What makes an event aspie friendly?

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Hi,

I was discussing meetup events with my aspie buddies. Some of the events were more aspie friendly then others. I would like to make a sheet with question so each one of us can rate a meetup event based on how well suited it is for the aspie community. For example, "How quiet is the event?" Are there flourescent lights? Is socializing expected? Is the event well structured? Does it involve good hand eye coordination?

Please suggest other questions. Thanks!

An event where you can come and go as you please, and not have to socialize if you dont want to

yes yes...no fluorescent lights...no feeling of confinement...etc...

A big second for 3200k lighting.... Preferably 30-50 foot candles. Bright enough to see clearly, but not enough for it to be a strain on the eyes.

No loud music.

It depends on the person, like anyone else. But definitely every place should have a quiet area or at least an alcove where you can get away from people or noise or other stuff. Sadly, sometimes the only place that is would be the bathroom in many places. I've seen some interesting ones over the years...

Natural light and not a lot of noise. Peaceful and quiet. Lots of space to move around. Clean bathroom or toilet facilities. No pressure to do something they are not comfortable doing.

No excessive lights, no loud music (especially live music UGH!), no pressure to do anything ('Here have a beer.' 'No thanks I don't drink.' 'COME ON HAVE A BEER!' No, f**k off! I already said NO.) , and everyone present is my friend, a good friend of a friend, or my acquaintance, or family.

My Aspie event would happen at night, outside, under the stars with lots of clear, tiny lights, soft paper globes, Asian laterns and other subtle accent lighting, and lots of free food, drinks and coffee from Starbucks, especially Pumpkin/Cream Cheese muffins. People have always noticed I am more interested in the food than the socializing so my event would be named, Come For The Food Only, and I'd put that on the RSVP invitation only event. That way no one can say, "you're not here to see us, you're just here for the food", which really gets on my nerves. So what if the food's good and I like to eat more than I like talking to people who are rude, anyway? If someone's there who is genuine and nice, yeah, I'll talk to them.

It's going to vary because not everyone with AS has it to the same extent.

I've got the perfect one. Imagine a small room, perhaps the size of a living room in a modest house. In one corner, there's a live band playing, extremely loudly. The room is well-lit.. no, it's better than well lit; the lights are so bright under tens of fluorescent lights that even though it's night outside, you'd swear the sun was shining. This room is packed to the brim with people, very social and attractive people, who are drinking, smoking, and dancing, and they all want you to join in. You can't move around without brushing against several people. You try to open the door to leave, but it's locked. Someone pulls you back and shoves a shot of your least favorite alcohol in your face.

What?

At night in a building that is quiet. In the center of a city (easy transport & all)

I like the topic of this thread.

I like that in our Aspie community here, they often organize their events around something researchable and that you can learn from, such as the meteorite night and the Science Museum. Many of us need to exchange info rather than smalltalk in order to create a connection.

A lack of an event.