Loneliness

 ~ Clearly Muddled Blog ~

Being alone and being lonely are not the same thing. Because one of the common characteristics of autism is having difficulty with social interaction, and because I see that Josh enjoys his alone time so much, I never really thought of him as being lonely.

Josh and I were talking recently, and he said that about once a month he gets very sad and feels like crying. I told him to eat chocolate when that happens, because I’ve been dealing with a once a month thing for a long time now, and chocolate always helps. ALWAYS!

It’s a myth that people on the spectrum are apathetic. They feel deeply. So much so that what they feel is often so intense that it’s overwhelming. Conversations might be an awkward and uncomfortable undertaking for Josh, but friendships are something he desires and works on. He works on it in spurts…and then forgets about it until he becomes aware of those uncomfortable feeling again. He wants to feel a connection, so the sadness of loneliness won’t be felt so deeply.

I just found this out about him. It makes me sad. I want to hug him.

Then, chocolate.

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Listen to the Podcast: Josh Has Autism #067: Phone A Friend | http://sonyaking.com/josh-has-autism-067-phone-a-friend