First apartments designed for adults on the spectrum

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I ran across this article on social media and had a chance to look more into it and yes, these complex and the architecture is a taste to my liking. On the contrary, I have a few issues with it.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/r ... isc-7bzWzQ

I know I sound too negative here...

1. Once again the idea came from an NT and not and autie/aspie
2. They are hiring staff to 24/7, great for things like medical emergencies, break-ins, meltdowns, etc. They also want to have things looking a community kitchen where they teach cooking classes and other skills. What I don't like is that they have a center for researchers which makes me feel like they are going to treat their tenants like guinea pigs.
3. It sounds nice but I feel like it can also be a nice way to segregate people who are different
4. Those apartments and program are very expensive and who is going to pay for all this? 85% of auties/Aspies are under or unemployed.
5. Sounds a program for parents and guardians who are "Overly protective."

I live on my own and I didn't have this kind of fancy footwork to get me where I am today. In fact, I live in a normal community.

Well, time will tell. I think one of main issues in an autism-friendly environment might be other autistic people. But I'm a person who did okay without that support. MANY adults with autism need a program to learn independent living skills. Even if they live successfully with parents for many years, eventually those parents are going to die or need their own assisted living situations.

I didn't see it mentioned in the article, but I hope that the apartments are constructed with noise-reduction features - no thin walls or bad acoustics.

The presence of research opportunities does not worry me unduly - hopefully any studies will be optional and include a thorough and easily-understood informed consent. That varies widely from one institution to another. But don't we want to know an honest appraisal of how well the program does for the participants?

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Alzheimer ... d=16103780

The top tax rate in that country is 52%. It was once 72%

From the article: "For apartments, rents start at $3,300 per resident for a two bedroom. That includes all the other amenities..."

Three-point-three thousand dollars per month?! What the f...

I can guaranty you that this is another example of only the wealthy being able to afford proper care for the disabled.

Phah, it would be cheaper to hire someone to check on the disabled person on regular basis or hire some professional to teach him/her basic household skills...

A CBS new program said that a family was getting $2400 for putting up a disabled veteran. Since they put up three veterans, I assume they are getting a check for $7200 from the US government each month. Which is a bargain for US taxpayers as it sounds like they can't even do their ADLs when they first arrive.

Even further, find someone in the community to teach these skills "For free." This complex also has a transition program for a lot of money which I think is silly. If I want to see an autie/aspie spend that kind of money, I think Inclusive Post secondary Ed is better because one can build job skills and get into a good job.

It's quite possible the program has either a "sliding scale" based on parental income, or even has a number of slots reserved for people relying on SSDI or SSI. The article doesn't really say.

Yeah while everyone else gets weeded out.

What a joke, how can they expect autistic people to be that wealthy? It's a disability for Christ's sake. Are they just assuming they will be successful and be great in engineering and maths that will pay them a shedload of money?

I certainly wasn't under the impression anyone cared about our housing situations.

A 24/7 staff of 24 for 55 apartments is going to cost a lot, but what are you going to do if you have people who need that level of service?

They are first apartments for training people on the spectrum to transition.

If the program actually teaches independent living skills and people eventually go on to be independent of their parents, then the money is well spent. Maybe a transition program for one year right after high school, in someone who learns how to cook, clean, plan and budget for himself or herself, is appropriate in helping a person transition to either college or employment. I think an after-care program such as a drop-in group for people who have left the special housing (due to finances, say) could be an excellent way of reinforcing what was learned and supporting the autistic person through new challenges.

There will be different levels of ability to succeed in this sort of thing. At the low end, a person probably can never learn these skills. At the high end, they don't need anything so extensive as this housing program. In the middle are the ones who have the most to gain.

I just thought of something and I feel that if you want a program like this to work, there needs to personnel, volunteers and board members who are on the spectrum. These would be people who probably don't live there with supported employment like mentors and accommodations. They could so things such as..
1. Work with the transition programs who have the right certifications
2. Get on the research team
3. Help at the front desk
4. There are autistics like myself who are very extroverted who could give tours of the apartments and the facilities while giving every detail.
5. There are even autistics who do well in sales and probably could do the leasing office
6. Others could work with the financing piece or things behind the scenes

Meanwhile, you could have adults on the board who are on the spectrum that have had experience with independence who are expert in one area or another.

^ great ideas, Summer!

I think that it is very likely that the nicest apartments will be reserved for the resident staff.

They will also live there rent-free.