AIBU to sleep on the streets in London?

[Glucose95]

Hello all,

I currently live in the Midlands at the moment and am looking for employment support but I am struggling to find any employment services that are helping me here.

I am finding it very hard to find a role in society. I graduated from University a couple of years ago and got good A Level grades (A* in Maths, A I’m History and A in Geography) but I am finding the jobsearch process very difficult due to my neurodiversity.

I have just been told by CareTradeUK (an organisation that was supporting me remotely) that their funding arrangement has changed now and they can only support individuals who are based in London.

This makes me sad as I have no one to support me now in finding employment and am finding it so hard.

A lot of the support is concentrated in London and there is not much here in the midlands.

I was thinking - would it be better if I moved to London and slept outside (ie. On the streets) for a bit so that I could access the job search support that is available in London?

I have a Blue Badge which I can bring with me and medical evidence.

I am finding it very hard to access employment support and I feel as if I don’t have a role in society without a job. My autism is making it very hard for me to find employment though.

What is it like living outside, and would I be able to access more support with jobsearch if I moved to London and slept outside for a bit?

Is this provider’s support to help you find employment actually working for you if you’ve been unemployed for two years with no success at applying for jobs? They don’t sound as though they understand your needs very well or that they’re adequately signposting you or encouraging you to apply for appropriate jobs you have a chance of being successful at. Sleeping on the streets in the hope they’ll suddenly turn things around sounds futile.

What aspects of your condition do you believe are leading you to be unsuccessful with your applications? What sort of roles are you applying for? People with disabilities can be guaranteed an interview if they disclose their disability and meet the essential criteria of the role they’re applying for: might the problem be that you aren’t setting out how you meet essential criteria in your applications? Could a friend or relative support you with that?

I am sorry you are finding job hunting so difficult. Have you considered travelling daily to London in the short term and looking further away from home in other cities for work as well, travelling daily to begin with?

I have nightmares about my son being in the situation you're in and making dangerous decisions because he doesn't know what else to do. Please, please do not move to London and sleep rough.
I don't know if any of these organisations could help you:
https://employmentautism.org.uk/
https://www.evenbreak.co.uk/
https://www.hireautism.org/
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/employment/seeking-work/autistic-adults

Who on earth are the 5% of voters who think it's OK for a woman to make herself intentionally homeless and live on the streets of London?

Having worked in the NHS for over 45 years I thought I was unshockable but obviously not . . . . I had been convinced that this would be one of the rare AIBU's that would have a 100% voters saying as strongly as possible YABU!

Aside from the fact that your idea to become homeless in London is dangerous and pointless, you're thinking about this all in the wrong way.

You don't need a job to be a valuable part of society. Lots of people don't or can't work for various reasons and still contribute in lots of different ways. You can still be a good person even if you haven't found employment yet. Please try and be kinder to yourself.

I understand your desire to find a job, but don't tie it to your worth as a human being.

OP you won't get employment if you're rough sleeping.

You'll be completely broke, smelly and won't have clean clothes.

Please don't do this OP. Would you consider getting back in touch with your university and seeing if they can support you through their careers service? A lot of universities provide support like that nowadays and have lots of contacts through their alumni networks.

I don't think the OP stated their sex?

But either way, I think some people just like to vote the opposite way for the sake of it.

Well done for asking on here first OP.

If you’re ever not sure of something please make a thread and we can try and help you.

Living on the streets is very dangerous and it doesn’t matter whether you are male or female, you will still be at risk of being attacked, robbed, raped and trafficked.

If you are in a building that is reasonably secure then please stay there.

Do you get benefits?

Do you need to work for financial reasons or because you feel like you have to work?

If you receive benefits (which you should do if you have a blue badge) then perhaps look for a volunteer role.

Not only will this give you a purpose in life but it will also help you with looking for paid employment in the future.

This is a really terrible idea, OP. Being street homeless in London is truly grim and very dangerous. Without a fixed abode in London you would also be unlikely to qualify for support from these services.

No. Please don't.

I was homeless in London 11 years ago and I can't begin to tell you how horrific it is.

Don't do that, it's dangerous and will be hard to get out of once in it.

What kind of job are you looking for? Personally, neurodiverse people have many strengths which you need to play to.

Apart from everything that’s been mentioned about safety and how tough it would be, it just wouldn’t help you get a job. Without an address, it will be very difficult to access any sort of support, not even mentioning getting/accepting a job. You can test this approach by start saying that you’re living on the street in London while staying in your current home when approaching organisations for support or a job, as you won’t be able to prove it either way.

If you don't have an address in London you won't be entitled to the support. It's not about where you physically sleep, it's about where your address is.

There's no way you should attempt to live on the streets of London. It's desperately dangerous, even for hardened addicts and people who've lived like that for many years.
There must be other ways of accessing employment support. Are you claiming all relevant benefits, can you apply for PIP, ESA? You can still work on the former and part time on the latter. And you could get housing benefit?
Please please don't go down to London to sleep rough.

Do not do this. London councils will not house you as you have no local comnnection.

Do not even consider doing this. You'll be so vulnerable & likely come to harm.
You won't be in a better position to find a job anyway as you won't be officially living in London as you would need a registered London address for that.
Search for other organisations in your local area who can help with your job search or perhaps contact your nearest Job Center and explain your issue. They'll possibly have some organisations they can recommend.

That's really sound advice

I suspect the local council would rule you as ineligible for any support so even though you could do it, I think it wouldn’t work for your goal of getting job support.

You could join the student encampment at UCL in London with a tent and protest the war while also job hunting in London. You’d give your midlands address when applying but say you’d move down permanently if a job were offered.

You could just stay in education? Look for a masters program?

I really wouldn’t sleep on London streets, or any streets. You are putting yourself at risk in all sorts of ways.

The streets of London aren’t paved with gold.🤷‍♀️

Please do not make yourself homeless OP, it is dangerous and will not help (in fact it would hamper) with your job search.

Have you considered the tech/IT industry? Retraining to learn to code would not be difficult for someone who managed to achieve an A* in A-level Maths, and software engineering offers plenty of remote working options. Tech companies tend to have relatively high proportions of neurodiversity in their workforce so are more likely than other industries to be willing and able to make accommodations for ND needs.

OP, the National Autistic Society has a free module you can take with tips on how to find employment as an autistic person.
https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/autism-training-and-best-practice/training/e-learning

I don’t know if any good.

Perhaps another employment assistance service near you is still operating? BASE has a map
https://www.base-uk.org/find-member-organisation

I'm autistic and I did do this, for a while, when I was young. It's that feeling of "Well, technically I could do ANYTHING!", without the checks that typical socialisation provides. I have no horror stories as such- but what happened was that I got taken under peoples' wing- older men, they were protective enough, but they also lived a miserable life with very limited horizons, and all had big alcohol problems. It had the appeal of novelty, but in the end it's a sad, sparse, grim life and will send you off down the wrong path. Maybe address the core belief that you don't matter without work. Perhaps volunteering in an area of interest could give you some sense of meaning and control?

Sorry I struggle to understand this and I'm wondering if it's a wind-up to make a point about lack of support.

If you can't cope with autism and a home, what makes you think you'd be able to cope with autism and homelessness?

Surely the unpredictability and overstimulation would be hell for your autism? Whatever benefits in job support you'd have would be cancelled out by the daily stress, fear, discomfort and inconveniences from being homeless.

Also FYI flashing a Blue Badge and medical evidence at people kicking you out of the way or drunks or perverts is not going to work.

I'm sorry I can't provide a better idea though (except looking for other support which I'm sure you have done).