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rough sleepers and autism

longman

There is quite a lot of coverage in the press about increased numbers of rough sleepers and other homeless (7% nationally but in London a 37% increase). It isn't clear whether this is the recession causing people to be evicted or loss of employment or other factors.

Reading some local coverage I was struck by two things: most of the help is collective/communal - hostels, sleep trucks, shelters, and there is no mention of autism, even though other disabilities are mentioned.

A limited amount of research in the past has shown that a lot of rough sleepers have autism traits if not an autism diagnosis, but this is a group that is unlikely to adapt well to communal sheltered accommodation over winter.

I wondered whether NAS has a strategy for this.

I have asked my local authority about this several times and been told they know all about that, or they have lists, but nothing very convincing.

Maybe we ought to know more.

Parents

  • Just as there is no reliable pathway to AS diagnosis, there is no reliable statistical information on the personal issues of 'rough sleepers'. Introducing the 'hidden homeless' is not relevant in this context, as the definition of 'homeless' is not having a home of one's own. An adult offspring who is still at their parents' home is 'homeless' but normal perceptions would not class them as such.

    Back to the topic. Councils do carry out counts of 'rough sleepers'. They literaly go out on the streets and count them, and there is recognition that, self-evidently, the only ones that can be counted are those they can find! Many are already known to housing services, and there are those who cannot cope with the complexity of being housed and end up back on the streets.

    Services for homeless people are poor at best. Given that our society is always geared towards blaming the victim, there is scant interest in the subject. I get very angry towards tories and anyone who votes for them, as their arrogant disregard for the less well-off is self evident and, to me, loathsome. The idea of 'class' is one of the greatest sicknesses of our society.

    My own LA is very good at supporting vulnerable adults, I am certainly grateful for the support that I get from them. BUT, I'm 'on the radar' as a diagnosed person. I would suggest that those without diagnosis are unlikley to get diagnosed in the first place, unlikely to get 'on the radar' as a vulnerable person in the second place, are unlikely to self-identify in the third place, and therefore nobody cares in the fourth place.

    It's difficult enough to get an AS diagnosis for someone with a fixed address, so I cannot even begin to imagine any strategy that could pick up any undiagnosed AS street sleepers.

    Councils staff constantly strive to come up with ways to get people off of the homelessness register. Some strategies that have been used effectively have subsequently been declared unlawful in the Courts. Our country has the resources to put a roof over the head of anyone without one, what it lacks, and will continue to lack, is any societal will to do so.

    I can't see what effect the NAS could possibly have in this situation.

Reply

  • Just as there is no reliable pathway to AS diagnosis, there is no reliable statistical information on the personal issues of 'rough sleepers'. Introducing the 'hidden homeless' is not relevant in this context, as the definition of 'homeless' is not having a home of one's own. An adult offspring who is still at their parents' home is 'homeless' but normal perceptions would not class them as such.

    Back to the topic. Councils do carry out counts of 'rough sleepers'. They literaly go out on the streets and count them, and there is recognition that, self-evidently, the only ones that can be counted are those they can find! Many are already known to housing services, and there are those who cannot cope with the complexity of being housed and end up back on the streets.

    Services for homeless people are poor at best. Given that our society is always geared towards blaming the victim, there is scant interest in the subject. I get very angry towards tories and anyone who votes for them, as their arrogant disregard for the less well-off is self evident and, to me, loathsome. The idea of 'class' is one of the greatest sicknesses of our society.

    My own LA is very good at supporting vulnerable adults, I am certainly grateful for the support that I get from them. BUT, I'm 'on the radar' as a diagnosed person. I would suggest that those without diagnosis are unlikley to get diagnosed in the first place, unlikely to get 'on the radar' as a vulnerable person in the second place, are unlikely to self-identify in the third place, and therefore nobody cares in the fourth place.

    It's difficult enough to get an AS diagnosis for someone with a fixed address, so I cannot even begin to imagine any strategy that could pick up any undiagnosed AS street sleepers.

    Councils staff constantly strive to come up with ways to get people off of the homelessness register. Some strategies that have been used effectively have subsequently been declared unlawful in the Courts. Our country has the resources to put a roof over the head of anyone without one, what it lacks, and will continue to lack, is any societal will to do so.

    I can't see what effect the NAS could possibly have in this situation.

Children
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