{"id":12033,"date":"2016-12-15T11:18:22","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T11:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/?p=12033"},"modified":"2023-01-04T12:06:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T12:06:13","slug":"does-your-spouse-display-signs-of-autism-spectrum-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/therapy\/does-your-spouse-display-signs-of-autism-spectrum-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Your Spouse Display Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12035 size-full\" title=\"Does Your Spouse display signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder?\" src=\"http:\/\/image.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/158-2.jpg\" alt=\"Does Your Spouse display signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder?\" width=\"804\" height=\"350\">It is well known that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. What this means is that 1 out of every 68 children display symptoms of autism to some degree ranging from full blown autism to other milder forms. Everyone knows someone who&rsquo;s child is on the spectrum. In fact, if you have a child on the spectrum there is a very good chance you or your spouse also fall somewhere on that vast spectrum. &nbsp;Many come to this realization after a child is diagnosed. Often, marriages suffer difficulties because of the issues that can arise in a relationship where one partner has a social\/communicative disorder such as ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>ASD marriage difficulties <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there are many ASD marriages that work well, some signs of ASD marriage difficulties include the non-ASD partner feeling:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Distress<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Resentment<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confusion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anger <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/mental-health\/\">high levels of anxiety <\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may be due to frustrations with the ASD partner that may be difficult to explain to those on the outside. &nbsp;In turn, the ASD partner may display symptoms such as extreme literal thinking, blatant social mistakes, withdrawal, anger, frustration, improper use of non-verbal communication including body language, finding and keeping a job, inability to handle criticism, seemingly cold or emotionally muted but also capable of displaying great love and loyalty that confuses the non-ASD partner due to such conflicting messages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Couples therapy is always a good option <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for partners who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/relationship\/types-of-marriage-struggles\/\">struggling in their marriage<\/a>. In cases such as an ASD marriage it is extremely important to find a professional who is acutely aware of the highly complex difficulties these types of marriages encounter. &nbsp;As a trained therapist I am a big believer in therapy and its effectiveness. &nbsp;However, when it comes to ASD the traditional avenues of therapy are ineffective as they are emotionally focused and the biggest issues are best dealt with by teaching social skills and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/communication\/how-can-couples-learn-the-exquisite-skill-of-communication\/\">communication skills to both partners<\/a> in a logical manner. A marriage&rsquo;s complexity is often overwhelming to someone with ASD. Likewise, a knowledgeable professional is difficult to find due to a lack of understanding and training in the therapeutic community. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>A life coach specializing in ASD can help fill in the gap <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He\/She can help in understanding where therapists are frequently lacking. &nbsp;We work on the specific difficulties in the marriage caused by ASD and take two people who have often grown far apart from one another emotionally and find a middle ground where both partners can feel heard, understood and content in their relationship. It is important to stress that we do not &ldquo;cure&rdquo; ASD. &nbsp;ASD is a different way of thinking. &nbsp;All a successful ASD marriage requires is two people who can understand each other&rsquo;s perspective and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/quizzes\/do-you-know-how-to-compromise-in-your-relationship\">learn to compromise<\/a> on issues once they are truly explored and understood. I find the majority of couples are willing to compromise when they fully understand the other&rsquo;s perspective. Compromise is not sacrifice; it is instead an agreement to keep both partners happy. &nbsp;This is true for all marriages. It just takes a different path to get to that point of contentment when one partner falls on the Autism Spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is well known that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. What this means is that 1 out of every 68 children display symptoms of autism to some degree ranging from full blown autism to other milder forms. Everyone knows someone who&rsquo;s child is on the spectrum. In fact, if you have a child on the spectrum there is a very good chance you or your spouse also fall somewhere on that vast spectrum. &nbsp;Many come to this realization after a child is diagnosed. Often, marriages suffer difficulties because of the issues that can arise in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":12035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[2646],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12033"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12033"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60950,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12033\/revisions\/60950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}