Help!

Thanks.

I agree it could be other problems too.

The police have already been involved 4 or 5 times in the past and they will probably be involved again in the future as they appear to be one of the few people he will listen to. I will not hesitate to involve the police if I feel it is necessary although I will tell them what I think the problem could be if I do so.

He appears to have anger management issues (and yes, these could be down to other things than autism) so personal confrontation is best avoided unless necessary. It is difficult anyway because he won't open his door.

I was similar to my neighbour in many ways until I was diagnosed a couple of years ago at the age of 50. (My neighbour is older.) The main benefit I have had from being diagnosed is greater self awareness which has let me discard most of the negativity and bitterness I had towards life although my local autism hub also persuaded me to successfully apply for PIP which, although it is not a lot, helps.

I accept it is difficult for people to comment in more detail without further details but as I said he is not here to defend himself. I might phone the helpline when I would be able to go into more details.

Taltunes said:

One of the problems is that, although we are having problems with him, he is apparently convinced that he does not have any problems and we are the ones with problems.

That is one of the great problems with a sector of the community. Blame is shifted onto the other person.

This is true in regards to accidents ('you should have been more careful of what you were doing' or 'you should not have braked so hard' in the case of car accidents), to having crime committed against you ('you shouldn't have left your purse on view' or 'you should have had a burglar alarm installed' or 'you should have put your car keys in a drawer not put them on the hook' and 'you should not have been walking there after dark on your own').

I am sure you have good reasons for believing he is autistic, but it could be other problems too.  Unless his problems could be dealt with by social services or the local authority who may be able to find the support he wants (and I would imagine that they would not look to the cause of the problem, just look to the effect in any case so they would have to be told of what you suspect) there is  not a lot you can do apart from the police (which you may not feel appropriate considering your thoughts on what is causing his behaviour) or personal confrontation (which does not appear as if it would go down with him very well at all considering his previous reactions).  Being autistic is not in itself a problem the authorities want to get involved with unless the person has great difficulties in looking after themselves or unless as you hint, he is acting in an antisocial way. It would be very unlikely they would seek a diagnosis for him, although I also don't think he would be asked to provide a diagnostic report if he self-declared himself as autistic.

Should the authorities get involved though you could then express your thoughts so that the appropriate help could, though unlikely, if necessary, be offered to him. I don't know if a case against him would ask for psychiatric reports which could, as a possibility, find some autistic tendencies if they were looking for them..

Guess without any details there is not much anyone can say, other than that you can't force anyone to seek an autism diagnosis, and given the waiting times and difficulties in getting assessed even when wanting so, and the lack support even if diagnosed, I can't quite see how this would help at all. The criminal justice system will probably also not force him, quite the opposite, they may not realise it even if that would give him some protection.

But with no details whatsoever, there is no way anybody here could say 'oh yes, someone had the same issue with me and they approached it in this or that way which was helpful or not at all helpful'...