rough sleepers and autism

I dont think you or the general public are getting the whole story.

There is a lot more homeless people than you see sleeping outside, the press refer to them as the "hidden homeless". I've been technically homeless for nearly 2.5 years after loosing my job and my tied accommodation. In that time i have only slept outside for 3 nights and on a friends floor for another 5.

If you have a disability you are likely to be listed as a vulnerable adult people with autism are often given this lable as most come under the care of adult mental health services as the council see any kind of autism as a MH condition.

If you are listed as a vulnerable adult the council have a greater duty of care towards you and cant just leave you out on the pavement. From my experience the council do what they consider cheapest first which is ignore the problem, so unless you present yourself to them they claim not to know about you and therefore have to do nothing. When you do present they recomend moving back in with your parents. Secondly they find you a hostel bed as a short to medium term solution. Other options include bed and breakfast often miles away from where you live. last resort is they put you in council temporary accommodation which i now have but they are always looking for the smallest excuse to move you on and dismiss their duty of care. I nearly forgot they often use supported housing for people with learning disabilities and in this i loosely include some people with autism

The problem with the above solutions come if you are unable to organise yourself (especally if you also have learning difficulties) and you dont turn up at key times dictated by someone else or make the right phonecalls. Money like housing benifit gets stopped and then the rent doesnt get paid for you, at which point you get kicked out of wherever you are staying and then becuase they look on it as you not paying the rent you are found to be intentionally homeless and the council have no duty of care towards you. They because you have no address you cant collect benifits so you cant pay for anywhere to stay and the cycle continues.

This is really stressful added to the already not coping so a majority of the people that are homeless, hidden or otherwise have MH issues going on, then remembering to take medication when you have no routine doesnt happen and you get worse and suddenly ending up in a nice warm, all be in MH hospital with food and a bed becomes appealing and you have entered the system and you become a collectable statistic.

In short there are many people with autism that are homeless but often intervention happens to stop the most vulnerable in society reaching the level of street sleeping. Noone ends up sleeping on the pavement suddenly one day there is always a chain of events leading up to it, unfortunatly its those with noone supporting them that fall through the system.

I dont think you or the general public are getting the whole story.

There is a lot more homeless people than you see sleeping outside, the press refer to them as the "hidden homeless". I've been technically homeless for nearly 2.5 years after loosing my job and my tied accommodation. In that time i have only slept outside for 3 nights and on a friends floor for another 5.

If you have a disability you are likely to be listed as a vulnerable adult people with autism are often given this lable as most come under the care of adult mental health services as the council see any kind of autism as a MH condition.

If you are listed as a vulnerable adult the council have a greater duty of care towards you and cant just leave you out on the pavement. From my experience the council do what they consider cheapest first which is ignore the problem, so unless you present yourself to them they claim not to know about you and therefore have to do nothing. When you do present they recomend moving back in with your parents. Secondly they find you a hostel bed as a short to medium term solution. Other options include bed and breakfast often miles away from where you live. last resort is they put you in council temporary accommodation which i now have but they are always looking for the smallest excuse to move you on and dismiss their duty of care. I nearly forgot they often use supported housing for people with learning disabilities and in this i loosely include some people with autism

The problem with the above solutions come if you are unable to organise yourself (especally if you also have learning difficulties) and you dont turn up at key times dictated by someone else or make the right phonecalls. Money like housing benifit gets stopped and then the rent doesnt get paid for you, at which point you get kicked out of wherever you are staying and then becuase they look on it as you not paying the rent you are found to be intentionally homeless and the council have no duty of care towards you. They because you have no address you cant collect benifits so you cant pay for anywhere to stay and the cycle continues.

This is really stressful added to the already not coping so a majority of the people that are homeless, hidden or otherwise have MH issues going on, then remembering to take medication when you have no routine doesnt happen and you get worse and suddenly ending up in a nice warm, all be in MH hospital with food and a bed becomes appealing and you have entered the system and you become a collectable statistic.

In short there are many people with autism that are homeless but often intervention happens to stop the most vulnerable in society reaching the level of street sleeping. Noone ends up sleeping on the pavement suddenly one day there is always a chain of events leading up to it, unfortunatly its those with noone supporting them that fall through the system.