Is love one of the most discussed topics in film, literature, painting, sculpture?In short, you could say that it has a small space in all the forms of expression that we know, however, the particularities of this feeling and relationships have rarely been analyzed in minority groups of society, so, following the path of the series that recently debuted on Netflix, we will now talk about love on the autism spectrum.
In the drawer of autism spectrum disorders are grouped a series of disorders that are characterized by affecting the communication and behavior of the person.
- Thanks to the diagnostic methods we have today.
- These types of disorders are usually detected at a very young age.
- So the intervention begins earlier and the results are better.
- On the other hand.
- The fact that they already show their presence in childhood leads us to consider them as developmental disorders.
Going back to fiction, one of the most iconic characters on this spectrum is perhaps Sheldon Cooper, in almost every episode of the series we see the difficulties this character has in socializing, we see how your friends sometimes have to make a considerable effort to adapt to their particular way of expressing what they think or feel. This can be a good starting point for trying to anticipate some of the details that love on the autism spectrum will reveal.
The first myth that the program destroys, and in which it places special emphasis, is that people with autism spectrum disorder want to have sex. They can enjoy solitary activities a lot, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel like sharing and falling in love, that is, sharing their life with someone or building intimacy.
This may be the first barrier to cross, that others may be able to recognize this aspiration, that is, in the way he understands affectivity, love integrates, so, throughout the series, we can know the story of two couples who have already taken the step of settling together, a path that, as they say, was not easy at all
However, what is most prevalent in the series is the expectation of several people with ASD about the possibility of a first date, in them we can see a nervousness that we know and insecurities that are also familiar to us, because they are not very different. We can also be spectators of how this encounter unfolds and the difficulties they face.
At certain points in the documentary series Love Not Wraith, you can see sessions in which children with this disorder prepare for these encounters.
The first thing to work on is compliance, it explains this way of receiving the other that we all somehow have internalized, getting up to receive the other or maintaining eye contact during the first exchanges are points that also affect the rest of the encounters.
Another skill they usually work on is how to keep the conversation alive. To do this, they are encouraged to create a small list of topics and questions they would like to ask themselves.
It is then proposed that they move to a higher level, so that the conversation goes from interrogation to a more real conversation in which the other is less likely to feel intimidated, in this way a variation of the answers develops from a single response. questions or questions arising from an unplanned answer.
In any case, the experts try to make them understand the encounter and conversation as flexible, flexibility that they also repeat so as not to be too direct or to ask personal questions that are on a level of intimacy that they have not yet reached. We see that this is a particularly difficult point for them.
In the face of this, the experts convey an idea that they would certainly have conveyed to us all at our first meeting: we can learn to have interesting conversations, so it is so important that people with autism spectrum disorders interact with people. who don’t share their interests, strangers with which they will have to find common ground.
The series itself is worth it. The fact that there is already such a courageous project is worth taking a few minutes, in addition, as strengths, we can highlight its sincerity: it shows us that it is possible that these people have a relationship, but that it is also a difficult goal. Get.
In fact, what we found is that most meetings don’t work. This allows us to witness the emotional impact they have suffered, but also how new opportunities are recovered and end up being given.