I'm kind of shocked when my AS husband went to visit his brothers and sisters a few weeks ago and he tried to apologize to them for his general social awkwardness and bluntness, and tried to explain to them about AS.
They all looked at him and treated him like he was trying to get sympathy, which is funny because he was simply stating the fact that he likely had AS and apologized if he had ever offended anyone. He often says things that some might consider socially inappropriate, but his honesty, which I love about him, can be blunt and hurtful and/or inappropriate. The more he tried to explain what AS was, the more they just treated him like he was a jerk looking for an excuse.
What's even worse is that his sister's daughter, after years of "behavioural issues" was diagnosed AS. It was completely coincidental that he was sharing his AS story while they were telling him she had AS. They share similar "symptoms." You'd think they would understand more but it somehow made everyone believe him less???
From my perspective, I have such a hard time finding emotional support from outside sources because they don't see it with the AS perspective. They also think he's just a jerk looking for an excuse. So, I feel alone in that sense.
Truth is, my husband and I both hate labels. We don't think all of the information on AS applies to him, but it has certainly helped both him and me understand himself better, and has helped us work on our relationship. But it really makes me feel lonely when I can't talk to other people about it without them comparing my husband to a child or a cold jerk looking for an excuse.
My husband is a good man, with good intentions. He's honest, trustworthy, punctual. He's everything everyone says they want in a model citizen but they dislike him when they meet him. It's a world of contradictions.
Anyone have this experience?
05 Jun 2015, 2:28 am
