Comments on: Heartbreaking

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:15:51 +0000

“I wonder if it might ba a good idea to set our loved ones upon dates. Perhaps with arranged outings with people who have some knowledge of autistics, our family members will be encouraged to experience adult relationships with caring people.”

Blind dates are one thing and can be cool, but arranged relationships have a pretty bad track record (unless one counts staying with an unloving spouse for the sake of tradition as “success”), autism or no autism. So if your son or daughter’s date doesn’t want to continue the relationship, don’t pressure her or him to do so and remember that no means no.

By: Mama's autistic baby

Mama's autistic baby — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 07:40:50 +0000

I wonder if it might ba a good idea to set our loved ones upon dates. Perhaps with arranged outings with people who have some knowledge of autistics, our family members will be encouraged to experience adult relationships with caring people.

By: Alesia Starke

Alesia Starke — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:42:07 +0000

I have a 29 year-old brother, who is a high-functioning autistic. He is unable to work or drive and lives with my father. He is socialized in the community and is in social situations frequently. He feels that he is “missing” something in his life and that something is a mate. He craves a relationship so badly it is becoming somewhat of a problem. Of course, he has never had a girlfriend but sees everyone else with a mate and thinks he should have one too.

By: Mama's autistic baby

Mama's autistic baby — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 15:29:02 +0000

I’m looking for firsthand information about Autistic adults in relationships. Or people in love with or in relationships with autistic adults. I’m just curious about what life will be like for my child, and how I can help make things a little easier for him. He’s 13 years old and starting to notice girls.

By: Autism Vox » The [autistic] Child is father of the [autistic] Man

Autism Vox » The [autistic] Child is father of the [autistic] Man — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 05:18:37 +0000

[...] And, as I have tried to write on Autismland, Charlie’s life is an example of how you can never, ever, give up. You never know at what age a child—an adult—may say that first word, be able to read five sight words, ride a bike, fall in love, or tie his shoes. You never can know and you can never stop trying and hoping. [...]

By: Autism Vox » Heartbreaking Redux

Autism Vox » Heartbreaking Redux — Wed, 31 May 2006 02:20:52 +0000

[...] Below are excerpts from Love Complicates Life Even for the Autistic, an article by ABC correspondent Jon Donvan about Paul DeSavino, the 36-year-old autistic man featurd in Echoes of Autism: Paul in Love: [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 30 May 2006 20:12:12 +0000

Indeed yes—imagine if the situation were reversed!

By: Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 30 May 2006 18:03:21 +0000

What I find appalling is this idea that autism professionals can somehow read our minds and know what we can and cannot feel.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:31:25 +0000

And the ABC Nightline site bills the show as “exploring autism and love”—-makes me think of “exploring animal wildlife”…..

By: Aspie Dad

Aspie Dad — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:22:54 +0000

Wow, that is really grating, isn’t it? The implication is that we’re completely deviod of feeling. Quite the little ‘pill’ to drop in the mix for anxious parents who are in distress already. ‘My autistic child can’t even love me!’

Bah. I’m sure it sells papers and tv programs, this sensationalism. Too much in the vein of autistics as unfeeling, non-human animals who are better off dead. “They don’t really feel things the way we do, so they don’t mind brain probes that keep them docile…”