Independence and Autism

For many people with Asperger syndrome, living on their own is the usual situation. The fact that independent living is not suitable for everyone only becomes obvious after the step is taken and things do not work out the way they are supposed to.

Living on your own means waking up in time for work or study, paying your own bills, keeping your house clean, staying healthy by eating good meals, keeping up good personal hygiene, and keeping in contact with your neighbors. The attention and energy spent on these tasks must be in balance with other life tasks such as work, training, relations and friendships. In people with autism this balance can be upset.

Living on your own, with all the tasks that go with this responsibility, can take someone with autism so much energy that there there’s no energy left for other matters.


Constantly being forced to remember the things that have to be done can also drain the person. These people have to put in more effort to make even the simplest of tasks succeed. A practical helpful solution can be a drawing board or school board to write all the do’s and don’t upon. Even then, getting things done can be quite difficult because this person might not be able to judge correctly when things are done sufficiently.
Autism Guide: The Essential Guide To Autism

People with autism often have peace of mind after everything is done, even the finest details. An autistic person is uncertain when judging by himself if something is done adequately, which makes this peace of mind difficult to find. However, the repetition of behavior brings rest and decreases the feelings of anxiety.

Another problem in the field of living on your own is the difficulty in bringing structure and keeping control of all the necessary things that need to be done to keep the household going.

The household can be neglected and the administration not kept up, as a result of which bills are not paid. Frequently, professional support is necessary, but it is important that this reflects the wishes and possibilities of the one with autism.

Within the framework of experimenting with independence, someone with autism can restrain its surroundings a lot. Sometimes it is not simple to understand what the reason of the ‘keeping back’ behavior of autistic people is.

If you live independently, you have to handle and maintain ordinary contacts in neighborhood. For the person with autism this is not always easy. Do you have to let in someone who asks for a cup of sugar? Who do you have to say hello to and what does it mean if your neighbor ignores you in the early morning? Does he dislike you or is he simply only half awake?

People with autism who have no regular daily routine are often tempted to change their day and night rhythm. Sometimes they enjoy being awake at night because it is much quieter then. The passage of the day into the night can be a difficult moment as a result of which they will postpone more and more and start living at night. At night, however, they must take into account the sounds that they themselves produce. Sometimes this is difficult for people with autism, because they are not conscious of the noise they make.

1. Living arrangements for the adult with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
   
   Living alone and independently is a balancing act for anyone. Work and study, finances, hygiene, health, neighbors require attention and energy. So do other life tasks such as training, relationships and friends. The person with ASD must concentrate harder on each of these tasks, and thus may not have the energy to do them all. Things can be neglected, and the problems only become obvious after the person has tried living alone and discovered that it didn’t work. If living independently doesn’t work, other options are semi-independent living, living at home, foster homes, skill-development homes, supervised group living, and institutions. Some combination of these methods, or moving from one to another as is most suitable at a given time in a person’s life, is also an option.