"Our #1 goal is to make sure that every autistic adult can find affordable housing in the community, along with the supports they need to keep their housing.” TPGA interviews @autselfadvocacy’s @Samanticka on housing issues. A thread!

http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2016/08/autism-and-adult-housing-choices.html #Neurodiversity 1/

Housing options for autistic adults can be a fraught, confusing, and crucial topic, in both public opinion and policy arenas. We talked to Sam Crane, The Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Director of Public Policy, about some of the myths & facts regarding housing choices. 2/

There are a lot of misunderstandings about the housing options for autistic people of varying support needs—including why group homes can be problematic, compounded by an ongoing lack of housing availability and choices in many areas. 3/

Right now, [autistic] people who need independent living supports are often forced into group homes or segregated "communities." These often force people to live according to someone else's vision of a good life, not their own. 4/

Many people in group homes also lack basic tenant protections that others take for granted, such as the security of knowing that they won't lose their housing without notice, or the ability to have visitors, decorate their own living space, or choose a service provider. 5/

When the only housing options are group homes or standalone "communities," it may be impossible for ppl to find a housing provider that will accommodate their needs. Lots of autistic ppl are stuck in institutions because group homes think they will be too difficult to serve. 6/

[The preceding issues are why ASAN has] been so vocal in our support of the home and community-based services (HCBS) regulations that were passed in 2014. 7/

According to HCBS regulations, everyone getting home and community-based services has the right to get those supports in non-disability-specific housing if that is what they want—regardless of the level of their support needs. 8/

That could include someone getting supports to live in their own house or apartment. Anyone who does live in a group home would have the same rights that nondisabled people do when they are renting a house or apartment. 9/

That includes protections against being kicked out of housing for no reason. It also includes the right to visitors, the right to privacy, the right to set one's own schedule and the right to eat what and where one wants. 10/

A group home would only be able to interfere with those rights when there is a compelling, individualized, and documented reason—for example, a group home could help keep a person with food allergies away from food they are allergic to. 11/

Traditionally, if you needed housing supports, you would get them as part of a "package" from a particular agency. The support agency would be responsible for choosing the staff, setting the schedule, and deciding which supports you'd get. 12/

Self-directed supports give that control to the person with a disability. The person with a disability gets a budget that they can use to hire their own support staff and the support schedule. 13/

Since this process can be complicated, people who use self-directed services often also have someone to help them make decisions about what to do with the budget. That helper can be a family member or a case manager. 14/

Unfortunately, not all HCBS programs allow for self-directed supports.

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Group home concerns that folks need to understand:

People who live in their own apartment or with a small number of roommates have better quality of life. They are more likely to have a job, more likely to have opportunities to make choices, and less likely to feel lonely. 16/

In larger group homes especially, we see situations in which group home staff will want to make everyone follow the same schedule and rules since it's much easier to manage the group home that way. 17/

We've also seen a number of exposés over abuse in group homes that had been promoted as "model" placements for people with disabilities. 18/

[Autistic and other disabled] people who have more choice in their lives and who are more integrated into the community are less likely to be abused by staff or by other people living in their home. 19/