Homelessness and autism

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So, I know that it's probably difficult to find jobs because it might be hard finding an employer willing to accept someone with autistic traits, so I was wondering if this is a common problem among those with autism?

I'd imagine that it's become especially problematic recently given that even "bottom of the barrel" jobs are being flooded by applicants, and some of those applicants will definitely seem to be better potential employees during the interview process.

Anyways, here's a blog post about it:

http://autismblog.easterseals.com/over- ... isability/

It's thought that many of the homeless have undiagnosed autism and it's thought that 1% of the population have autism and more than 60% of those with some form of autism are undiagnosed. I also saw in a paper that many of the homeless have severe memory deficits, and another study by Lewis Terman showed there was wide variance in the homeless's IQ scores, meaning there's an unexpectedly large amount of very high IQ homeless individuals and a large amount of low IQ individuals.

So, how common is homelessness or near-homelessness among those with autism or aspergers or pdd-nos? I'll define "near-homelessness" as living in a crowded, at least semi-hellish environment. (Like college dorms, for example. )

It is probably very common. My friend lost her job awhile back and hasn't been able to get another one. If it weren't for her family, she'd be homeless or close to it. My boyfriend is another example. He had a job and his own apartment. However, he is very close to becoming homeless at times. He had severe ADHD and what I believe to be HFA.

you can generally assume that homelessness is more common among mentally disabled people, I suspect the physically disabled get more support.

Yes I have been somewhat homeless for about four years. When I was healthier I was able to handle backpackers accomodation, even eight bed dorms. After a while my health deteriorated and I shuffled between friends homes and a respite centre who were very kind to me. Finally, this year I could not handle people around me at all and ended up in pub rooms (don't know what you'd call them in the States - where do you go to drink, a hotel/tavern?, well many in Australia have rooms for rent).

Fortunately I am on a Disability Pension so I do not have to worry about work. I did for a while though, which is why my health went down hill. I really feel for the homeless. But you know what, they are among the nicest and most sincere people. I prefer people on the fringe to those with privelege.

I lived in a Chrysler LeBaron for awhile. It was a horrible running car, but the seats were pretty comfortable.

Yes! Exactly. It's a devastating process trying to get through the Social Security process when you simply CANNOT work and you have an "INVISIBLE" disability. It's beyond frustrating.

Thanks to all who responded! I'm eager to hear more insights or opinions!

You got that right. It makes sense.

Too many people don't realize there are many homeless people with very high IQs. My Aspie cousin has been homeless for a couple of decades now. She is 61 years old, but looks like she's in her 40's. She had a job working in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. which lasted about one decade. Now she paints oil paintings and hopes to be discovered someday and become rich. Check out her website --> Shenandoah Starlight. She works on it when visiting a local library. It may sound weird but it's as if her IQ is too high for her to handle working for the government.

I know of other Aspies who would also me homeless (myself included) if there was no family member to provide a home. I have given up on the idea of getting employed. I think my Aspie son also may have. Neither of us collect any benefits from the government; nor does my homeless cousin.

Last edited by faithfilly on 26 Oct 2011, 11:05 pm, edited 6 times in total.

I was recently homeless, but within a week I had found a house to stay in through a local mission. I am very thankful.

Was homeless last summer, near homeless now.

I find this to be the case too. People on the fringe are the most approachable and the friendliest (there are exceptions of course....)

Yeah. I've been without a permanent address (but not without an indoor place to sleep in) before. I was awfully close to being out on the streets completely. There's never enough space in the shelters.

Lots of homeless people have disabilities, especially invisible or "mild" disabilities. That is the group that is just disabled enough not to be able to get along without help--but not so disabled that they can easily get it. Not that having a more severe disability would make life easier for them; they'd probably end up in some state-run nursing home or long-term care facility, and that's not any better than being homeless.

I'd say most homeless people have a mental disorder; doesn't really matter if it's an ASD or anxiety disorder.

i agree, which adds to the problem of finding proper housing for them. some people want to stay off the grid due to bad experiences or paranoia or anxiety >.>

I was homeless for about 3 years...

If it wasn't for the fact that I was female I'd probably still be homeless...
...if it wasn't for benefits in the UK I'd be homeless now too...

I was homeless for a while about 3 months ago when my Mum's house went up for a mortgagee sale, she has bad psychosis and didn't deal with the situation at all, so was able to stay at the psychiatric hospital while I figured everything out and sorted a place for us to live.
Everyone sort of just expected me to deal with it, even though I had no place to go and didn't know anyone so just slept at a park for a week.
Thankfully I got a house pretty quick, though.

The city that I live, there's quite a lot of mentally disabled homeless people since they closed down a psychiatric hospital some years ago, there's one other but you pretty much have to try to kill yourself or be taken there by police to get a bed.