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paolo
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29 Apr 2008, 4:00 pm

This problem has always been there, because I am sure that, if autism has been identified as such only in the last decades, the disability has always been there in all ages. I don’t believe in an “autism epidemic”. There has been only an epidemic of diagnoses and this has been amplified by a superficial media coverage and sometimes by an attempt to find some culprit for the phenomenon (modern society, vaccines, ecological deterioration, some drugs, diet, etc.). Most people autistic were formerly assisted by the extended family or headed for monasteries, or simply died by themselves in neglect. But now things are different. There are no monasteries or extended families anymore and the only option left (option is a sinister term as they know politicians who say “all options are open” meaning: war) is leaving the planet in absolute loneliness and neglect. Dependence, an inevitable occurrence in old age, is much more difficult to bear for people who all their life have suffered from an extreme vulnerability of their mental space. So, has anybody thought about what to do for old age autistic people? Or talked about the problem?


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Zsazsa
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29 Apr 2008, 4:34 pm

At my treatment facility which serves many children and adults with Autism and ASD, they place many "older" individuals in
assisted living facilities and nursing homes in the community. However, with the even greater number of children they currently have in their own residential housing program, they will simply have to build more housing as these children grow older.



CockneyRebel
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29 Apr 2008, 5:46 pm

I was thinking about that, as well and what about housing for younger adults with AS and HFA, between the ages of 19 and 54? I'm 33 and I'm living within a bunch of apartment buildings for people 55 and older. The thing is that my age also shows with the way I wear my hair and my tastes in clothes. I'm sure that some of the seniours where I live must have a heart attack, every time that they look at me. I don't mean to be scary. I just happen to like an obscure part of the 70s, and that's who I am. I've learned to take it, with a grain of salt. :lol:


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hartzofspace
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29 Apr 2008, 7:06 pm

As an aspie, I would rather die than be placed in any kind of a nursing home. I used to work in one, and came home traumatized by the constant assault on the senses. Human waste and body odor, constant overhead paging between medical staff, loud, clanking food trolleys, enforced activities, arrrggghh!


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anbuend
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29 Apr 2008, 7:25 pm

hartzofspace wrote:
As an aspie, I would rather die than be placed in any kind of a nursing home.


So would lots of people who aren't autistic.

And here is an entire website by people who feel that way.

Nursing homes don't have to be inevitable consequences of getting old or becoming disabled, and there are a lot of people trying to do something about it now to create better supports outside of them.


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beentheredonethat
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29 Apr 2008, 7:53 pm

It beats living on the street. Having no one, and dying alone.

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spudnik
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29 Apr 2008, 8:10 pm

I don't know if I want to go to one, I hope to live a longer healthier life then my poor parents, my mom died from alzheimer's , and my dad passed away last year, and wasn't found for 2 weeks, and he was at a seniors residents, if I ever became senile, I would go for a long walk in the woods, but they may have a cure for alzheimer's by then.



anbuend
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29 Apr 2008, 8:44 pm

beentheredonethat wrote:
It beats living on the street. Having no one, and dying alone.


To some people it does, but I know people who've been in both circumstances and preferred the streets (which says nothing good about nursing homes).


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