Published on 12, July, 2020
I appreciate I am posting under the 'Parents and carers' category. I am neither, however, I am married to an aspie and I just need some help.
I would be very grateful if someone could point me in the direction of all the other frazzled husbands/wives?
I've been married a year and a half, we moved in together when we got married (not due to tradition, but due to commitments that prevented our co-habiting sooner).
A couple of WEEKS after moving in I asked myself: 'who is this selfish, uncaring, unsympathetic, I'm-always-right, rude, arrogant man, and where the HELL is my husband??'
A confusing, emotional and unbearable year passed (no, there was no 'honeymoon period' for us), and we finally have the answer (I'll give you a hint, it starts with 'A' and rhymes with blasperger's)
Since then I've read books and really brushed up on my knowledge of the big 'A'. I'm still mourning the life I expected to live when I got married. It's very, very sad. I now have a completely different view of the man I married and it breaks my heart. He's someone else entirely now. But things are getting better. The last 6 months have been amazing. It's so hard trying to forget everything I know about communication and starting again, and even harder to view things from his perspective, but I'm getting there.
Tonight, however, is a turning point. I need help. It's the first night I'm not sleeping in the same bed as him. Because of his sensory issues, I've not been able to read a book or peruse my laptop before bed in all the time we've been married. He point blank refuses to wear an eye-mask and ear-buds because they irritate him too much. I haven't slept well recently so now I have to sleep in a different room until I sort it out.
Ugh, please I just need help to cope with this. I'm 25 and sleeping in a single bed. This isn't RIGHT!!!
Honestly, the best thing for you to do, is understand your husband better, that means learning about the condition and communicating to each other, as the traits he will have will not be personal, you are taking the situation emotionally.
The mutual space thing, is too understand what is the difference between a NT and what is an Aspergers Trait. Sleeping in different beds maybe an actual answer. But can you live with it,, your husbands traits must have been noticed, something attracted you to him. Was he mistaken of a strong silence type, I don't know ? How long did you know him before the year and a half.
If you are just looking for some sort of sympathic reflection, find an Aspergers carers group and drink tea and eat biscuits and talk about your husband. Your are obviously not coping with the marriage adaption like your husband is probably not too. You knew he was an aspie as you married him,, so your post is full of contradictions. You can't have your cake and eat it. i.e Normal marriage and complain of not normal marriage.
You are right, there is not enough Aspergers support out there nor carers groups for emotional support for families/wifes etc.
The NAS has good lip-service about Aspergers but you will not find any real life support from the NAS service.