Autistic living Community-need input

Post Reply New Topic

This is not a thread to hear why not. We are doing it. it was initially planned for Thornton Colorado, but instead we will be building it in Pueblo. We are starting with VERY little money. We have chosen Pueblo for a variety of reason, the first being incredibly low housing costs. For Autistics [and anyone else] 62 or older can audit university classes for free. At the community college, a PELL grant will cover most expenses.

The citys population is about 100,000 and for Autistics with kids[and ussually limited funds] kiddie rides at the park are twenty-five cents. The Arizona river walk is free, beautiful and incredibly peaceful.

There are NOT many work opportunities at this point,but some large businesses are planning to come in and Pueblo is about 45 minutes from Colorado Springs. I am not worried about lack of jobs, which I will cover in my next posts.

What we need from you all,are ideas for making the best community for Autistics in the world.

i have no input. but i wanted to say thanks! i wish there were more living choices like this, in many different places.

I am getting to know a man who is a geographical statistician. He is purchasing homes and land in Pueblo for investment purposes. Why? He strongly believes [as do many others] that Pueblo will very soon be the big retirement mecca for the boomers. Services for them [and I am one of them] will need to grow, affording many more jobs.

We are going to be putting an emphasis on entrepeneurship, both single proprietor and partnerships [ will discuss partnerships later] We are try to think of businesses that will cater to the needs of aging and aged, growing community. Any ideas? One thing I think would be fun [ but, I'll not be in a position to do it] is to start a consignment shop selling to older women who like quality clothing [such as Chicos', Ann Ford, Coldwater Creek, a few of the more popular Macys and Nordstroms brands] with a small section of toys where the grannys can pick up goodies for the grand kids. Other opportunities would be house and yard maintenence, dog walking and grooming, shopping, etc. Do you have ideas?

Try to design the community to be energy independent, preferably producing a surplus that can be sold back to the utility.

Colorado is a cold area, so I would look into setting up geothermal systems for heat distribution.

There are multiple advantages to this, a significant one being much more money available to put into this community for its inhabitants.

The more off-grid you can be, the less hassle, and the less interaction with the outside world that is needed, - a giant plus for autistics.

If it is a contiguous area, then I would try to layer occupancy by nature of functionality or limitations. The less limited and more functional could fill the outside layers for example, and serve as a bit of a protective boundary much like a cell wall.

Great ideas, but we are starting way smaller than that. Sound like a nice 10 year plan though.

Colorado is too far away to be somewhere I could realistically move, but the community sounds really cool. I would think you'd need some form of good public transportation. It would be a requirement for me to move somewhere anyway, because I can't drive (and this is a common problem in my in-person support group anyway).

Good [and affordable] transportation was a prerquisite for us too. Pueblo also has a discounted rate [per use and monthly pass] for disabled.

In the off-grid vein, set this community up to be as self-reliant in terms of providing food as humanly possible.

I'm a fan of the rural Autistic Commune, though I am not talking about going that far. Gardens (I produce most of our summer vegetables in a 240 sq ft garden patch, and we're a family of six. Fruit trees-- it doesn't take that many. I don't know what kind of housing you are looking at, but-- a dozen to an apartment complex, one or two to a yard, plan for a good variety and for people to share. If code and zoning regulations will allow, bees and rabbits and chickens do not take up that much space, but there have to be people in the project who would be willing to slaughter and butcher and you will have to discuss issues like attachment.

It would also provide a way for members who perhaps cannot hold an outside job to contribute.

Some ideas for employment I have turned over for myself:

--I think you already came up with womens' clothing consignment. Kids' consignment is also a hot business. I have wondered if I might not bring in a decent income refinishing and reselling furniture or doing some small-scale carpentry (cabinetry, chests, maybe some simple bedframes and chairs).

--Housecleaning, errand running, and companionship services for the elderly. This is something I honestly enjoy doing. Depending on self-esteem and mental health, it can get a bit dicey when dementia gets involved (not an issue for me, personally, because I've been around Alzheimer's off and on since I was in my early teens and I'm used to it, but I realize it could be really disturbing for some).

We can work for ourselves, too, or perhaps more properly for each other. Even if cash is not exchanged, skills and services can be. An internal barter exchange would be a neat idea. Maybe.

If non-autistics are also welcome, I might start talking Colorado up to my hubby for a place to consider when we leave here. I doubt he'll go for it-- the first words out of his mouth are going to be, "Long way from the ocean, Kit"-- but if it could be done it sounds like a wonderful thing.

Not just for us, either. Like it could be a wonderful model for the world in general.

With all of the money you save by living there [while still helping others] we could drive down to Galveston[ 12 hours. the guys could take turns driving. Our mini-van seats 7], spend a day at the beach, and then take a cruise a couple times a year.

I was thinking this sort of thing, too.

Is your community all in one house/building? In several buildings/homes close together (e.g. housing complex)? All in one neighbourhood? All in one city?

My thought was about a sort of "autistic mutual help cooperative/directory" -- basically just a group of people coming together to say, "This is me, I have these skills/resources that I am able to use to help others who do not have these skills/resources and are in need of them -- hopefully they have skills and resources I don't have and can help me, too".

You could have meetings (not necessarily lots of them -- just for people to connect and know who everybody is to whatever extent) or you could just make it a list for people to sign themselves up on and access. It could be online or it could be on a bulletin board or on paper that somebody kept track of, or a piece of paper or booklet every participating person had, with who you could call for help with x,y,z and when it was okay to call and stuff like that.

Help could be help offered 100% free, or free except for associated costs (for example, if someone who could drive and had a car offered rides to those who couldn't drive, the driver could ask for money to cover the cost of gas) or it could be help in exchange for help like the barter system BuyerBeware suggested....or people could determine that individually.

If it turned out everybody needed help with the same things, maybe it would turn into something similar to (but not necessarily the same as) a social services co-operative -- or maybe it wouldn't work (my imagining of how my idea might go, I mean...I think the community will work and that people can always help each other -- it just might not be exactly the type of thing I am imagining). It all depends, really.

Last edited by animalcrackers on 16 Jul 2014, 4:07 am, edited 2 times in total.

Vicky! You're back! Yay! <HUGS>

Hey Sweetie!

Good luck on your journey.

I'm sure it is nothing elbow grease, and some assisted living cannot fix up and fly straight. Think non profit.

Personally I would keep money out of the system as much as possible.
Money is a magnet for corruption.
Corruption is everywhere, but Colorado in particular is well on its way to becoming a new mecca for corruption.

I think working/caring for each other is great, along with bartering.

There are good reasons to have a nonprofit organization. There are nonprofit camps, and fundraisers on the subject all over the place. None that I know of are made up from an actual autistic community. It may be a very good idea. I may be mistaken, but I think I have heard of some of them being government funded.

When you say CO is becoming a new mecca for corruption, are you referring to the legalization of marijuana? Because if you are, I really don't see how a pritty green plant can cause much of a problem.

I would like to see quiet studio apartments for those of us who are single and do not need much space. That would help keep costs reasonable. Will this be several buildings? Also, get a good plumber, because pipes banging can really be bad. I would also like to see places to do individual recreational things like swimming, skiing, maybe tennis? I for one, don't care about sports teams because I know for me, teamwork is taboo.