What's better for a high-functioning adult child on the spectrum? Living in a small or big city?

[Anonymous]

One reason my DD wants to stay in this area (DCish Urban MoCo) is the great public transportation and other amenities. Plus there’s a larger pool of people to find shared interests among in a large city with universities, museums, a good food scene, multiple professional sports teams, and great outdoor spaces.

[Anonymous]

I’d stay close to public transit and also to lots of training and education opportunities (community college, vocational training, etc) as well as more support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to decide if I should change our living situation. I won't go into detail but will limit myself to the question: In general, would you say a high-functioning young adult child on the autism spectrum living with a parent would do better in a small town or a big city? I think a big city, where we live now, is better because of job and educational opportunities, treatment resources, transportation options, etc. Having grown up in a small town I could see that being lower-stress and slower-paced in a few ways ways, but limiting and more stressful in terms of lack of opportunities and resources. Thank you for your opinion.

? People on the spectrum aren't a homogeneous group. How would we know?

[Anonymous]

My child seems to enjoy spending time with other people with autism. I would say if we were choosing a suburb, we would try one with a university, especially a STEM one. Maybe some place like Austin which I guess technically is a city but it's not exactly NYC. That's just my child though.

[Anonymous]

I think the suburbs of DC is ideal, TBH. Lots of quality therapists and medical care, great hospitals (esp. Suburban), quiet safe streets, but close enough to a big city that unusual behavior or appearance does not raise eyebrows or cause any alarm. Good public transportation, services like library, pool. Mine like to walk to stores like CVS or Giant everyday, so that's a plus.

Cities are too loud and anxiety-producing for him, and he would be too dependent on me in a small town or rural area.