OUT OF MY DEPTH

I have just been hit by the biggest curve ball ever!

I knew my husband was different from the day I met him, at first I thought he was "slow" but he showed huge intelligence in other areas of his life.  I now know that he displayed classic symptoms of Aspergers ie, no eye contact, limited to no emotion, and seperating himself in social situations.

Roll on 25 years and one child later....this man has driven me to distraction but I have learned to adapt to my own detriment and my self esteem being at a all time low. I made allowances for him as he had a shitty upbringing and I thought this was why he behaved the way he did.

This is what happened and how I stepped into the world of Aspergers.  Last weekend he took it upon himself to dust, and hoover the bedroom (it had only just been done) and to wash the en-suite bathroom floor.  When he had finished he came downstairs and started to read the paper however he had pulled everything out and left stuff all over the place.  I asked him what he was going to do with it as I didn't want him to throw any of my stuff out but he ignored me, so I asked him again, again he ignored me, I asked a total of 5 times but it was like he couldn't hear me and could only focus on the job in hand. I confronted him when he came downstairs as to why he wouldn't listen to me, he used every avoidance answer in the book and again no eye contact, this quickly escalated into another row (I use this term loosley as Its me that shouts and he just sits there in a world of his own).  There was something about this incident that didn't quite sit right with me as  the evening before I was telling him something that happened at work he made no comment and was looking everywhere but at me, I ended the conversation abruptly mid sentance and he said is that it and walked away.

Later that day I googled what could be wrong with him, OMG OMG OMG why had I not seen this? why had I never questioned his behaviour before?

I feel like I have been living a lie for the last 25 years.

I have reached out to my children and their response has been "well he was always different" to "you knew he was odd so this has confirmed it", "nothing has changed just that you now have the information to deal with it".

My husband has given me a good life, hes a hard worker, but it's been like living with a naughty brother. I have no intention of abandoning him or ending the marraige but I am out of my depth and on the brink over being overwhelmed.

I don't know what to do next, I am now hyper vigilant and when he does something he has done a hundred times before I am like "how did I miss that" but in the same token I want to scream at him to stop fxxxing doing it.

He once told me that there was something wrong with him as a kid and had to go to a special school...did he know? I have so many questions but I don't know how to talk to him.

Help me!

Parents
  • Hi NAS61710, I’m probably a similar age to your husband, and an only child to a dad who’s almost certainly Asperger, and I’m waiting to have my own diagnosis confirmed.

    Football monologues ring true of Asperger - with my dad it’s cars. So I feel your pain. Also as Plastic said, high emotion & lots of words can easily trigger withdrawal.

    There are many here who can relate to your husband’s experience and help you understand how to get the best from him, and quite a few in your own position who will have heaps of sympathy. You’ve come to the right place, ask and keep asking!

    I’m wondering if the long holiday allowed your husband time to reflect on life, and that’s brought up some tough issues to deal with? Mid life is no picnic and takes many people a lot of work to adjust to. So it could be as “simple” as that. Many people with Asperger also struggle to understand and describe their own feelings (alexithymia) which doesn’t help as the mid life readjustment is a lot about feelings.

    Keep talking to us.

Reply
  • Hi NAS61710, I’m probably a similar age to your husband, and an only child to a dad who’s almost certainly Asperger, and I’m waiting to have my own diagnosis confirmed.

    Football monologues ring true of Asperger - with my dad it’s cars. So I feel your pain. Also as Plastic said, high emotion & lots of words can easily trigger withdrawal.

    There are many here who can relate to your husband’s experience and help you understand how to get the best from him, and quite a few in your own position who will have heaps of sympathy. You’ve come to the right place, ask and keep asking!

    I’m wondering if the long holiday allowed your husband time to reflect on life, and that’s brought up some tough issues to deal with? Mid life is no picnic and takes many people a lot of work to adjust to. So it could be as “simple” as that. Many people with Asperger also struggle to understand and describe their own feelings (alexithymia) which doesn’t help as the mid life readjustment is a lot about feelings.

    Keep talking to us.

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