So I had a meeting with the local Autism Support community and while the lady was nice enough on our Microsoft Meeting chat I really didn’t get much out of it.
For one thing I already knew about their Launch program to get Adults with Autism more independent. The problem is that I need a job that understands my Autism and pays well enough that I can afford to rent a place in a decent neighbour hood.
I don’t need someone to tell me how to pay bills, cook food or whatever. I’m definitely not going to do the group home or “room mates” thing either. I like my space, I like being alone with my cat and maybe in the future when I have a bit of money, a dog.
I was told that the place would offer some kind of social stuff for people on the spectrum but I don’t need a “life coach” and I definitely don’t need a group of Neurotypical parents deciding on what my housing should be like. Especially since after some research I found out that someone would check up in on me from time to time and I would pay for the privilege of a caseworker.
I’m not level 3, I’m not a child. I’m a grown ass adult that just lacks the ability to get a job that pays well enough so that I can live independently from my parents. I can pay bills and usually do when my parents are on vacation to warmer places (except this year there was no vacation because of Covid-19). So I’ve technically lived on my own before.
So yeah I was totally not impressed by the meeting and ended up in the middle of a shut down afterwards because it’s not what I was looking for in support. Thank goodness I have the Reddit community.