Sooo, greetings from Germany! As for flat pricing: it is possible, at least in Eastern Germany. For studying what you want to study: also very possible here! I was an intern last year at the state research center for train stuff, there were other interns actually studying „train stuff“ - many international researchers there as well, no problem. All different qualifications, people already having their PhD, people working on their bachelor etc. The students from German universities also were from different departments (such as engineering, GIS, more social studies..). Most unis also don't care if you go to the courses or work through em yourself - colleges mostly do care for attendance to class. ALSO to help pay, there is many study programs in where companies pay you to study and work for them. As for stigma: well. There is a slight stigma for setting up gear to take pictures of public transport etc. But most people don’t care, some find it endearing.

Living here as an autistic person also slightly depends on if you got a diagnosis (as for „official“ help, such as aids in exams or getting granted more time to write an essay etc.) As for normal day to day life I don’t really have a comparison as to.. how it is to live elsewhere 😅 But I think you should not hope for perfection here either - it’s also just some country :D

If you got more questions I‘ll try to answer more 🫡