#ActuallyAutistic#AskingAutistics – what is YOUR experience of love like? How do YOU express your love and affection for those you care about?
Autistic People may struggle to express our love (and many other emotions) in ways non-autistics expect us to.
This fall, I wrote a piece titled Can Autistic People Love? Thoughts on Love, Autism, NeuroDivergence, Passion, and Life where I busted one of the top questions about Autistic People in Google: “Can Autistic People love?”
Believe it or not, because of the way Autistic People experience and express love, this myth is quite common (and the misconceptions about Autistic love are great).
I’ve even met Autistic People who were refused access to an Autism diagnosis in adulthood because the person assessing them was convinced that “being married” or having a “healthy relationship” was impossible for an Autistic Person.
These myths and stereotypes about Autism (like we are incapable of love) dehumanize us, causing others to view us as cold, uncaring monsters when the truth is anything but.
Autistic love is DIFFERENT, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
Today, I will discuss some of these differences in Autistic love in more detail.
Autistic Emotional Differences
The Autistic People in your life are just as capable of feeling love as non-autistic people are, though we may struggle to express our love (and many other emotions) in ways non-autistics expect us to.
Autistic People tend to live in the extreme ends of things, where we often experience our world and emotions differently than those around us.
The same is true for Autistic love.
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It would mean a lot to me,
– Lyric
Rather than relaying my own experiences here (uuuugh), I will say … thank you for posting this. I feel seen.
I don’t really do friendship, but I would die and die again for my siblings.