Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi All,
I'm newly diagnosed with Autism. One thing that has come up a few times in my thoughts is I can now kind of avoid hugs with people I don't know very well (to be honest that feels like most people I see on a regular basis!)
I used to go along with it if someone initiated it even though I hated it but now I don't think I need to anymore. Does anyone have a way of avoiding hugs causing as little fuss as possible as I've noticed people seem to get offended if you don't want them touching you.
Sorry, I'm sure there's no right answer I'm just looking for tips / how others do it.
Eyes
To be honest shaking hands isn’t really welcome, the hugging thing I find really unacceptable, I had a situation once where someone came up to me from behind at the village pub and put their hands on my shoulders, I ended up having to go home, it ruined an entire evening. I tend to just back off if I see huggers coming, usually an excuse of a bad cold keeps them away. Some people are very touchy feely and don’t realise they are doing it half the time.
I have started to say I have a weakened immune system whenever a stranger offers their hand or tries to hug me, which tbh is not exactly a heinous lie when the NHS put DNRs on us autists during the height of the pandemic.
Roy said:Some people are very touchy feely and don’t realise they are doing it half the time.
That's true, at work sometimes too which is annoying!