Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Dating With Autism

The Globe and Mail had an interesting article about the challenges of dating when someone is on the autism spectrum.

After all, dating relies a lot on snap-judgments based on non-verbal cues, social expectations and casual verbal flow.  None of which are easy for people with autism.

It's one of the things I worry about for my boys.  When they find a person who makes their heart sing, will they be able to express themselves appropriately and effectively?  After all, there are many people with autism who would like to have a romantic attachment but find the actual dating selection process unfathomable.  Not to mention negotiating through the tricky terrain of day-to-day relationship management.

There are some places which try to help adults with autism learn relationship language.  They approach it like any other language or culture.  Although aware they may speak the language of love with a strange accent, they're speaking it nonetheless.

Hopefully more resources like this will be available when the boys start to become interested in romance.

Because having to have your romantic relationship explained by your mom is one of those unwritten social no-nos.

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