LonelyTogether wrote:
I am NT with an Aspie husband. Over the years, we have lost intimacy. We did cuddle early in our relationship, but like many things from the early days, it now happens maybe 1-2 times per year. One time, when I told him how lonely I feel lying in the same bed night after night without touching unless for sex, he recommended a professional cuddler. While I believe he meant well, it felt like a stab to the heart. I need touch from the person who, in theory (he won't verbalize it either), loves me. Maybe if I was single and needed touch a cuddler would feel reasonable, but I honestly think I would feel more pain than comfort if I hired one in my current situation.
Well, most professional cuddlers are women. After all, it's acceptable for two straight women to cuddle with each other, which isn't true for two straight men. But there are a few men in the profession too. Turn the situation back on your husband: ask him if he'd be comfortable with you cuddling with another man. My educated guess says "probably not". So tell your husband that cuddling matters to you, and ask him if he'd do it for your sake. Otherwise, since he gave you permission to get it from a professional cuddler, you'll do just that. And it just might be a man.
As for me, I wonder if professional cuddlers will become stand-ins for the escorts I used to have sex with. Because sex disgusts me now, for reasons I'd rather not clutter this thread with. But still, this renders escorts totally useless. But I still enjoy platonic close touch with an attractive woman, like hugging, cuddling, and holding hands. And professional cuddlers allow all of those things.