Aspies For Freedom

I don't like the idea of total isolation because it would only widen the rift between Aspies and NTs, make us appear threatening, and only get ugly from there.  Besides, if you tell people they can't visit a certain place, that makes them want to see it all that much more.  (Kind of like all the Americans, myself included, who would like to visit Cuba.)  However, I do like the idea of predominantly-Aspie places where you can come and go as you please.

Here's one thing that might work in a large urban area:  First, find a hundred or so Aspies who would be interested in living in the same neighborhood.  Make sure they're all prepared to follow through, by having money ready for deposits in the case or renting or downpayments in the case of buying.  Then, look for a new neighborhood under construction in the urban sprawl.  Find out the earliest opportunity to secure a place in this new neighborhood, and then everybody go and do so at once.  (Be it signing leases on apartments in the same complex, or purchasing houses on the same street.  A developer who has just made a bunch of sales all at once should be very happy.  Similarly for a leasing company that has just collected a bunch of security deposits.)  Later, construction is completed and everybody moves in.  You've created a predominantly-Aspie neighborhood and it cost about the same as if you were renting or buying anywhere.  As before, you leave in the morning to go work or study with the other 99% of humanity, but when you come home in the evening you're back among others of your kind.

That way, the culture has places to grow and develop to its needs, but in a way that doesn't cut it off from the rest of the world.  This would more quickly bring about a time when having AS is all about the advantages, and when problems do happen, the resources to quickly deal with them are all within reach.

I love the idea of "Aspietown" areas within cities   I'd move to one.

I wonder if some cities already have sort of an Aspietown in the form of arts districts that have grown up over time....they do tend to attract people not in the NT run....which is a good thing.

i live on a relatively busy street near the town centre. people come and go all day. Althought some of me would like to live way alone in some deserted place, most of me likes being near to people, but still distant. I like the idea that if anything happened to me someone would notice. Also the busy atmospher whilst sometimes annoying, keeps me anonamous.

I think that sounds like a good idea, though I'd probably moved to a ADHD town, man wont that be fun! WOO HOOO!

Organize a cooperative housing development for autistic and diversity friendly people.  sounds good.

Actually, (at least for renters) what I meant wasn't buy the property for the sake of absolute control and limit who can live there.  I simply meant rent from a company, like you would anywhere else.  The only thing different is you'd make sure your friends are planning to rent in the same apartment complex, enough to fill every vacancy.  You get to live in close proximity to large numbers of people like you, and the leasing company is able to rent out all their apartments and not worry about vacancies.

You don't even have to mention everyone belonging to the same minority.  They're not going to care anyway.  All they care about is getting the place fully rented.  By the time they realize they've got a predominant minority, they'll also realize (I'd hope, anyway) they've got high-quality tenants who don't trash the place and cause all kinds of problems.

I don't think this sort of practice is anything new.  For instance, I live in a complex that has a large number of middle-eastern tenants.  My guess is the first few who moved in recommened it word-of-mouth to their friends, and the idea caught on.

Also, apparently it's not illegal for a property to target a particular minority group in its advertising for new residents.  I recently saw that in the real-estate section of the local free weekly.

Yeah, sounds like a really excellent idea.

It wouldn't even need to be "all aspie" to work.  Aspies + quirky/accepting NTs + other kinds of disabled people = one heck of an interesting, accepting, thoughtful comunity, partcularly if most of those moving in already know each other.  I can see this being a wonderful place to grow up, being able to learn acceptance early and to experience things many people don't experience until they're all grown up.

I think I've heard about quite large gay communities, weren't there a city? One of the most important values of such communities is said to be acceptance. By the way, I don't think I would mind gays.

I wonder if there is a lower percentage of homophobes amongst pro-acceptance auties.
I certainly wouldn't mind gays, I am bi myself.  

If you read the first poster's entire post, you will see that no-one is advocating total segregation.  The suggestion was that we have a *mostly* aspie neighborhood, so that we would be better able to escape the tiring effects of constant interaction with NTs; during the day, going to work or school or other places, we would interact freely with NTs and it would be easier because we would be able to wind down in a more comfortable environment when we got home.

In cities today there's often the parts where richer people live and there are parts where poorer people live, or to say it a more formal way: Land values vary by area.

I think this should be taken into consideration.

How Bout renting a big house and allowing everyone to have their own room?

I think it then would be important that we don't bother eachother, which is a common problem with blocks of flats.

I'd move to an aspietown given half a chance.  Forming a community around similarities isn't segregation.  Segregation happens when people are ostracized.  Coming together to form a community would be a choice.