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Snowy Owl
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02 Jul 2011, 9:48 am

I had an idea about a kind of supported living situation for people on the spectrum; this idea came partly from some things I’ve read here on WP and partly from the experiences of me and my brother. I’m working on a plan to make my idea a reality, but before I did that I wanted to hear what other people thought about it and whether or not people would want to live in such a place if it existed.

The problem me and my brother have in terms of getting support and services is that we are considered too “high functioning”. That is despite not being able to take care of ourselves and live independently.
My brother needs to be told to do things such as changing his clothes, taking a shower and brushing his teeth. When discussing his needs and the kind of support he would require as an adult (he just turned 16), we said that he would need someone to tell him to do these things and they said that they did not have the resources to provide that.

Anyway, my idea is kind of like sheltered accommodation, but not for elderly people, and with more intensive support for people who need it. Also I think it is important for people to be a part of decisions involving them, too often decisions are made for us without us even being consulted. So the people living in this situation would be part of the decision making, for example having a say in any staff that may need to be hired.

Another part of my idea is setting up businesses that could be run by and only hire people on the spectrum. I know there is a company that does a similar thing in one of the Scandinavian countries but I have not heard of such a thing being done in the UK or in the US.


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The_Walrus
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02 Jul 2011, 10:38 am

Not a bad idea, but the start up capital would need to be quite high.



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Snowy Owl
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02 Jul 2011, 11:00 am

I don't want to share too many details yet (I don't want to jinx it or anything) but I have a lead on a foundation that could potentially help with the funding.


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Megz
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02 Jul 2011, 12:01 pm

I'm actually working on a similar idea. Except mine would be more of a break from the stresses of everyday life than a full time residence, like a hotel sort of. I look forward to reading more about your plans.



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Snowy Owl
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03 Jul 2011, 9:30 am

Megz, that sounds like a interesting idea.
Just out of curiosity, where exactly in Texas are you from?
It's kind of freaky, in a good way that is, that you are from/live in Texas, since I actually plan to move to Texas as part of my idea/plan.


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Megz
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03 Jul 2011, 9:59 am

Haha, I thought it was freaky that you're from the UK and you like the Mavs, which everyone around here is still going crazy about. Weird stuff man. lol, I'm at UNT in Denton right now, my parents' house is about an hour south. I'm in the general Ft. Worth/Dallas area.



nessa238
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03 Jul 2011, 10:44 am

I think the sheltered housing and the aspie-only business are good ideas

I've had ideas about stuff like this myself.

I envisaged a kind of communal living model though, with the aspies supporting each other, without any input from hired staff or anything.

A group of aspies just pool their money and buy or rent a house together. If you get the mix right, the higher functioning people can support the others if necessary.
I am of the opinion that there's nothing the support staff from these companies 'specialising' in autism care do that the average aspie couldn't do themself if they had sufficient peer support.

It would mainly be aimed at people with Aspergers and high-functioning Autism though.



Dae
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03 Jul 2011, 1:17 pm

I 'daydream' about this all the time. During my more discouraged moments, though, the trials of just trying to support myself seem to crowd my mind...The best I could realistically hope for, I think, would be an opportunity to contribute to localized efforts. ...It'd be most definitely a worthy endeavor.


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Phonic
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03 Jul 2011, 1:22 pm

have a look at these folks im going to see http://www.nuahealthcare.ie/nua-service ... 95690173af

sounds like they had a similar idea


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