What would an Autist town look like?

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If a down was designed by and for Autists, what would it be like?

Would it be car free? How would lighting be done? Would the colours be muted tones, to avoid sensory overload? How quiet would it be?

What about the houses. Are there any Autist design aspects you would include in your house? Okay, now I'm thinking about an Autistic Design Code...

No streets, no street lights, houses without windows, no sirens, no bells, no lawn chemicals, no lawn-mowers, no house paints, no fire-places or chimneys, no fire-pits or outdoor cooking, no outdoor music, no planes, no helicopters, no drones, no automobiles, no cars, no trucks, no motorcycles, no garden tractors, no weed-whackers, no leaf-blowers...

Certainly a lot quieter. Optional sources of sound would most likely be legislated against heavily, with necessary sources regulated to be quieter using a number of approaches (things like electric engines over ICE, active damping, legislation against noisy pets/animals, loud exhausts, music able to be heard outside buildings etc). Quite possibly lots of active sound dampening in public spaces and general architecture.

Buildings and surroundings would most likely have increased levels of privacy in their designs - more hedges, privacy walls, sound-damping materials etc. Maybe more buildings which took up the entire block, or only had yards/gardens which were fully enclosed by rooms and/or high walls?

Probably something similar for smells, too, given the likelihood of sensitive noses. Regulations about keeping cooking and other strong smells (garbage, chemical etc) indoors or under wraps as much as possible.

Possibly something similar with regard to light pollution...?

Anti-advertising laws and regulations. No billboards, flashing/spinning/active/illuminated ads. Quite possibly disallowal of of all "push"/shotgun advertising, display of ads in public spaces, that kind of thing. No robocalls unless pre-approved (i.e. snow day announcements), and possibly none at all in the 21st century. Active blocking of spam/robo/prank/scam calls from out of town (with an opt-out option if individual people wanted them back).

No in-store radio, announcements, or constant playing of advertisements or other sounds. No advertising on TVs in waiting rooms, lobbies, and other such areas.

Very robust, fast, reliable, cheap internet, including lots of free WiFi. Heavy investment in telecommuting infrastructure and policies. Where onsite work was still done, more in the way of enclosed offices and fewer open work areas. Reduced emphasis on physical presence, videoconferencing, or real-time phone calls.

Educational: options for allowing students to accelerate at their own pace past the standard curriculum, and support for students who couldn't maintain the standard pace. Less importance placed on groupwork, teamwork, instant response times, and interactivity, and more on thoughtfulness, accuracy, and depth of response. Education to specifically include and analyze the things that the world outside the town considered normal in various cultures, though, and some methods of spotting and working with those things, because not everyone is going to be want to spend their entire lives in the one town.

Medical: GPs and hospital specialists trained in how autism can have a wide range of co-morbidities, and how medical solutions and options may have to take those additional things into account. Local specialists on some of the more common ones. If the town is not located in a free public health country, have free public health implemented at the town level for residents - not just because it's administratively simpler, but because it's economically cheaper. Politically, extending it completely or partially to residents of the immediate nearby counties as well may also be a good move in the long run to expand the town's influence. Likewise for basic insurance.

Exports: politics, lifestyle, internet service, specialist consultants, experts, deep wizardry, programming, data anomaly identification, administrative processing, specialist industrial design, artisanal products, wiki curation, research, data filter updates, telecommuting jobs

Imports: non-local marketing, pop culture, electric vehicles and equipment, networking equipment, medical equipment, autistic people

Okay, a little more detailed than I was thinking... I was only thinking about the architecture and urban planning side of things (I really can't wait to get started on our neighbourhood plan design code!). Ironically, a lot of what you suggested is part and parcel of the traditional city design (rear gardens, thick walls, no cars). Updated with modern comforts, it should be quite quiet and, um, odourless.

It would probably be run by the aspies, who get help from the people with second level autism for some jobs, where the second levellers were able. There would be catering systems set in place for third levellers and anyone who needs help in day to day living. Muted colours, no bright lights, only quiet sounds, accommodating resources, (soft brushes, weak toothpaste, etc.)

Education systems would be a lot more diversified, letting students learn at there own pace, without any shame for “not being able to keep up.”

Same jobs as found in a regular town, lots of aspies and able second level folks trying to keep things running. There would also be additional jobs for people with special interests they can acquire a career out of.

We already have one.

Pripyat.

I thought I only thought of that. Well, it would be good in a way, probably teaching would be good, would have multiple libraries and people would understand needs of others, there would be few crimes, rapes, but the fertility rate could be very low.

Pripyat is a ghost city.

Perfect for me, no people.

How would we know there's a fire or other impending danger if there are no sirens?

How will we be able to see when we're out walking at night without street lights?

How will we keep grass and weeds from getting overgrown?

Am I the only here one who likes fireplaces, fire pits and outdoor cooking?

Of course, every household should have its own heated swimming pool.

But there should be no babies, no small children, and no one under the age of 20.

All stores should use soft lights, have no music or very soft music, and everything should be neatly stacked and organized to that finding what you need is easy. And every store should have its own fidget toy section.

Clothing that has scratchy tags, and any women's clothing that is uncomfortable or painful, would be banned.

No makeup or only very light makeup, except for Halloween or cosplaying.

Radio stations should play music from video games.

Any and all advertising must be ABOLISHED.

Morning should not start until noon, and evening should not start until midnight.

Find it funny you think about this given your screen name.

Are we talking sirens on emergency vehicles (acceptable in an emergency), or things like tornado sirens?



Something like subtle footlighting in the sidewalks, perhaps? Basically, anything which would be difficult to be able to look straight into, and wouldn't shine in people's windows at night.



There are non-petrol-motor means of cutting grass. Everything from manual mowers to electric with sound reduction designs, baffles, and sound-absorbing materials around the noisier components.



No, but I imagine that such options would either mostly be available away from residential areas, or people wanting to do it in their backyard would be required to do so in such a way that the smell didn't travel beyond their property.



It'd be nice, certainly.



Tricky in practice, but certainly it'd be possible to set things up so that the town was definitely aimed at adults, with bans on small children in certain establishments at various times, sound ordinances, any schools designed to reduce local impact (sound, traffic).



Can't argue with most of that. I'd rely on societal pressure to remove store music more than making it an official requirement (sound pollution requirements aside).



Again, easier to handle with societal pressure. There could be advisories available for stores wanting to set up shop locally, though.



Again, something I'd imagine would come about naturally. People mostly wouldn't wear it, and local employers wouldn't insist.



Adding that one to the advisories.



I'd agree about push-type advertising: a ban on any advertising which wasn't specifically sought out by a consumer. I'd vote to allow pull-advertising (sought by a consumer), in the form of map listings at malls, magazine/newspaper sections (or entire publications) specifically devoted to advertising, in-store advertising that couldn't be seen from outside, signs outside stores (limited to certain sizes and not being an eyesore), mailed catalogs if a person has specifically requested them, and a few other limited-case examples. Oh, and it would be illegal to provide incentive for people to receive or seek advertising - you couldn't offer price reductions, percentages off, or better service levels, for example, to people willing to be advertised to.



Heh. I imagine there would be a certain degree of flexibility in business hours. Which means that if the town wanted to retain anything in the way of small- or medium-sized businesses (instead of just giant chains), there would need to be some advantage in running a business which couldn't afford to have 24/7 staff. On the other hand, encouraging larger businesses to run 24/7 (or as near as possible) could also be advantageous.

Hmm well, for starters all homes would have good sound proofing. No one disagrees with that, no?

The streets would be symmetrical and clearly numbered, making navigating easier. They'd also be even, no stone streets that can be hard to walk on. No trees or flowers planted that have strong smells.

Shops wouldn't have the strong lighting that they usually do, and they'd only play music on some hours of the day that have been informed about beforehand (because the music helps some of us to focus and relax; not all autistic people want complete silence while they shop.)

The "library is a quiet place" -rule would be more heavily monitored. There would be separate area for people studying together (in case they needed to ask help from each other) and for people reading to children/others who can't read, but other than that it'd be shush shush.

Restaurants would have clear menus, prices included, on their websites and also lists of what kind of changes they are willing to do for sensory issues or preferences. Eating strong smelling foods in public places aside from restaurants wouldn't be allowed.

Having pets would be allowed, but only the kind that don't make lot of sudden noises. If they do, they would have to be kept indoors. Constantly barking dogs, for examble, would be forbidden.

...This is actually kind of fun.

Has anyone experienced anywhere (lived there, passed through, heard of it) which has one or more of these traits already in real life? I know that some cities are laid out on the grid pattern, for instance. It'd be interesting to be able to say we'd want the road system from City A, the noise policies from City B, the advertising policies from City C, etc. Just to be able to tie it back to the real world so it comes across as more realistically achievable.