Seven months of silence...
Hi there,
I am Lolo an European woman in her late 30's. First of all sorry for my bad English. I hope you will understand me, anyway.
This is my story.
I am a NT woman and I didn't know anything about Asperger's Syndrome until I met J.
J is the wonderful, sexy, kind and clever Aspie man I met online 10 months ago. He lives in another European country, we are physically very distant. But we seemed to get along very well and understand each other perfectly. Until the day he stopped replying to my emails, out of the blue. Without a reason. After that we met once, when I went to visit his town. It was a surprise. He reacted in the most happy way you could imagine, hugging me, telling me it was a wonderful surprise, assuring me that I saved him from his depression. Begging me to restart our friendship, asking me to write him again. He seemed so happy to see me. I was happy too. I didn't know what I wanted from him, friendship or romance, but I could have been totally okay with a friendship, because we live so far apart. When I got home again I wrote him few emails to which he replied, then he stopped again. Again out of the blue, without any reason. I don't understand why he asked me to write him and seemed sooo happy to see me, if he knew he did not really want to keep in touch. I tried a few times to contact him, sending few emails but he never answered. Then I gave up, but I still think of him a lot and I miss him, his words, his kindness... I thought we were really friends, special friends. How can he don't miss me as I miss him? Have I done (unintentionally) something wrong? Why doesn't he tell me to stop writing him? Why can't he reply when I ask him a simple "how are you?" Isn't he interested in me, in friendship or is he frozen by fear? I am filled of doubts and my self-esteem is not at its peak...
Is there anybody who can help me to understand what happened and what I could do? He was really a fantastic person, I will never stop to care about him, even if he stopped caring about me.
Again sorry for my bad English and thank you for reading me
Basically you're waiting for his fear to bounce off the proper cortex in the proper corner of his brain before it bounces off the cortex which decided to hug you. Aspies acknowledge that humans are animals; you've done everything right, you only have to remember that most of his emotions won't have names.
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"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos
Hmmm. Anxiety has something to do with it I'm sure. But is there anything you may have said to him to make him believe you are mad or upset with him? Sometimes other people may take someone else's anger or pain as a personal rejection of them, even when its far from being true.
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Your Aspie score: 130 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 88 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Sometimes it is easy for us to get distracted and lose track of things. I know this might sound impossible in your situation but we have problems keeping track of friends and engagements some times. You might have to be very direct with him. Try facebook or phone calls.
It might be that he isnt interested in you, OR it might legitimately be that he IS into you but is having problems communicating.
It's very possible that he is not ready for the relationship you have with him, and he feels he got in over his head. The reason he asked you to write to him again, could have been because you were physically there with him. Some of us are too shy to say what we really want.
It sounds like you didn't do anything wrong. Everything hangs up on his end of the line.
Yes, once. When he stopped writing me after our meeting I wrote him an email in which I asked him where the wonderful man I met have been gone and why that man have been replaced by him... it was a very emotional email. I wanted to express my pain in losing him, telling also how special he was at the beginning of our friendship, I did not really want to blame him... but I am aware that he could have read my message only as a reproach and, at the same time, as a confirmation of his inhability in reletionships. After that, having understood my mistake, I tried to fix the situation , being very patient and conciliatory, writing him how much I missed him and how happy I was for having met him, but he never responded. I didn't want to make him feel under pressure, I just wanted him to know how much I cared. I tried to tell him that I like him for who he is and that his silence won't stop me loving him.
Now it is like we can't communicate at all, as we are speaking 2 different languages.
It might be that he isnt interested in you, OR it might legitimately be that he IS into you but is having problems communicating.
I would like to call him on the phone, but I don't want to upset him violating his privacy, using a way of communication that we never used. I am a bit shy myself and being very direct is a problem for me. It seems so hard to understand what is proper to do and what is not!! !
I found his penultimate email in which he said he have been trying to write me, but he couldn't find any word and he stared at the screen for 10 minutes with a totally blank mind. I think he genuinelly tried, but failed. And I can guess he felt a bit "silly" for that. I also think he could be embarassed because he was so sincere with me telling about his problems and his weakness and I probably ended up being motherly and protective towards him rather than sentimentally involved as I was in the beginning. I don't know, I am just guessing, I am really confused...
From a guys POV and unrelated to aspergers... I would think any guy would have a problem with being told "what happened to the guy I met?". If we then hear a complete 360 after that, it would likely add to the confusion we feel.
Its unfortunate that this friendship is mostly online and through text format because I know I would have problems trying to guage emotion. My experience tells me that people aren't as afraid to say things through text format. It takes real courage and emotion to say things face to face or on phone at minimum. But keep in mind I also different from others here in my own way. Just like the next person is.
FYI.... Keeping track of friends IMO is not an aspie thing either. I have a feeling that this guy is just afraid and confused.
_________________
Your Aspie score: 130 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 88 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
There are a couple of different things that might be going on. I can only report from my own experience, but let me give you insight on two things that are my by far heaviest burdens in this regard:
No.1 : Preoccupation
When I set my mind to do something, I do it. Narrowly focused, with passion and zeal, but I zone out almost anything else. It could be that there is something in his life that has utmost importance to him. To me, it was my education, I discarded almost any social contact because my logic was: "Well, I'll just get back to those later." To me, it never occured that this might not be an easy task, I simply assumed I could go on like nothing ever happend, failing to realize that other people tend to feel offended and start moving on when they feel they have no relevance to you anymore.
No.2: He doesn't know what to do and is completely overburdened by your approach
I have had that experience with women, and so far, I am completely overtaxed by the question what kind of reaction the other person expects.
There have been women that told me that they were interested in me, and they quickly discarded me as a suitable partner when they didn't get any feedback. Funny thing is, I thought I gave it, but to them, they didn't get enough and not fast enough. This also applies when women get TOO "aggressive" in their approach. When you write him an emotional e-mail about your feelings and what you want, etc., you put the pressure of showing the same amount of emotion on him. And that is certainly not one of our strengths. It might be that he simply doesn't know what to say out of fear he might lose you, because he thinks you expect a certain kind of response.
No.1 : Preoccupation
When I set my mind to do something, I do it. Narrowly focused, with passion and zeal, but I zone out almost anything else. It could be that there is something in his life that has utmost importance to him. To me, it was my education, I discarded almost any social contact because my logic was: "Well, I'll just get back to those later." To me, it never occured that this might not be an easy task, I simply assumed I could go on like nothing ever happend, failing to realize that other people tend to feel offended and start moving on when they feel they have no relevance to you anymore.
No.2: He doesn't know what to do and is completely overburdened by your approach
I have had that experience with women, and so far, I am completely overtaxed by the question what kind of reaction the other person expects.
There have been women that told me that they were interested in me, and they quickly discarded me as a suitable partner when they didn't get any feedback. Funny thing is, I thought I gave it, but to them, they didn't get enough and not fast enough. This also applies when women get TOO "aggressive" in their approach. When you write him an emotional e-mail about your feelings and what you want, etc., you put the pressure of showing the same amount of emotion on him. And that is certainly not one of our strengths. It might be that he simply doesn't know what to say out of fear he might lose you, because he thinks you expect a certain kind of response.
First of all thank you for your answer.
Both things might be going on.
He is concerned because he has financial problems that caused him a severe depression and, yes, he could also be overburdened by my approach. I don't think I was too aggressive, I have always been very soft and almost shy with him, but I definitely was emotional. Because I am. And I didn't want to pretend to be something/someone else, because it would have been a simulation. I think he needs to know me for who I am.
Probably it's not just a question of being Aspie or NT. It is also a question of gender (men and women) and of cultures. I come from a country where showing feelings and emotions is considered a good thing to do, he lives in country where people are usually more discreet and reserved. I don't like generalizations, but I think I must consider every perspective.
Having said that, is there something I could do to express him my feelings without overburden him?
At the end of of the day all you can do is ask. You didn't do anything wrong at all.
Yes, you are right. I think I will, because I can't postpone a clarification forever... And I need to go on with my life, with him or without him.
At the end of of the day all you can do is ask. You didn't do anything wrong at all.
Yes, you are right. I think I will, because I can't postpone a clarification forever... And I need to go on with my life, with him or without him.
Good attitude.
Its unfortunate that this friendship is mostly online and through text format because I know I would have problems trying to guage emotion. My experience tells me that people aren't as afraid to say things through text format. It takes real courage and emotion to say things face to face or on phone at minimum. But keep in mind I also different from others here in my own way. Just like the next person is.
FYI.... Keeping track of friends IMO is not an aspie thing either. I have a feeling that this guy is just afraid and confused.
yes, I think he is confused. This is the reason why I didn't actually give up. I felt something "special" when we met and connected online and I felt something even more special when we met in real world. He was flatterd by my unexpected visit, that is a fact, but he was also over the moon. I was very very discreet, I didn't touch him at all, I let him lead all the situation and in my opinion he behaved like a person who fancied me. I can be wrong, I'm aware of that, but I am 37 yo and I'm not totally inexperienced. I think it would be silly to lose this great opportunity, for both of us. But I don't want to push him in a direction he might not want to consider. He had an important longterm relationship that ended more than 10 years ago (he is 40 yo now), after that he had just few short relationships. He told me he never allowed anyone else to really enter his life and privacy, since the end of that important relationship. I understood he felt, in some ways, I could have been the one because we were very deeply connected, but... he ended up cutting me off his life as he probably did with the other women he had after his first important relationship. I think he prefers to quit before disappointing the expectations that women can have. I could sound silly and childish, I know, but I don't think anyone can be replaced by anyone else so easily. When I feel a deep connection with someone else there is a reason...
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