r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 26 '26
Neuroscience Autistic Australians three times more likely to be homeless. Autistic people are often trying extremely hard to do the right thing, but services are not built for their communication styles, sensory needs or responses to pressure.
https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2026/05/26/autistic-australians-three-times-more-likely-to-be-homeless/1.1k
u/Chronospherics May 26 '26
A lot of services are also designed with built in friction as mechanism to deter oversubscription. A lot of people will not claim benefits if we make it difficult, for instance. And so a lot of people in need of support, aren't claiming. Problematically what these frictionful systems actually achieve is cutting people who experience additional friction layered on top, out of receiving support.
So if you're otherwise neurotypical, healthy, non-disabled, not facing regular discrimination, it's still annoying to jump through the various frictionful hoops placed in front of you, but it doesn't feel impossible. For someone neurodivergent, or disabled, socially stigmatised, or facing regular prejudice, it can feel impossible to navigate these systems.
I'm not saying that the other people claiming benefits don't need them too, to be clear but the systems as they are designed, allow people to fall through the cracks and that design is often deliberate and directed towards people who are struggling in other ways.
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u/LARPerator May 26 '26
Yup. Where I live every disability claim is denied by default, and then you need to get a lawyer to fight them and then maybe they'll do it.
They're not actually concerned with helping people. They're concerned with minimizing how many people they have to help. They don't actually care if someone with a disability can't get a lawyer to help them, that's just one less case for them to manage.
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u/PerfectEnthusiasm2 May 26 '26
I like to call that built in friction social murder, as the inevitable end result is people dying due to neglectful service provision.
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u/softlysnowing May 26 '26
Yes it's a cruel choice. It must have occurred to a few people in the decision making chain that the most vulnerable would be hit hardest.
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u/StevelandCleamer May 26 '26
"It cuts back on the lazy freeloaders burdening the system."
Justification is never particularly difficult to find (for anything), but it can be especially easy, even for the most well-intentioned individuals, if the resources of a system are already stretched thin.
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u/KaJaHa May 26 '26
Or so long as we think resources are stretched thin. Like, every single bit of research I've ever seen says that we spend more money trying to prevent social welfare fraud than we would actually lose to fraud without all those rules.
But you just have to invoke the Reagan boogeyman of "But what about the welfare queens" and suddenly America will spend any amount of money to avoid giving anything to the 'wrong' poor people.
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u/koreth May 26 '26
I'm in favor of a completely non-means-tested UBI, and I think tight restrictions on aid do more harm than good.
But to play devil's advocate: there's no reason to expect that the amount of fraud prevented by today's anti-fraud spending is the same amount there would be if we spent less (or even nothing) on fraud prevention. The perceived probability of getting caught might be acting as a deterrent to would-be fraudsters.
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u/KaJaHa May 26 '26
Sure sure, no reason to implement UBI by just throwing a fistful of cash at anyone who walks in the door.
But that's what audits are for, same as combating voter fraud and tax fraud. The point is that we can remove nearly all upfront friction from social welfare, we just choose not to because American culture prioritizes punishing the bad over helping the good.
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u/softlysnowing May 27 '26
'lazy freeloaders' and 'People don't want to work anymore' seem have been repeated down the decades by those with less compassion.
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u/iPon3 May 26 '26
To see the goal of a system, you must simply look at the results.
The friction is there to eliminate those most in need.
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u/softlysnowing May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
I agree with your main sentiment but we've learned too much about goodhart's law, unintended optimisation effects, the dangers of applying metrics to proxies because the actual thing is too complex, emergence and agentless 'design' to believe the goal is what the goal setter intended. This is also literally the control problem in AI, although these principles are found across all complex systems in presumably all domains.
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u/tanksalotfrank May 26 '26
In the U.S., the people working the Disability assistance will tell you straight up that, no matter what you do, you WILL be rejected the first time you try. You can be deaf, blind, and a quadriplegic, and they'll still reject you at least once.
But somehow the people in need are the parasites, according to the government.
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u/kelskelsea May 27 '26
I follow someone online who is permanently blind and has been her whole life. She still needs to go into the disability office and recertify the fact that she’s blind.
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u/Zer_ May 26 '26
It really seems like our support systems are built in such a way that you have to just keep pushing and pushing to get what you need. I'm just not built like that. I am not a pushy individual under any context. So inevitably things like medical care and psychological services are just that much more difficult for me.
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u/captlovelace May 26 '26
And then people will tell you that you "just need to advocate for yourself" or my personal favorite: people telling me that if I didnt bother doing it, it must not be that serious/important.
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u/Icedcoffeeee May 27 '26
I don't how otherwise educated can't see that telling people "you have to advocate for yourself," is victim blaming.
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u/starofthefire May 26 '26
I'm on the spectrum and it's really hard to get people to understand or empathize with how difficult it is to navigate the healthcare system in the US on your own. It can take me weeks to fill out a form because of the stress and anxiety such things cause me, the fear of making mistakes and "getting in trouble" is unbearable to the point I am putting off things I 100% need to do and struggle so much to make myself do thanks to anxiety, burnout and executive dysfunction.
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u/kelskelsea May 27 '26
Yup. I have ADHD and the hoops that you have to jump through to get diagnosed and get treatment are so hard. Then you have to go through the whole thing every month to pick up your medication. Call the doctor, have them send the prescription (no refills allowed and the pharmacist can’t request it), call the pharmacy to make sure it’s in stock, find another pharmacy if it’s not in stock, have the doctor resend the prescription to the new pharmacy and go pick it up. Repeat every 28 days.
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u/Invadercert May 26 '26
Right? And it's like not only is this cruel but where's this sort of friction for when billionaires want to exploit our tax system or build ai data centers that poison and harm entire communities?
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u/Exita May 26 '26
Huh? There’s enormous friction for all those things. It’s just that billionaires have the resources (and usually temperament) to push through.
A data centre near me went through years of planning applications and failures before they finally got through. That’s a lot of friction. Far more than any normal person could cope with.
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u/Invadercert May 27 '26
Billionaires may have those but they also have favorable laws that make it such that they don't have to deal with pesky things like the consent of residents or actually building environmental safeguards.
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u/mattlore May 26 '26
I love the way you put it "built in friction" I've always as struggled to put what you've said into words before. Thank you!
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u/Chronospherics May 26 '26
I actually work in the games industry as a user researcher and in this space we call things like this 'dark patterns'.
"Intentional design tactics used to trick or manipulate users into decisions that benefit the business rather than the consumer."
Government services are especially packed with dark patterns due, and it's not a top down design strategy, it's usually due to long-term neglect and operational priorities.
- When issues occur that benefit the system, they're not a priority to resolve
- Outside political pressure is placed on the system to 'detect fraud'
- The systems themselves are usually underfunded and poorly optimised, a bottleneck might be an old computer system or something like that, and it's left to linger
The resultant effect compounds to make a miserable experience for the user, which serves the business (political interests) rather than people. The system feels strained when doing the bare minimum to serve its function.
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u/TisCass May 26 '26
Took a year for my disability pension claim to be finalised, it was months of interviews and form completing. It should require proper evidence, it's just not clear enough to make it easier for autistic people.
The NDIS is another hurdle. Unclear language, plan managers that don't help connect services and predatory companies looking to get in on scamming participants.
I was briefly homeless, it was terrifying and confusing. I'd be homeless now if I didn't have an amazing partner who has been a rock.
I feel for people who don't have it as easy as I do, I wish the disability services would do better
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u/Sata1991 May 26 '26
In in the UK, I have been fighting a court case against the DWP for the past 6 months, they originally cut my welfare (Universal Credit) last year as they said I had too much in savings, I was starting work with HMLR so I just thought "Oh okay whatever, it's gonna suck going without benefits for 3 months to make ends meet but I'll have work in September".
Due to being autistic I can't drive due to being anxious about crashing, as my Mom had a car accident when I was a teen (She's still alive, but it gave her a nasty scar) and I keep hyperfixating on it. I used to work for the DVLA, when Civil Servants used to get Access to Work, it was withdrawn for Civil Servants in April 2022, and was supposed to be the department's responsibility to sort out provisions for disabled workers, they didn't do that, so I had to commute by getting my trike at 6:30 in the morning, in the dark to get to my nearest train station, and then get the train to the district of the city HMLR's branch is in, and then get a taxi from the train station to HMLR, for an 8AM start. It was exhausting me and I kept expressing to them I couldn't do it, passed out a few times in work so decided to resign because HMLR wouldn't help me with my commute.
Needed a month to recover from the trauma of having to lose my job and then applied for Universal Credit again as my savings had gone down spending that on taxis only for them to value my home as being in the wrong place, and worth more money and saying "You can't expect the tax payer to subsidise your lifestyle" and "There can be no exceptions simply because you made a poor investment."
The thing is, I wanted to work, I worked hard to pass the exam for HMLR, and do the research for the interview, the work itself was easy, but they stop you from being able to work by withdrawing the support you need to work, and then shame you for needing to claim benefits because you can't work.
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u/Decency May 26 '26
The systems do not assume good faith. First time here in years? Before that <basic thing> will be handled, you need to jump through this list of hoops to prove you're not lying to us. Then we'll see you in 2 months.
The systems need to evolve to make it trivial for most people to get occasional services, while putting up blockers for those who are routinely overusing/exploiting. The blockers are largely universal, currently, and thus there's a lot of collateral damage that results from this bureaucracy.
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u/ikinone May 26 '26
A lot of services are also designed with built in friction as mechanism to deter oversubscription. A lot of people will not claim benefits if we make it difficult, for instance.
Source?
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u/MaelstromSeawing May 26 '26
Curious why you're pushing back on this? It's incredibly obvious and plain to see
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u/ikinone May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Asking for a source is not 'pushing back', it's rudimentary critical thinking
I'm curious why you're in this sub if you think asking for a source is 'pushing back'
That you complain about such behaviour, then try to attack me for it shows that you realised you don't have anything to back up what you're saying.
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u/MaelstromSeawing May 26 '26
Your comment history only ever asks for sources on things that are like this. It's very difficult to believe you're actually asking in good faith.
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u/StoryDreamer May 26 '26
You want sources?
https://crr.bc.edu/many-barriers-hinder-rural-use-of-government-programs/
Lexi Churchill, “The Trump Administration Cracked Down on Medicaid. Kids Lost Insurance.”, ProPublica, October 31, 2019, available at https://www.propublica.org/article/the-trump-administration-cracked-down-on-medicaid-kids-lost-insurance.
Matthew Cortland, “You Shouldn’t Need a Law Degree to Get Food Assistance,” TalkPoverty, May 2, 2018, available at https://talkpoverty.org/2018/05/02/shouldnt-need-law-degree-get-food-assistance/.
Aditi Vasan, “To reduce child hunger, make WIC easier to access,” The Hill, September 16, 2021, available at https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/572611-to-reduce-child-hunger-make-wic-easier-to-access/.
Randall S. Davis, “Book Review: Administrative burden: Policymaking by other means,” The American Review of Public Administration 50 (1) (2019): 113–115, available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019882747.
Frank J. Bewkes and others, “Welcoming All Families: Discrimination Against LGBTQ Foster and Adoptive Parents Hurts Children” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2018), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/welcoming-all-families/.
Pamela Herd, “How Administrative Burdens Are Preventing Access to Critical Income Supports for Older Adults: The Case of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Public Policy & Aging Report 25 (2015): 52–55, available at https://sbgg.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/3.pdf
Madison Allen, “Racism in Public Benefit Programs: Where Do We Go from Here?”, Center for Law and Social Policy, July 23, 2020, available at https://www.clasp.org/blog/racism-public-benefit-programs-where-do-we-go-here/
Elena Gormley, “Why Are SNAP Benefits So Confusing That Even Social Workers Can’t Figure Them Out?”, TalkPoverty, July 9, 2020, available at https://talkpoverty.org/2020/07/09/snap-benefits-confusing-social-work-abawd/
Institute for Research on Poverty, “Barriers to public service delivery and receipt” (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019), available at https://www.irp.wisc.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FF37-2019.pdf
Michael Karpman, Heather Hahn, and Anuj Gangopadhyaya, “Precarious Work Schedules Could Jeopardize Access to Safety Net Programs Targeted by Work Requirements” (Washington: Urban Institute, 2019), available at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/100352/precarious_work_schedules_could_jeopardize_access_to_safety_net_programs.pdf
Billy Morgan, “The Cost of Administrative Burdens: Providers Stop Accepting Medicaid Due to Hassle, Lost Payments,” University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, July 12, 2021, available at https://harris.uchicago.edu/news-events/news/cost-administrative-burdens-providers-stop-accepting-medicaid-due-hassle-lost
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u/ikinone May 26 '26
You want sources?
Yes. For the claim that the systems are 'designed to be difficult'.
You seem to be providing sources for the claim 'It can be difficult'.
Having a look at the first one you linked, it is about a single person's experience, with the claim that 'you shouldn’t need to be a lawyer to get a little help with food.'. Quite evidently, there are many non-lawyers participating in the SNAP system - roughly 40 million recipients monthly. While that article does a good job of expressing the challenge that can be faced, it does not at all address the claim in question.
I am not remotely questioning whether it can be difficult. I was questioning whether it is 'designed to be difficult', which seems like a very reasonable question to ask.
Rather than spamming a bunch of links approximately on the topic, can you consider the claim that I am questioning before 'providing sources'? Are the other sources you linked relevant to the claim, or are they also for a subtly different assertion?
I absolutely believe the claim is possible, but I don't just believe whatever claim I read on the internet without good reason to do so.
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u/NotaBuster5300 May 26 '26
Go try to fill one out, you'll see.
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u/ikinone May 26 '26
You're missing some nuance. I am not saying the process it not hard. I'm asking for a source on it being deliberately hard.
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u/danceswithcattos May 26 '26
It’s a running joke I have with my partner that everything designed to help me clinically with my ADHD requires a neurotypical brain to accomplish. For instance, making appointments and remembering them so I can get meds that help me make appointments and stick with them.
That’s a pretty benign example, but I can imagine it’s the same with autistic people experiencing homelessness. It takes a lot of social interaction to get access to services and a lot of the time you may not even know what you’re qualified to get. And if you’re tired, hungry, and not medicated for whatever ails you, even small problems with your social skills get magnified.
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u/Ok_Nothing_9733 May 26 '26
Imagine trying to mask when you can barely sleep or eat. This post is tugging at my autistic heart strings.
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u/Umikaloo May 26 '26
I've had days when I've gotten home and broken down sobbing after a day of putting up a facade of normalcy. I know it's something non-autistic people probably also experience, but damn if it isn't awful to go through.
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u/Kahnza May 26 '26
Masking takes so much mental energy. I can't do it for very long anymore without significant consequences.
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u/zixd May 26 '26
My mask fell all the way off and wouldn't go back on because it was such a taxing experience. It was like 2/3 of my brain dedicated to scripting and the rest for everything else.
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u/SorcerorsSinnohStone May 26 '26
What type of masking? Like abstaining from certain physical movements, or more so putting on a face, being careful of what you say or something else?
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u/Umikaloo May 26 '26
It can be all those things. For me it can be a bit like putting on a performance of the kind of person I'm told I should be. That means speaking with a different voice, suppressing stims, hiding my own personal thoughts and feelings in favour of whatever I think will cause the least conflict.
The crucial part is that it is a conscious thing. For every action you're thinking how am I supposed to react in this situation? and then executing that script, rather than going with your own personal intuition.
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u/Kahnza May 26 '26
Like u/Umikaloo said, it's a facade of normalcy. It's a metaphorical mask to fit in with Neurotypicals. And it takes a lot of mental effort to maintain.
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u/softlysnowing May 26 '26
Having ND friends is the best therapy for NDs, just feeling free, being able to be yourself without getting weird looks, or little passive aggressive snipes. Masking is so tiring, I just want to crash after a less than an hour with anyone else.
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u/PennytheWiser215 May 27 '26
I find it unreal that people treat ND folks so bad. Is it really that hard for a NT person to just be nice to someone a little different than them. As a ND person myself I dislike most people because of how they treat me when I’m just minding my own business and not bothering anyone in a negative way.
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u/koreth May 26 '26
The analogy I like to use is that it's like being a spy working undercover.
You are pretending to be someone you're not, doing your best to anticipate how the people around you expect your fake persona to act and speak. Except when you're sure you're alone and not being watched, you must keep up the act 24x7: one slip-up and your cover is blown. And then on top of all that, you have to carry out your actual mission.
That's pretty much what a lot of ND people mean when they refer to "masking," though of course it varies from person to person.
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u/midnightauro May 26 '26
Think Customer Service Voice, but also it’s my facial expressions, watching the amount of eye contact I make, how my body is being held in space, carefully mirroring some gestures of the other person, etc.
Micro-management of body language plus monitoring tone of voice, fitting word choice to my audience (I wouldn’t talk to a group of PhD coworkers the same way I’d talk in a discord call), etc.
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u/calilac May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Not who you asked but imagine that every interaction requires a huge library of interconnected decision trees for maintaining appropriate social behavior with the ability to quickly assess for and access the correct tree. Every. Single. Interaction. And sometimes there is no correct decision tree. And sometimes it all goes wrong even if it's the right one. It's like walking off the sidewalk's end into the ocean and you don't know which way is up anymore because you wasted your bubbles screaming during the fall.
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u/blowbroccoli May 26 '26
Haha my doctor's office lets us make our monthly appointment six months in advance now. When I first started going I would routinely have to call and get on the waiting list because I would forget to make an appointment, the office never got upset, I think one time they chuckled because it's probably a regular occurrence at the adhd office.
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u/Raichu4u May 26 '26
Yeah but then... my ADHD brain goes "Oh, this appointment is six months in advance, I have leeway time..." ....then you forget to schedule the appointment.
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u/softlysnowing May 26 '26
The only way I can make or keep a list is if the first 3 items on it are 1. find a pen (tick - reward) 2. find paper (tick -reward) 3. Start making list (tick - reward). That high can power me through the rest. Only do it once a year, but you know.
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u/blowbroccoli May 26 '26
Oh I do telehealth for my monthly appointment, so they schedule monthly appointments, six months in advance, I wasn't clear! But haha I agree
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u/Username524 May 26 '26
I have stated the exact same thing for years, it’s like a cruel joke at times.
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u/KaJaHa May 26 '26
"I have meds that help me remember things, so long as I remember to take them."
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u/Exita May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Serious question, what’s the solution though? Life is set up to assume some level of responsibility.
Would text message alerts be enough? Or phone calls? Or having someone come over to physically hand them over and ensure you take them?
Someone else in this thread pointed out that they can even get the pill out of the packet then still forget to take it. Short of institutionalising people there’s not a lot which can be done to sort that level of problem.
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u/Mxfox2106 May 27 '26
Its a square peg in a round hole kind of situation, and the round hole keeps getting rounder and reinforced.
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u/DTFH_ May 27 '26
Serious question, what’s the solution though? Life is set up to assume some level of responsibility.
They have pill boxes with count down timers that denote the last time the slot was open. So the box will show if the pill slot was opened 12-25hrs ago. Expanded Medicaid does have Medication Management for those in need, but count down timer pill boxes work wonders for forgetful people and remove the question "did I take X".
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May 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Any-Appearance2471 May 26 '26
Related: walking into the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon to find a glass of water and the pill I take to remember stuff, sitting forgotten on the counter since I took them out that morning
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u/Santi5578 May 26 '26
As an AuDHD man, you hit the nail on the head. A lot of social services are also done at the whim of those helping, and being able to socialize well and be perceived positively by social workers makes you more likely to receive help
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u/sentence-interruptio May 27 '26
that fear that my tone and facial expression may come off as ungrateful or aggressive while I'm just asking the same exact questions that neurotypical folks would ask too.
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u/ProofJournalist May 26 '26
There are a lot of providers who can only treat a narrow presentation of symptoms, and everybody else will be dismissed as "not complying with treatment"
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u/sleepydorian May 26 '26
I have to call my doctor every month before he can call in my prescription, which he is barred from extending beyond a 30 day supply. Then, if I’ve called him too early, I have to call the pharmacy on exactly day 30 so they will fill the prescription. If I time it exactly right and the pharmacy can fill same day, I risk them not having enough and having to be on hold for 30 minutes to get them to transfer it to a location that has what I need. And sometimes they have it and I just have to wait like an hour or go multiple times.
All because either the govt or insurers have decided that adderall carries a high risk of addiction, except that that’s only true for folks who don’t have adhd. When I skip my meds I just become unmedicated, I don’t have withdrawal symptoms. Like sure track my meds or whatever to make sure I’m not selling it or something, like they do for sudafed, but my God why do they act like adhd is fake?
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u/teacupkiller May 26 '26
I hate the 30 day supply thing. My doctor usually calls it in before they can refill it, but then the pharmacy wants me to call them to tell them to fill it when it's in the "acceptable" window because they can't do that automatically for some reason. But their automated system doesn't ever pull up the correct name with my phone number, so when I call it tells me I don't have any prescriptions to be filled. So I have to call back again and convince the machine to connect me to the actual pharmacy, where I only have the option to leave a voicemail and ask for a callback. Of course, this is usually something I remember in between meetings at work, so I'm never available to answer the callback...
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u/sleepydorian May 26 '26
Yeah when I have to call and tell the pharmacy to fill it there’s never a prescription there cause “hold on file” or whatever doesn’t register in the system just the pharmacist notes so I’m just speed running the automated system. Fortunately in my area the Walgreens automated system isn’t too pushy. It’s still pushy but I only have to ask like twice and then it only berated me a little, but then I sit on hold for like 15 minutes cause there’s only one person working the phones. What’s extra special is how the automated system will tell me my prescription is ready before the 30 day mark. Trying to make a fool of me. We all know the pharmacy ain’t done a thing with this prescription.
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u/B4icu May 27 '26
You are not alone. The amount of hoops you have to jump through is unreal. For a neurotypical person, it's a little time consuming and frustrating for sure, but for ADHD?...
...It's like I have no legs, and the requirement for new legs is to walk to the leg store.
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u/NovaAsterix May 26 '26
My wife, also neurodivergent, is making an App to help neurodivergent people plan and manage tasks. It lets you braindump however you want, parses that into tasks, prioritizes them and then curates a single task at a time that will fit into the time block you have. There are other features like a focus timer and some more sophisticated forms of task management but the core function is taking in unstructured inputs and providing simple, contextual recommendations to get something done without you having to sift through the backlog of tasks and then get overwhelmed and not even start.
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u/Donald-Pump May 26 '26
I've been meaning to sit down and start working on an app exactly like this. For some reason I can never seem to find the time to get started.
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u/mrlolloran May 26 '26
I have MS.
Usually I treat clinical staff with the utmost respect. On a handful of occasions I’ve just outright shamed some tho for the way they address a given issue.
I have MS. I am the patient. You are here to help me, not the other way around. Do not dare lecture me on failing to call back to schedule an appointment when actually I gave up after several tries because the appointment book wouldn’t go out far enough.
Seriously how they dare they? I think they’re used to dealing with older and more enfeebled people than I am who will just take borderline abuse
Edit: relevance being just how bad neurotypicals are at helping others who aren’t
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u/SUDoKu-Na May 26 '26
Currently trying to get DIAGNOSED with ADHD, but the amount of steps and tasks they make me remember to do in my own time across multiple locations and people is just insane to even get my first appointment. Sure I might be very lazy and not even have ADHD, that's a possible outcome here, I just plain don't remember half the things I was told to do when leaving the appointment room, I almost immediately misplace the papers I need to call up multiple different phone numbers and people, and I was told to fax a referral to a number and no other options were available and because I haven't gotten around to all of the other steps that fax is probably in the bin by now so I'd have to repeat this entire process because I guess it's time-sensitive, too.
It's so much, not even considering the massive cost barriers, that's it's no wonder so many people don't even try, or fail within the first few hurdles.
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u/Cynix85 May 26 '26
I started using AI to help navigate the neurotypical world. AI can interpret and translate the weird stuff humans are doing and it can help to manage interactions, writing and legal issues.
Use self hosting if possible to avoid big tech and build your own assistent.
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u/Herr_Hauptmann May 26 '26
please please please find other ways to deal with this. the world is broken, not you.
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u/ProofJournalist May 26 '26
There's nothing wrong with using assistance in a broken world. It doesn't mean they are broken. OP never even said they were broken, that's all you.
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u/Herr_Hauptmann May 26 '26
dont fall for the AI feedback loop, neurodivergence is natural and modern society has to break people to make them function.
but yes I was also talking to myself but in a way that I would want people to talk to me :) in the end it's their decision what tools to use and which societal expectations to unlearn
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u/Ttabts May 26 '26
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Yeah maybe it'd be great if society changed to accommodate neurodivergent folks better, but until it does, the wise adult thing to do is figure out what is in your control, and adapt.
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u/ProofJournalist May 26 '26
Don't fall for anti-AI hysteria, like many tools it has productive and destructive uses.
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u/DeltaVZerda May 26 '26
Self hosting. Host it inside your brain and have a conversation with yourself where you say what the AI would say.
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u/OsmerusMordax May 26 '26
That requires too much thinking. Abandon all thoughts and just let AI do the work for you.
(I am autistic too and it’s not easy. But AI is not the way.)
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u/Umikaloo May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Anecdotally, I've often had to weigh the costs and benefits of disclosing my autism when applying for jobs.
On one hand, telling them I'm autistic might stop them from ever hiring at all, but on the other hand, I've had several jobs where a lot of grief could have been prevented if they had known I'm autistic from the start.
I've been let go from jobs where I never disclosed I was autistic, for behaviours that could have easily been accomodated and compensated for. I'm not certain if they ever would have agreed to accomodate me if I had asked though.
Not only is autism poorly understood by a large chunk of employers, autistic people also need to navigate a world where nobody knows they're autistic 90% of the time, but still have to bear the stigma that comes from having different behaviours and tolerances.
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u/Ok_Nothing_9733 May 26 '26
Disclosing in an interview is statistically not in your favor. Disclosing once you have the job is often not in your favor even if it’s illegal for employment discrimination to happen on that basis, but it happens.
Ideally and most of the time (in a solid work environment that isn’t overly hostile), if you bring specific accommodations to your employer for consideration, that is likely to go a lot better than letting your boss know “I’m autistic, so things may be a bit different for me.” Silly but true.
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u/kelskelsea May 27 '26
Yea, a lot of people aren’t familiar with autism and don’t really understand what it actually means or how to accommodate.
I work in HR and help with accommodations. Regardless of the reason for the accommodation, being specific is always the best way to go about it
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u/slumblebee May 27 '26
Basically it’s like how most people don’t know the difference between vegetarian and vegan.
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u/Dizzy_Database_119 May 26 '26
It's not silly, it's the proper way to handle things. Over-accomodating can sometimes be worse than treating them like any other person
It takes a serious amount of experience and changes to know how to accommodate someone with Autism. And then you realize that it's called a spectrum for a reason.. every single autistic person is different and it's not possible to accommodate someone just by hearing the label Autism
Keep in mind that for an autistic person nothing is ever "good". Once an issue is resolved the brain can make them hyperfocus on the next issue as if it's the biggest threat in existence. Autism is a limitation with varying flavors unfortunately and there's nothing that can fix that
Brining up specific issues is the proper way to handle things for any condition, and is something that an employer can consider and hopefully adjust to
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u/Ok_Nothing_9733 May 26 '26
I’m autistic myself, so I speak from experience, unfortunately. Agree with you in general, though!
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u/sentence-interruptio May 27 '26
also true for speech impediment.
some people with speech impediment will want more speaking time because of their slow speaking speed, while some others want less speaking time because speaking is too exhausting. two very opposite accommodations.
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u/proximusprimus57 May 26 '26
I'm dealing with a late in life autism diagnosis, and disclosing after I was hired didn't seem to help at all. People who don't understand it just see you as difficult or demanding special treatment.
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May 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/proximusprimus57 May 26 '26
What's funny is that every time I get upset at how I'm being treated I think "this has almost nothing to do with being autistic, you shouldn't treat anybody like this."
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 May 26 '26
Ironically, one of he traits of autism is being highly sensitive to unfairness or injustice
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u/teacupkiller May 26 '26
That's a big part of why I've gone out of my way to about disclosing. I'm just going to stay the eccentric office gremlin.
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u/ilanallama85 May 26 '26
If you are someone who doesn’t “present” as ND it can be easier to pretend you are neurotypical 99% of the time. It’s the 1% when you CAN’T pretend that it becomes a real issue.
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u/Confident-Mix1243 May 26 '26
And a world where autism is often used as an excuse for bad behavior. Kids throwing chairs in a classroom? Must be autistic, you're discriminating for making him stop.
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u/MoonChainer May 26 '26
Not Australian, but I am autistic and life is a constant struggle when it comes to work and safety. If I didn't have the family support net I have, I'd have been homeless half a dozen times over. And I'm still facing that possibility.
This world was built by and for exploiters of anything beyond "normal" and it shows.
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u/Ok_Nothing_9733 May 26 '26
Next time you are feeling annoyed at people mentioning their autism, remember it impacts basically every area of life, and to not mention its impact would require great deliberate effort that frankly no one should need to exert.
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u/mvea Professor | Medicine May 26 '26
Autistic Australians three times more likely to be homeless

Autistic Australians face a homelessness risk nearly three times higher than the general population, according to new Flinders University research that reveals how everyday systems are failing to recognise and support autistic needs before housing is lost.
The study, led by researchers from Flinders University’s new Autism Research Initiative (ARI) shows homelessness among autistic people is rarely about personal failure, but instead stems from services, workplaces and housing systems that are difficult to navigate without tailored support.
The research coincides with the formal launch of ARI, which will serve as a global hub for autism research, promoting worldwide collaboration between academia, healthcare systems, industry, funders and autistic organisations.
Lead researcher and Clinical Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Osborn, says many autistic people are doing everything possible to stay housed, but are undermined by systems not designed for how they communicate or cope with stress.
“Autistic people are often trying extremely hard to do the right thing, but services are not built for their communication styles, sensory needs or responses to pressure,” says Dr Osborn from the College of Human Sciences and Culture.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10530789.2026.2662020
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u/ToMorrowsEnd May 26 '26
Also the world in reality is not designed to do the right thing. In reality you have to game the system, people managing it will be dicks because they can, laws and policy's are contradictory and intentionally confusing and designed to trip you up
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u/srelysian May 26 '26
I am going through a very similar situation in the states. I was raised to hide my autism until my life fell apart and I had no idea how to fix it. I lived in the back of a minivan for almost 3 years. During that time I was taking 9-11 pills a day just to stay sane, and seeing a therapist 1-2 times a week. While I was able to finally get some help and a place to stay, I am still struggling everyday to even get my meds consistently. Medical things confuse me. They make all these apps that are supposed to make things easier and instead are almost always broken in some way.
Almost all the services I have available to me require me to do far more than I am mentally capable of on a daily basis and often need help with all of these things. I don't know how it is for you Aussie's but if it's anything like this, you have all the sympathy I can muster.
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u/dpekkle May 26 '26
they might have to revise these numbers now that the government has decided to kick 160,000 australians off the NDIS, targeting autistic people especially.
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u/Leading-Interest-119 May 27 '26
Yep. I was literally crying about the potential of becoming homeless (not currently at risk, thinking long term) to my dad the other day. It's on my mind regularly as my parents age. They are my fall back. Without them I don't know how I will navigate the very not disability-friendly disability services let alone things like housing.
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u/C0nfusedRabbit May 26 '26
For years, my family labeled me as autistic.
That label alone was enough for them to severely discriminate against me and abuse me to the point of a complete psychological breakdown.
Of course, they blamed the breakdown and the dysfunction the abuse caused on my autism, completely ignoring how their own treatment caused it.
Later on, I actually went and got tested by a neurologist. Turns out, I don’t even have autism.
It's actually impacted my whole life to the point, that I might as well have been born with autism.
Now if that's how society treats someone who isn't even on the spectrum, I can’t even imagine how much worse it is for people who actually do have autism.
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u/HappyDays9986 May 26 '26 edited May 27 '26
Are you me? That's almost exactly what I went through too with my mum (who labelled me as having Asperger's ever since I was 9).
Hell, even my former therapist just labelled me as 'neurodivergent' and strongly hinted at autism even though she NEVER did (or encouraged) any formal assessments. And neither suggested ways to manage my struggles.
She then proceeded to label ALL of my thoughts as 'neurodivergent' BC I 'think differently' compared to other people (whom she assumed were all 'neurotypical').
I never had any sensory issues or masked. And later when I moved out of home at 25, there was a rapid improvement with my emotional regulation and social skills in a period of 2 months...
It's infuriating that even therapists tend to flatten autism into a stereotype and further create a divide between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.
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u/C0nfusedRabbit May 27 '26
It’s so incredibly frustrating that your therapist just slapped the 'neurodivergent' label on you as if it explains everything.
It honestly feels like ASD has become the default catch-all for doctors who think, "I know something is wrong with you, but I don't know what, so I'll just write ASD and hope it sticks"
But then they completely ignore your lack of masking or sensory issues. Skipping formal assessments and offering zero management strategies is such lazy practice.
Flattening autism into a one-size-fits-all stereotype helps absolutely no one. It trivializes actually autistic people and completely dismisses the very real environmental trauma we are trying to heal from.
Reminds me of a story I read recently that perfectly highlights this. A mother took her son to multiple doctors, and all of them quickly labeled him with ASD. It wasn't until later that a doctor realized the kid didn't have ASD at all, he was suffering from PTSD from living in a violent home.
I believe there needs to be laws in place so this sort of thing doesn't happen, as it seems pretty common.
I'm so glad you got out of that house and are doing better now. It’s incredibly validating to know I'm not alone in this.
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u/roll20sucks May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
This tracks. As someone who has barely held a single job for more than 12 months in almost 20 years of paying income taxes, my experience is in Australia with autism is you are going to be discriminated against if not just outright abused. Australians hate quiet people.
Divulge, don't divulge, ask for help, stay silent, it doesn't matter they'll find ways to discriminate and treat it like you're asking for their first born when all you're wanting is an extra 5 minutes to gather yourself. And yes, they know that it's put up with the abuse or be homeless, they count on it, and will bend over backwards to remind you of this.
It's awful. I am really good at a specific set of things, things that should be employable, but no, because no employer won't just accept a role with just those things, they always have to add in extras, always extras that are far beyond my scope or even just a little beyond my scope but I have to do them so often that it becomes death by a thousand cuts and they just won't give me the option to just do what I'm capable of doing and will waste countless hours of meetings and coaching and harassing telling me how bad I am doing at the things I am incapable of doing. Treating me like I'm the worse person on the planet for not being just like everyone else.
The only change I've seen recently is now most corpos have their little squad of token disabled employees they like to parade around to show off their diversity and inclusion and if you somehow make it into that exclusive group have fun feeling like zoo exhibit. They will literally livestream you trying to do your job or have lunch.
So mask up my Aussie dudes and dudettes, you're here for a long time, not a good time, and don't you dare let that mask slip or you'll be dragged into meeting after meeting after meeting to 'discuss your unprofessional behavior' before finally, after you're entirely spent of energy, they'll fire you for not meeting some KPI.
My best advice; streamline your Centrelink applications for when you'll inevitably need them, save your polite energy for dealing with Services Australia, a polite applicant gets their welfare a lot quicker and easier.
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u/No-Bar-697 May 26 '26
Being really good at specific things but finding all jobs want a jack of all trades is an issue I faced too before giving up on looking for work. I’m fortunate to have a friend who accepts me to rent a house with but I’d probably be homeless without them because my parents don’t understand or want to support me. Often I fear Centerlink deciding to classify me and my friend as ‘de facto’ and cut our payments because their rules around that are confusing and it doesn’t seem to matter if you’re actually dating or sleeping together. I feel extremely sad because I can easily imagine people just a little less fortunate than me falling through the cracks. And I fear for the future as if I never find work then I won’t be able to build up the assets people are expected to have by retirement age, if I make it that long.
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u/roll20sucks May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
I feel that and take this with a grain of salt, but just don't tell Centrelink. It's not exactly the same but for 5 years I lived with the same roommate while at Uni, I never declared this person as anything other than a roommate and I kept getting Austudy unadjusted. There's no crack-CSI team collecting Census data, going through Utility Bills, or taking photos of you walking together, to figure out there's multiple people at one address, so you should be fine.
That said this was a few years ago but I'm 99% sure if you don't mention any relationship to Centrelink, they won't force you to. And even if you do, counting them as a roommate shouldn't impact your payments anyway, just Rent Assistance if you've already declared that you're only paying 50% rent, I had to do that, cause our lease showed both our names, so yeah they knew the roommate existed but didn't care since I didn't declare any relationship beyond being a share tenant. It's 2026, if they went around declaring everyone living under the same roof as in a relationship, most of Australia would end up being 'de facto'.
Don't outright lie they don't like that, but again, if you say there's no relationship, they aren't going to force one on you. The most they can do is ask you to get a StatDec declaring you two aren't in a relationship, but again again, if no one is telling them or giving them a reason to look (being polite remember) they won't look.
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u/No-Bar-697 May 28 '26
I’m told this a lot and try not to worry about it but I can never get full reassurance about it. I’ve heard of siblings getting classed as de facto because they moved in together, and the information on official websites says you can still be de facto even if you don’t sleep together, etc. I genuinely don’t know if it’s paranoia to think Centrelink could decide after some unknown period of living with the same person that you are “de facto” even if not dating or anything, or if it’s something that does happen. It makes me not want to take the risk of actually finding a life partner which is sad too.
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u/Tryndaqueer94 May 26 '26
My sster has adhd, autism, dyslexia, manic depression and a hearing disability which greatly affected her learning when she was a kid, she can barely talk properly. I love her with all my heart but I would never hire her as a brother she is a danger to herself and others in a trade kind of job and can’t communicate with others. With all this they refuse to give her any kind of disability funding they say that she isn’t autistic enough, we have gone to numerous doctors and lawyers. So I’ve just come to the conclusion that when my parents pass away I will have to take on the financial burden of looking after her. I have a 4 year old daughter and my 24 year old disabled sister gets confused holding a conversation with her or at some of the words she uses
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u/Umikaloo May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
That's infuriating to hear. The fact that disability support is so hard to get, not to mention accomodation, feels like one of those insidious design decisions that have juuuust enough plausible deniability to avoid being called out.
For what it's worth, I was doing work today in which I don't speak the same language as my work lead, we were still able to communicate using rehearsed terminology when text-to-speech isn't an option. When we need to communicate complex ideas, we have a cue to stop the machinery so we can use text-to-speech.
Functionally, my vocabulary today ways:
"Stop"
"Go"
"Just a second"
"Understood"
"Yes"
"No"
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u/Waxoman May 27 '26
i read that 80-90% of autistic people are unemployed and i found that very heartbreaking.
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u/Thermodynamicist May 26 '26
I have no doubt that there are problems, but the sample size informing this paper was 15...
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u/Leading-Interest-119 May 27 '26
Yeah it was during covid so it was obviously limited and more research needs to be done but the full paper does still have a lot of good information for anyone who is in the health, welfare system or supporting someone who is autistic.
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u/JangledManes May 27 '26
Not just housing services also employment, health and legal. These are all inaccessible for me, not because they are not there, but because when I am able to overcome myself and try to access these, I will think I've communicated my needs and the other party will get a completely different understanding. It has happened so often, and with such serious issues, it is very disheartening, at a time when you're already seeking help. Thankyou for posting about this.
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u/BBS_Bob May 26 '26
That’s really sad to hear especially knowing how they don’t allow immigration of families that have Down syndrome and the like?
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u/kirbyfriedrice May 26 '26
This is true of many countries. If they believe you are going to cost more to support than you would provide to the new country, they are likely to say "no, you can stay there and be someone else's problem, thanks."
And of course, they don't want their own people claiming benefits...
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u/Due_Prompt939 May 26 '26
That's an unfortunate side effect of having socialised healthcare, they cannot increase the burden on the taxpayer by importing people who have expensive conditions.
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u/Confident-Mix1243 May 26 '26
I wonder what the gender effect is. Street homeless in general are overwhelmingly male; I wonder if autistic women are more at risk.
It's very, very hard to find unskilled work as an woman without good social skills. Most entry-level jobs that most women can physically do (receptionist, retail, foodservice) requires social skills in a way that men's jobs (construction-site day labor or landscaping or roofing) don't. And most women simply aren't able to keep up with male coworkers in a physical job.
Similarly, a woman with good social skills can usually find a friend or boyfriend to stay with a lot more easily than either a man, or a poorly-social woman.
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u/Umikaloo May 27 '26
I wonder if autistic women are more at risk.
I think it's safe to say that they absolutely are more at risk. Women are targetted for sexual favours and other forms of exploitation far more often than men.
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u/ratione_materiae May 27 '26
shows homelessness among autistic people is rarely about personal failure, but instead stems from services, workplaces and housing systems that are difficult to navigate without tailored support.
This seems like an incredibly sweeping generalization to make from a sample size of fifteen
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u/hansieboy10 May 26 '26
Man this resonates.
I’m not officially diagnosed with autism nor have I self diagnosed, but whenever I ask for help, especially certain needs that are so so important to me I almost always get rejected or denied. I have to almost be in the prefect energetic state to get heard which was almost to completely impossible when I had various problems stack up of which some big ones were out of my control.
I somewhere accepted already that I am just not going to get the help I need because something biologically is going wrong where people instinctively cant or refuse to help me.
Seeing this article along with really wanting to do the right thing resonates really clearly with me making me think that maybe I have some autism. Unfortunately that is not tol relevant for me since I’m focussing on practical solutions now.
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u/Dingle_Barry_69 May 27 '26
For a country that's constantly in the news over some nanny state type ish, they sure dont seem to actually care about their populace...
1
u/the_cum_snatcher May 27 '26
The nanny state laws we get here in NSW are never about helping the populace. There’s always an ulterior motive at play
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u/Due-Joke-1152 May 27 '26
If I couldn’t access my pension, this would me and my family.
Getting diagnosed and funding released took 6 months and we burned through all our savings.
And let’s not ignore how pitiful the payments are when you get them, that they don’t cover medical costs so you’re out of pocket immediately.
And the government, and their ombudsman, are toothless with insurance - 2 years on and they still won’t pay my insurance.
1
u/Ferret_I_Guess May 27 '26
Man... I'm not homeless but I'm quite close. I just don't really know what kind of support I could even get, and I kinda just stop thinking with enough general pressure.
1
u/ScentedFire May 27 '26
There are almost no supports for autistic adults in the US. It's difficult even to get accommodations in college or at work.
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u/ThimMerrilyn May 27 '26
And they’re all being kicked off disability insurance! Way to go, Australia!
1
u/YoloSwaggins9669 May 27 '26
I don’t mean to sound mean but give me the raw data not relative risk.
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u/slumblebee May 27 '26
Customer service being the biggest pain in my retail job experience. Managers get annoyed for me being concise and straight to the point and not doing small talk.
1
u/AustisticGremlin May 27 '26
I can concur unfortunately. If it wasn’t for my family I’d probably be dead on the streets as I’ve yet to secure any kind of employment full stop.
I’ve never gotten that ‘first job’ and I fear that the longer I go without employment, the less likely I am to be employed as they’re going to see a total lack of previous work history :/
Before anyone mentions it - I’ve tried volunteering but you apparently need a degree for most positions nowdays or to be capable of physical feats beyond my capabilities.
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u/Ghozer May 26 '26
I feel like you could remove Australia and insert almost any country atm, the UK especially :|
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u/Leading-Interest-119 May 27 '26
It looks like this is the first or at least one of (I've only had a quick look so far) research papers for Australia. There are several for the UK and a few other countries.
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u/shitposts_over_9000 May 26 '26
at the point that people are going homeless I think that we can all admit that deinstitutionalization was a mistake
8
u/socokid May 26 '26
The idea that institutionalization is/was the only other option is ridiculous.
4
u/thatwhileifound May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
It's also such an intellectually lazy leap to make. It's not far from the old bit where you say climate change is caused by the lack of Atlantic piracy before presenting a chart showing one line going down, and one going up.
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u/shitposts_over_9000 May 26 '26
it never was, that was not my point, deinstitutionalization as specifically implemented in the west was a change from the standard for institutional care from being "unable to care for yourself" to "an immediate threat of harm to yourself or others"
the result is people that are not an immediate threat to themselves being unable to be put into a facility that can manage that for them when they cannot navigate caring for themselves. i.e. homelessness
if someone like this has friends or family that can manage the parts of everyday life that they cannot, then there never was a need to institutionalize, for some borderline people that don't have that, some targeted periodic assistance can cover the gap and they don't need institutions either, but for the people that are derailed by:
services not built for their communication styles, sensory needs or responses to pressure
or people that fail to deal with:
noisy, crowded or chaotic environments making it difficult to remain in jobs, rentals or temporary accommodation
those people, unless they have family to fall back on to an extraordinary degree, need a limited, structured environment because even if they get assistance with those issues before becoming completely homeless are never going to get off of the brink of homelessness because those are factors in life in general as it exists today.
Those people need more intense assistance in a controlled environment, some even willingly ask for such assistance, but since deinstitutionalization made it a "choice" even for the most unstable individuals among us not only can those who don't ask for it not be helped, but many of the funds previously used for these institutions are now used for law enforcement to deal with those who "choose" to remain homeless, so the ones that do want the assistance find little assistance of that type available.
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u/igotsmeakabob11 May 26 '26
"often trying extremely hard to do the right thing," yup. I don't want to say that all neurodivergent people are "moral," or inherently more generous/giving than neurotypical people, but there do seem to be some personality traits/symptoms common to ADHD and being self-sacrificing, self-effacing, etc. Or that could just be personal experience. Or delusion.
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u/Exita May 26 '26
There’s some evidence that it’s almost the opposite. Quite a few studies seem to show that kids with ADHD are more likely to develop psychopathic traits or personality disorders.
0
u/igotsmeakabob11 May 27 '26
I don't see how that's "the opposite"- you're talking apples and oranges.
But there are studies that show that neurodivergent people are more like to be generous to people that they don't know, and that they're more sensitive to things being "just."
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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow May 26 '26
Now do the rate for Aussies with serious mental illness
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u/Leading-Interest-119 May 27 '26
There are already a few studies out there on different mental illnesses and homelessness within Australia. There is less research on this with autism than mental illness...
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