Autism & Love - Research Project

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Hi WrongPlanet members!

**Please know that I have spoken with Alex Plank on the phone regarding this project and he's approved of my message.**

My name is Carolina Groppa. I am a filmmaker, and personal assistant to Dr. Ira Heilveil. I’m spearheading a research project with him about romantic love on the autistic spectrum.

Putting aside philosophical debates about the nature of love, it is clear to those whose lives have been touched by someone with autism that people with autism do love. We’d like to find out how the process of loving another person, especially someone outside of one's family, may be similar or different from someone we call "neurotypical.”

Dr. Heilveil has spent over two decades of his life working with people with autism, and with people who work with people with autism and one of the many aspects of his work that intrigued him is the concept of love, and how it manifests in the group of people who have been labeled as having autism.

If you or someone you know are in the LOS ANGELES area and willing to speak about your experience with love on camera, please contact me at 323.306.4980 or email me at autisminlove [@] gmail . com

Thanks,
Carolina

Do you want a short answer? I can give you a short answer. I can also give you a long, complicated answer that you won't listen to because it will, I assure you, be a giant wall of text.

So I'll start with the short answer:

Yes, people with autism can love. How do you think 1% of newborns have autism if their parents, who MUST be at least SLIGHTLY on the spectrum or at LEAST carry a GENE can't reproduce? Especially given that we're asocial creatures who often don't like being touched? What are the implications there?