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I need Asperger's advice?

My boyfriend, Ted, has Asperger's Syndrome and I need advice on how to understand him better. I am 30 years old and Ted is 29 years old. We both grew up in the same church so we have known each other all of our lives. We first began dating in August of 2008 when our church held a girl ask guy dance. I had the strong impression that I needed to ask Ted to the dance. I followed the impression and asked and he agreed. We had an AMAZING time at the dance and agreed to go out some more. We dated for 3 months before he broke up with me.

I have to agree that I pushed WAYYYY to hard and fast for him in those 3 months. I grabbed and held his hand an kept telling him that I loved him. When I did those things Ted would become stiff and distant but I continued to push him. When he broke up with me I realized that I had forgot all about his different needs and how he had to have a different pace then normal relationships.

Ted basically ignored me for the next 13 long months. All that time I continued to have strong impressions that I was suppose to marry him. I had missed not being around him and not going out anymore. In December of 2009, Ted began to make tiny steps to come back to me. He began sitting next to me in church and talking to me again. Although he still hasn't held my hand or kissed me yet, I think our relationship is going good.

I understand that Ted needs a relationship to go at a much different pace then normal relationships. I am willing to wait for him to make all of the moves and set the pace but I don't know if I should make any moves too. Like I said, we have been back together since Christmas and the relationship hasn't progressed very far. It took 6 months for him to ask me out again.

Can anyone give me ideas on what I can do to help and understand Ted? Can I make the move to hold his hand? Can I make the move to share a hymnbook at church with him? Can I ask him out since he has asked me out already? Or do you think I should wait for him to do all of those things so I don't scare him off? I don't want to ruin our relationship like I did the first time but I also want to make sure our relationship doesn't stall. Any and all help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

ALSO, Are there any books or websites that I can look at that helps me with dating someone with Asperger's Syndrome?

2 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Aspies tend to be "black and white, right and wrong." There is not much room for gray areas. You will have to come to him on his level. I would recommend the book "Loving Mr. Spock"

    Asperger's can not be cured, it is a genetic condition that can be worked on and mitigated, but can not be cured. Each person has it differently and reacts to the world differently, but here is some basics.

    Asperger's syndrome is, in it's most basic form, Autism. Autism is broken into two types, Kanner's and Asperger's, with the break at the 70 IQ level. If your IQ is 70 or below you have Kanner's Autism, if your IQ is 71 or above, you have Asperger's autism. (it is a little more complicated than that in it's break up, but for a beginner this is good)

    The easiest way to describe Asperger's syndrome to someone who has never heard of it is to describe it as a Social Autism. The person who has Asperger's grew up not learning the social cues around him/her. The person does not, usually, understand subtle social cues that the normal person takes for granted. Things such as sarcasm, and body language that change the meaning of a statement, are not understood by the asperger person, and taken literally.

    Asperger syndrome is also called "the little professor syndrome"

    The Asperger type is usually very literal in what is stated, and what is understood. The normal person usually sees the asperger person as being emotion-less, though this is not true. Emotions are just kept very deep inside and not brought to the surface. The aspie also does not know what to do with another person who is experiencing emotions, and needs to be told what to in these instances. Phrases like "I need you to hold me now" are very helpful" in a relationship, for the normal (NT) person to say to the aspie.

    Aspies tend to like routines. Change is very difficult, and they will be slow to accept it.

    Aspies will appear to lack empathy. As stated above, this is not due to lack of empathy, but a lack of knowledge of how to show it.

    Aspies tend to have more of a formal use of words than the NT wold or have a formal style of speaking that is advanced for his or her age. For example, the aspie may use the word "beckon" instead of "call" or the word "return" instead of "come back."

    ASPIES TEND TO AVOID EYE CONTACT. This is not due to lying or being self conscious. The eyes are very difficult to look at, and cause mental anguish and pain in many aspies. They are unable to think of what they want to say, and look another in the eyes at the same time.

    Aspies may have unusual facial expressions or body postures. They may be more formal in the way they stand, or just look out of place. Their facial features may not express the emotions that they are experiencing. They may not frown when they are sad, smile when happy, etc...

    Many Aspies are pre-occupied with one or a few subjects of interest and learn everything there is to know about those subjects to the exclusion of all others. They may not want to discuss anything other than those subjects with anyone. When brought into a conversation, they will immediately take the conversation to their chosen subject of interest, and then talk about it non-stop. They will not notice that nobody else wants to discuss that subject.

    Aspies tend to have heightened sensitivity and become overstimulated by loud noises, lights, or strong tastes or textures. They may only eat certain things, or order foods certain ways. They may not be able to work in rooms with florescent lighting due to the buzz or the flicker, even when nobody else notices. Many different things, for many different people.

    Source(s): Aspie x42 years.
  • EVEI
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Well, you can causally hold his hand and see what happens from there. But don't be too pushy, he is taking his time. Don't rush him.

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