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Griffles
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13 Oct 2012, 11:56 am

Hi there, I'm Griff and I suffer from dyspraxia, and my partner was diagnosed with autism about a month ago. We've been together for close to five years now, living together for two. We have a fairly strong and close relationship but there is a slight issue we have been having that I would like some help with.

Surprisingly he is very good with communicating what he feels and why, even if he may not fully understand it. It's me who struggles, and it's me who is looking for some help here as to how best I can convey them to him. My issue is that I tend not to tell him, for fear of annoying him or not knowing if he is interested.
Can anyone help? I'm not that good at communicating in person how I feel and why, I never bring it up and I want to be able to do so. Has anyone got any tips for how I can clearly communicate with him these things?



glasstoria
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13 Oct 2012, 12:35 pm

I am also bad at communicating these things in person. I don't want to bother someone.

What I personally really like (and this sounds silly but bear with me) are those little magnet sets that have happy/sad/smart/cheeriful/silly faces on them, and then a little magnetic frame that usually says something like "Today I feel:" and you just take the frame and place it over whatever little emotive face matches your mood of the day or moment.

I know it sounds silly and possibly childish, but I say-whatever works!
It is better than keeping it inside until it becomes a problem. (I have a set of the magnets that is the smurfs with their different moods and it is sort of cute and funny)

I that doesn't appeal to you, maybe you could make notecards of various moods and feelings and pin one to the fridge each day or use it as a conversation starter with your partner (ie, "So today I feel angry because I was taking the trash out and the bag got a hole in it and leaked trash on the hallway and I had to clean it up and it made me late" or something like that).

Just my two cents. Hope it helps.


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Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 48 of 200
EQ 12 SQ 70 = Extreme Systemizer


poopylungstuffing
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16 Oct 2012, 2:30 am

Have been in a relationship for 2 years with virtually no communication about the relationship ..it has caused me depression and has hurt my self esteem to no end, but if I try to break up with him he freaks out. My sense is that he does not love me, but does not want to be alone, and does not want to break up because he is afraid of not being able to find someone else...no matter that he does not love me. I care about him and don't want to traumatize him but it is really hard on me at times. He can't say the Last word, he can barely stand to kiss me and we are not very intimate. We share a cat. We both play the ukulele. We are both on the spectrum. He will not share feelings about anything..and I feel no comfort in trying because I know how uncomfortable he is with it. I feel very stupid sometimes in front of him. He is very much into computers and world of warcraft. .he makes me kinda feel like an unattractive dumb little nobody ....I am some manner of cold comfort place holder because he can't be with the one he really loves. ...yes he has admitted to being hung up on a girl he can't be with.. ..it is difficult and I don't know how to make it better ..it is a bleak feeling. I do care about him.. but he has zero notion of the importance of communication in relationships ..he has lost the loves of his life over it, but is unwilling to overcome his extreme reluctance so I have to overcome the sadness that it gives me somehow :cry:



LoriB
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18 Oct 2012, 11:44 am

If it is communicating your feelings of love and caring for him you could send random text, leave cards in places he will find through out the day etc. For more complicated feelings how about email. Although let me tell you from experience if you expect feedback on the email you might want to say "please read, consider and respond" They don't always get that it is a conversation not just a statement. This gives you the chance to really think out what you want to say as well. I am NT and my BF is AS but I only discovered that recently. I just never could "read" his expressions when I told him things and it made me uncomfortable. After I did the emailing for a while I learned how to communicate with him verbally. If I am upset about something I think about why I am really upset. Then I say.. "I need to say this so I can move past it and not dwell on it. When you did "xyz" it made me feel "however it made me feel" I was hoping you would "what ever I expected" but I understand I didn't tell you that and you can't read my mind" Usually when we get mad at our partners it is because they didn't do something we thought they should do but they were not even thinking about it so didn't have a clue.



poopylungstuffing
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30 Oct 2012, 1:58 pm

I am aware that my perception on this matter is wrong and stupid and that I am doing him a grave disservice by expressing anything about it. Unfortunately I can no longer edit/delete my post. I am bad and am guilty of having circular thought pattern that is completely off base...there is no logic in this thinking and I apologize for saying these things that I say....he does the very best that he can by me despite my downfalls. He should not be obligated to do anything that makes him uncomfortable. I have a flawed and illogical mindset.



LoriB
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30 Oct 2012, 2:06 pm

There is nothing wrong or illogical in your thinking. Just like people who are NT have different wants, needs and desires I would assume it is the same in the AS world. There is nothing wrong in wanting to be told you are loved and reassured that it is love keeping him with you and not a matter of just wanting to be alone. There is nothing wrong in asking him to step out of his comfort zone from time to time to reassure you of his feelings for you. You may not be able to expect that on a daily basis but we all need reassurance from time to time