANY room mates, every one I have attempted resulted in disaster ranging from awful fights to abuse and even rape and the theft of my stuff. Better just to be homeless if you have no other choice (I did choose that in the case of the last room mate)

I finally decided that I would never live with anyone else unless in a permanent relationship