Autism Act and Local Authority Housing

Find an advocate, enlist your GP, call care direct for an assessment you can refer yourself, call shelter..council have obligation via the 2009 Autism Act to ensure your autism needs are taken in consideration.

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The dimentions buy houses to rent to autistic people

Silver100 said:

Have you tried asking council/ housing association to pay for some sound insulation as a reasonable adjustment for your disability?

Mine told me they wouldn't do this. This is despite me asking for a reasonable adjustment.

www.royston-crow.co.uk/.../couple_hit_out_at_care_provider_hesley_after_severely_autistic_daughter_left_homeless_1_1795175

www.dimensions-uk.org/.../

Do you think the council or the Housing gives a !

That is why you need law and a governing body or a regulator to act on your behalf. The NAS should have an advocate network service acting as responsiblity intermediate to the autism community to remedy these problems. If not,  why even exist as an organisation NAS  ? As you make no difference in the daily lives of people with autism.

Hi - council's have adaptations budgets so you could apply if you wished as Silver says. As always they will prioritise so there'll be a waiting list + very likely a smaller budget than there used to be pre-financial problems. 

Have you tried asking council/ housing association to pay for some sound insulation as a reasonable adjustment for your disability? Are there disability grants that you or they could apply for such work?

It may mean allowing someone in and the disruption of work which may be a problem for you. It is another avenue that doesn't require finding a non-existant property.

Equalities act reasonable adjustment 

New Age meditation music can be very relaxing if played at the correct volume. I recommend it.

I have tried white noise, but prefer brown noise. However, I think that meditation music relaxes me more.  I do not like ear-plugs - they are uncomfortable.

The problem is that we really need specially adapted living spaces that take into account our individual needs. If you are physically disabled, buildings are automatically adapted, but anything that has its origins in the mind/brain is currently dismissed as low priority, probably because it is less tangible. It goes without saying that mental problems can be just as disabling as physical ones, notwithstanding the fact that autism is a physical condition, it is just you cannot visibly see the brain.

Hi Hope,

you must live in a world of sound like me then - I can cope with it outside unless its low frequency or repetitive. i see it like this - sound is a sense, but one that others can intrude on easily - if someone is flashing a light in your eyes, prodding you with a stick, or smoking next to you then they are intruding on your sight, touch and smell - but in those cases its easy to walk away from that environment - but with sound you can't walk away so feel trapped, as if someone is constantly poking you with a stick but you can't get away.  If the sound continues then I feel like I keep being intruded upon constantly so I get stressed.

Have you tried ear protectors, I've got them and while they may be good for emergencies they are not a long term solution because I don't want to block out all sound, I want to know if someone is knocking at the door or if my phone rings, I want to listen to the TV etc, blocking it all out makes me feel isolated.

I also have some ear things that look like hearing aids, they play white noise and are supposed to help my ears be able to adjust to hearing sounds on all frequencies so that some sounds stay in the background, as I have most problems with low frequency sounds, but after 6 months I don't see any effect - although they are good as a prop to show to other people and tell them the loud noise is disturbing me and I have a hearing condition.

Its great you have a flat, but I could never live in a block, I know the noise would be too much, I would rather have a shed in a field ! ahh blisss

hmm housing officer ....I dont think complaining about the sound is the way forward as people are only going about their business, in fact where I live now they have quietened down a lot - albeit after months of complaining and only because I showed them my ear things and pleaded with them to stop playing music loud. We really can't expect people to have to pussyfoot around because we have a problem - so therefore I assume under the Autism Act that the local authority has to do something, so its very frustrating when they say my condition is 'not of significance'. I can't cope well with my environment so the only choice I have is to fight and the Autism Act gives me hope because its law, if I do not get help then the local authority is breaking the law - so I will go to CAB and then to my local MP if I have to !!!!!!

Hello Paull,

I am in a similar situation as you - see my other posts on this forum. Noise is the bane of my life in this flat, which is otherwise perfect. I don't want to move because this is probably the best I can get in the current circumstances, and I appreciate that many have it far, far worse than me. However, this does not make things much easier when it comes to my poor noise tolerance. There is one neighbour above me because I made sure that I was not allocated a noisy block of flats, and thankfully I have my own private front door. But there is still minimal privacy. I can sometimes hear whole conversations, the tap being turned on, the toilet flushing, arguments, music, you name it. If I can hear her, she might be able to hear me, and it is this sense of being closed in that makes me feel stressed. Night time noise is the worst because I go to sleep around 11pm. This morning, I was woken up by a dog barking at half past 7 (I had hoped to have a lie in), and was then woken up at 8.30am by my neighbour vacuum cleaning. Could she not wait until 10am?. It would not matter f I could not hear it, but I can. I am being sent diaries by the Housing officer, so that I can keep a record of when the night time noise nuisance occurs. Have you tried this option?.

Stuffed said:

Fustrating isn't we as individuals ask for help and other forum members try to offer ideas.

You have to seriously wonder when nas say they do not monitor forums and mods can't do much.

Mods are volunteers and have their own life and problems too.

ok thanks for all your advice, I called the housing and was given lots of fobbing off - eg go and see your doctor ? go and see the mental health team or learning disability team. I tried to explain that there is the Autism Act 2009 which means by law the local authority must make provisions to meet the needs of adults with autism spectrum conditions, and also every local authority should ensure that there is a named joint commissioner/senior manager with responsibility for commissioning of services for adults with autism, however they said they do not have one - so are they breaking the law then ?

This morning I have been pushed from one department to another trying to get the name of this person - as it says they should be 'named' and number of this person and am waiting for someone to call me back. If they cannot provide me with a name of this person then I am going to the citizens advise  - as I won't get any help from NAS thats for sure.

Fustrating isn't we as individuals ask for help and other forum members try to offer ideas.

You have to seriously wonder when nas say they do not monitor forums and mods can't do much.

You can't ask the council for anything,, because you are an individual, you are powerless by your individual position and having no collective shoulder to stand on, aka NAS, the only way you can get rehoused once you have a mental breakdown and try hurt someone in the council and the social services will come calling as it critical management system via court or an arrest. REACTIVE UK in lieu of Preventive Britain, China is laughing at us as they know, shake the bee hive for long enough, the bees all come out stinging !

On a positive note,, ONCE AGAIN !!! CAN THE NAS ADVISE ON A SOLICATOR WHO DEALS WITH THE LAW ON THE AUTISM ACT.

On the housing front,, there should be a list of Autism friendly housing agencies, the council should be number on on the list. Even someone swapping house with you could be look at, looking to live in your area.

crystal12 said:

I hope you don't mind me making another point :  unless there is suitable accommodation in an area which would help your asd + hyperacusis, then perhaps pursuing this matter would be academic?

This is the problem here.

I'd love to live somewhere where it's quieter too.

But it isn't going to happen.

The local authorities can't just magic up suitable housing out of thin air. That housing has to (a) exist, and (b) be unoccupied, before it can even be offered, and then, for reasons of fairness, they can not simply allocate it to a person.

Hi Paull, think your going to struggle, but

http://www.glh.org.uk/ may be worth a chat as they are part of mencap I believe and may have some useful advice

Hi Paull - I would definitely query this with regard to awarding medical points. You could go + see your local councillor who should hold "surgeries" in your area regularly, usually in a community centre, library, somewhere like that.  You could ring your town hall to check.  You could also ask for a 2nd opinion.  You could appeal the decision.  I cannot 2nd guess why they came to this decision unless they presume that the kind of noise which affects you would exist regardless of where you lived.  Did they say anything about your points in relation to autism?

I hope you don't mind me making another point :  unless there is suitable accommodation in an area which would help your asd + hyperacusis, then perhaps pursuing this matter would be academic?  There will now be an enormous waiting list of people looking for council/social housing, many in extremely serious need.  For single people the council/housing assoc will at best offer a flat.  If it's a 2 bedroom flat then the bedroom tax will usually apply.  1 + 2 bedroom flats are generally in shorter supply than houses.  Also flats can sometimes be quite noisy.  People on all sides + above + below, so to speak.  They would not offer a house to a single person.  I don't know your personal situation but I think it's worthwhile pointing out how difficult it is to get allocated a property now, regardless of whether it would be something you would want to accept.  If you are or are going to be homeless, then this would help your application + points.  Sorry for being blunt but it comes down to whether you feel strongly enough to pursue this.  Of course there are things I don't know about your circumstances as I only know what you put in your post.  So - apologies if I've made assumptions which are wrong.

The Equalities Act is another one you can mention. It talks about reasonable adjustments.