Living on your own with ASD, advice?
Are we talking about pet cats and dogs or did I miss something?
Emotional support animals. They're pets that can go some places that ordinary pets can't because the owner needs a companion. And it's not abusive. People who own emotional support animals treat them like friends, not therapists.
I think they are implying those service dogs for autistic children where the parents expect the dog to basically babysit the child.
This poor creature was secured by about a 6' lead to a young boy. By the time I got there the boy was screaming at the top of his lungs for something that he wanted on a shelf and jerking the lead attached to the dog. The dog was trying his best to sit while Mom was screaming at the dog to sit and stay while she jerked the second lead to the dog.
I honestly think the dog knew me as a dog lover. As he turned his face to me I could see the h--l he was going through. The dog looked like he had lost all spirit and had about reached the point of giving up. There was not even a spark left showing of any will to fight for himself. It is the same look that someone experienced in dog shelters soon recognizes on the faces of dogs that have been shown that life is hopeless.
The dog stood up and I just watched in frustration as it tried to pull itself to me, its feet slipping and trying to gain traction on the tile of the floor shop. I was so tempted to run over and take its tether off and run as fast as I could to my car and drive away.
Yes this dog was professionally trained and had ID attached to him. Mom was probably frustrated as things were not working out as wonderful as she was lead to believe by tether dog advocates. So instead of trying to shop with just a child she now had a child having a bad time and a dog wanting no part of it. Instead of one to tend to she had two and she was not able to handle it. How was this making life better for any of them?
While I advocate for Assistance Dogs and their handlers, I will never go along with tethering a dog to a child. I take every chance I can to speak up against it.
http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/283
That is awful and should be considered animal abuse by the law, but that's not what I was referring to at all in my original post and I think what I said might have been misinterpreted. Emotional support animals are completely different.
https://www.animallaw.info/article/faqs ... animals#s1
1) Learn to enjoy cooking. The more tricks you know the better you're able to eat, so long as there's food in the cupboards.
2) Make the place yours, don't hold it up to neurotypical ideals. Live cross-legged on a pile of cushions in the corner if you want. (I live cross legged on a pile of cushions..)
3) Get in to the habit of always picking things up and tidying things away as soon as you see them out of place.
4) Gather/beg/steal angle poise lamps and adjustable lighting so you can feel cocooned when needed.
5) Keep a house diary/calendar and use it. Put all dates that bills will land on, when boilers need to be inspected, date you moved in, everything and anything to do with upkeep. Make a habit of checking it in the morning for that day and a few days ahead. Use it for working out how long it took to finish your last grocery shop etc.
6) Only have around people that you want around. It's your place and it's up to you who you let in. When you do have guests around, spoil them out of habit. Put out a big coffee table book for people to browse when you're not chatting. Get a coffee press/percolator/Nespresso/whatever and keep them topped up. Getting known for being a considerate host is nice.
7) Don't get a pet unless you're old, stable, and mature enough to look after its every need for the next 16 years.
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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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You might have a different cause for your mood deterioration. But I want to put this out here.
I still want to remain open to the world, appreciate others just as they are, and appreciate myself for the growing, learning, living person that I am.
2) Make the place yours, don't hold it up to neurotypical ideals. Live cross-legged on a pile of cushions in the corner if you want. (I live cross legged on a pile of cushions..)
3) Get in to the habit of always picking things up and tidying things away as soon as you see them out of place.
4) Gather/beg/steal angle poise lamps and adjustable lighting so you can feel cocooned when needed.
5) Keep a house diary/calendar and use it. Put all dates that bills will land on, when boilers need to be inspected, date you moved in, everything and anything to do with upkeep. Make a habit of checking it in the morning for that day and a few days ahead. Use it for working out how long it took to finish your last grocery shop etc.
6) Only have around people that you want around. It's your place and it's up to you who you let in. When you do have guests around, spoil them out of habit. Put out a big coffee table book for people to browse when you're not chatting. Get a coffee press/percolator/Nespresso/whatever and keep them topped up. Getting known for being a considerate host is nice.
7) Don't get a pet unless you're old, stable, and mature enough to look after its every need for the next 16 years.
That's pretty good advice.
Also, make a habit out of getting the mail every day, and sort out the junk mail to discard and the bills to pay right away.
"Moving out" doesn't have to mean "moving far away." Unless your family is in an upscale place, you can get yourself a place not too far away and visit frequently. It's nice, because you still get to see your folks, talk stuff over with them, get companionship and reassurance, check your thinking...
...and THEN YOU GET TO LEAVE.
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"Alas, our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass, or rats' feet over broken glass in our dry cellar." --TS Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
Also make a habit out of washing the dishes every day. Don't put it off. That was one of the most disgusting mistakes I made when I moved out on my own.
Pick up messes as soon as you notice them. It's not about impressing anyone, or having company over. It's about the fact that this is a much faster, more efficient way to keep house. Letting it pile up until it becomes overwhelming sucks. I have learned the skill of breaking overwhelming jobs into smaller tasks-- and letting it pile up until it becomes overwhelming still sucks.
Sort and discard/organize papers often. Like, twice a week if you are in school or anything like that that generates a lot of paper. It's a miracle my first place didn't burn down or collapse under the weight of the paper.
And pick a day for laundry, and do laundry on that day. Whether you want to or not. Write it down on the calendar. You're by yourself, you should only make a couple loads a week, including towels and bedding. But falling behind on the laundry still sucks.
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"Alas, our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass, or rats' feet over broken glass in our dry cellar." --TS Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
Are we talking about pet cats and dogs or did I miss something?
Someone else brought up emotional support animals, and I don't know what animals that person is including, but what I said applies to everyone in the animal kingdom.

