Now That I Am An Adult, Isn't It My Right To Stay Home Alone As Much As I Want?

Oct. 23, 2008 -- Question: Now that I am an adult, isn't it my right to stay home alone as much as I want?

Answer: Well that depends on the situation. If you're still living with your family or your parents and they are helping to support you, it's important to sit down and negotiate and come up with an agreement with them about how much you stay home. If you are financially independent and completely on your own, that is a choice that you may make all by yourself. However, I've found that adults with autism or asperger's disorder or some other diagnosis on the spectrum actually do better when they have regular social supports. So it is important to at least weekly or couple of times a month get together with people with whom you trust that are fun to hang out with because it helps to alleviate depression and anxiety.

Also it's important to get out because the more comfortable you are around people the more success you might have on the job and navigating within the community.