Are there any unwealthy autistic persons here?

Sounds amazing. It's definitely on my travel bucket list.

Martyn said:

What's it like to retire there? Is it easy to do from an immigration point of view?

It is fairly cheap to live here, great quality available and surprisingly welcoming locals.

Immigration is a bit toughter - I had married a Brazilian woman back in 1999 so I had a right to residency from this (needed to apply to renew every 10 years but now is permanant).

If you have an Italian or Portuguese grandparent then you may have a right to citizenship through this route if you are interested,

You deffo need to learn Portuguese to survive here - English is rarely used or spoken even though it is taught at school - a bit like someone from the UK being taught French at school I suppose.

I would recommend a visit as it is off the track from a UK perspective and there is so much to see here, from the Amazonian rain forests to the wetlands of the centre, the deserts of the north and the huge waterfalls in the European climate of the south.

Food is one of the best things here - huge influences from the likes of Japan, Syria, Italy and the USA but all done with great quality local products. If you eat meat, the steaks here are just incredible and not expensive.

Maybe I should do a autism friendly tourist guide service to the country LOL

In-work Poverty Trends statistics:

https://www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub/money-and-resources/poverty/in-work-poverty-trends

Poverty in the UK Statistics:

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07096/SN07096.pdf

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data shows that around one in six
people in the UK were in relative low income (relative poverty) before housing
costs in 2022/23. This rises to just over one in five people once housing costs
are accounted for

14.3 million after housing costs (21%).

I live with my mother in a bedsit and have nothing to my name, so yes.

I completely agree about the whole "remainer" vs "brexiteer" thing. How I voted in a referendum 8 years ago is just not something I'd want to base my identity on. 

That's an amazing story, Iain! I was just looking at Brazil on the TV last night, thinking it looked like a fascinating place. What's it like to retire there? Is it easy to do from an immigration point of view? I often dream of escaping the UK. 

I mean, I do own a flat, but I also receive benefits because of my health. I would not consider myself either poor or wealthy. I would say ‘comfortable’. But my annual income would certainly be considered well below the poverty level.

I am unable to work due to my autism and also other medical issues. I am on PIP, LCW and UC. 

If you're in the UK and are not being paid the minimum wage for the hours you do, this includes anytime that your employers want you to do for things like security checks, then you can contact the Minimum Wage Enforcement Dept at the UK tax offices. They will do all they can to keep your report confidential, they have the power to compel employers to allow them to audit thier books etc and they will take non compliant employers to court to gain restitution for underpaid workers.

Hello, I am currently poor, I work underpaid for the amount of work I do but I cannot bring myself to complain as if I lose my job I lose my shitty apartment. Even though I'm not well equipped enough to handle most days at work, I force myself to keep going and ignore my needs, as I can't afford to be homeless and going back to family is not an option.

Currently I get government help for food and other funds that help cover the rental expenses I cannot cover as I only make enough to cover rent normally excluding utilities.

Iain said:

I was raised fairly middle class

My parents came from a lower middle class background. Bother were very intelligent. For different reasons they chose not to go to university.  My father was a commissioned army officer for a short period of time before switching to work at the Foreign office a short time later. That's where he meet my mother. We weren't anywhere near being an 'elite' family, but we were better off financially than most other families. We were 'solidly middle class'. I'd say that the FO  paid a lot of the private education fees.

My sister is the only one out of the 3 of us to have had a successful professional career. My brother worked in restaurants before becoming ill. I never had a paid job. Compared to my father, in the way such things tend to be done, I'm a total and absolute failure.

Him - Army officer, diplomat, OBE, Who's who entry, protocol advisor to the Atlanta Olympic games

Me- Never had a paid job. Psychiatric patient for over 50 years,late diagnosed autistic.

It comes down to a point blank refusal to understand based on outdated and negative misconceptions and myths about autism that are fuelled by prejudiced and discriminatory attitudes - as a gay man who comes from a Catholic background in Rural Ireland I know this all too well, in my 30 years working in supermarkets and living in a working class (socially deprived) area and I have also experienced this from (within) the gay community long before my diagnosis 

Although I tried to work for a year in a hotel after my later in life diagnosis in 2021 I’m back on Universal Credit and living alone in a council flat - the whole job search mechanics of Universal Credit just makes me anxious as I don’t have post diagnostic assessment or appropriate support and I’d question if universal credit is an appropriate benefit for people with autism to be on - after my redundancy in 2019 after 17 years, I’d felt forced into taking up the hotel job even though the supermarkets had changed their recruitment policies after I’d left - all I’ve found is nonsense and lack of support since my diagnosis - at age 53, 23 years living alone in the U.K. with family in Ireland - if I don’t have a post diagnosis assessment to assess my level of autism and identify appropriate support needs in any area of life, then I have no idea what my support needs are, where all autism support and funding is geared towards children (as important as that is) in both public and private that requires GP referral - some places that I’ve looked are only talking shops that only exist to push political talking points without practical support which is something that I don’t need to see read or hear - as usual disabled people get attacked the hardest and are left to their own devices without any realistic nor practical support, the first step of which must be post diagnosis assessment, which must become a basic legal entitlement and requirement, especially for those diagnosed later in life - yet despite all of this, I don’t see any real nor meaningful change happening any time soon 

firemonkey said:

I'm struggling to understand why  there's a failure to understand  why  the difference in experiences impacts  on my ability to feel that I fit in here.

For what little it may be worth, I value your presence here immensely and don't see you - in any way at all - as "not fitting in".

firemonkey said:

Gammon people are those who are jingoistic  rather than patriotic , and are more than a little bit racist.

Before you explained that, I thought you meant the same as the dictionary definition, which covers a much wider range of people and doesn't (necessarily) involve either jingoism or racism:

"a middle-aged or older white man with conservative, traditionalist views, stereotypically characterized as having a red or flushed complexion"

Honestly, I still see it as derogatory, though, because it makes fun of people's appearance and stereotypes them based on it, using an unpleasant term.

I see, however it is better to try to engage with their reasons for discrimination and try to educate and bring people together than use derogatory names, which is likely to entrench division.

I've always felt like that too - and in groups in real life too - and I also experienced some bullying when I was young.

I think that you have identified a difference between yourself and some of the other people on this forum (in terms of family background /wealth) and have used that as a reason for why you feel you don't fit in. That's not the reason - you don't feel like you fit in because you're autistic, and most of us don't get the feeling of belonging in a group that neurotypical people get. Just look at how many of us on here have "imposter syndrome".

But being autistic is about being unique, and we have to learn to appreciate that in ourselves as well as others. But we will have some shared experiences and fears, and we can share and support each other here.

I've always felt forums wise, not just here, that I'm on the outside of the inner circle looking in on it. That I'm not liked or wanted as others are.  Also there's the feeling of alienation  that stems from a lack of shared experiences. I have no doubt that much of this extreme anxiety/insecurity/ non bizarre paranoia stems from the bullying related trauma I struggle with.