I, Robot

Q: I have a 12 year old Aspie son who tells me he really doesn't feel much in the way of missing people when they are gone for a while. Does this ever go away?

When children pick on him in school he calls them ignorant and then tells me he doesn't feel upset when they tease him. Is this possible? Are all aspies disconnected from their feelings?

He has the ability to be very affectionate to me (his mom) rarely to anyone else. For me this  is very difficult to understand can you explain?

Thanks,

Lia

A: Hi Lia,
I think it's not that Aspies are disconnected from their feelings so
much as they don't have the same emotional reactions to things as NTs.
I've never really missed people very much either.  I love my parents
and enjoy spending time with them, but I can talk to them on the phone,
so the fact that we aren't living in the same state anymore doesn't
seem particularly important.  And I think that while being teased does
wear at you eventually, being able to see through it to the bullies'
insecurities and ignorance and not be bothered as much by it is a
really wonderful advantage. It's not that we're bottling anything up,
it's just that we don't have as strong a response as some people have.
We also may have different ways of expressing emotions.  For example,
if we like spending time with someone, we might express that by
spending more time with them, and not realize that they need to be
actually told that we enjoy spending time with them.  But in general, I
think that Aspies are just as in touch with their emotions as anyone
else.

Wiley