Touch Issues

I was wondering how some of my fellow people with Asperger's have with the issue of Touch. Personally I hate having touch with anyone who is a relative of mine and usually only do so on very rare occasions (often when I am forced to do so) and I NEVER have any physical contact with any member of my immediate family (with the rare exception of my sister from time to time). On the other hand I feel more comfortable with touch for people who are not relatives of mine, at my last High School Reunion I hugged at least 5 or 6 people (and could have easily hugged more if more people showed up), usually have no problem putting my arm around someones shoulder for photo opportunity, and have even took part in the "Free Hugs" campaign hugging total strangers (although I have never actually held up a sign myself). I can also tell you that I hate shaking anyones hand and usually only do it if I absolutely have to.

I don't like physical contact as a general rule of thumb. I will give my family members a hug if it's night time or if they are going away or something, but I find any other physical contact at other times to be very difficult and uncomfortable.

I'm not a fan of physical contact in general, but I do find it easier with people I don't know at all in some ways, I don't know why. On the flip side though, if I'm in a relationship with somebody (which doesn't happen often, or for long when it does) I really enjoy physical contact with them.

Hand shakes confuse me, I never know if people want/need a handshake or not.

I feel the same way

I don't like touching or being close to other people. Don't even like hugging family. The only exception is my SO, because I know he is gentle and won't do stuff that bothers me. We are also not PDA people at all. We're so no-PDA that there are people that have thought we were brother and sister!

One acquaintance of mine who is also asperger once asked me when we were parting ways, "So do we hug or something?" and neither of us were keen on the idea though it would have been appropriate, so I gave him my fist (neither of us like handshakes either).

Fistbump. The best way to greet IMO. Even cats endorse it.

(But probably not good for job interviews...)

Wist what a great photo!!

It seems like most people with Asperger Syndrome are like me, they don't want to go anywhere near immediate family members, but usually don't mind physical touch with other people.

I dislike being touched, I can manage hand shakes but feel a bit akward. Hugs are very uncomfortable (you can see in group photos i am in that i dont llike t) unless it is someone i trust, even then it is iffy. Its weird, sometimes ill be okay with it, but most the time ill flip out and get very defensive like I have to get away.

Last night I hugged someone who I had never met before, although she wasn't a complete stranger since I knew her Husband from the bar we were at. We were standing very close to each other (basically touching one another) for a portion of the night which made the decision to hug a fairly easy one.

I honestly cringe when one of my parents hug me, but i tolerate it. because if i dont there will be more problems for me.

Otherwise, I love it.. If i'm around someone that i trust and like being around, I would be totally content if i could just sit by them and lean on them(i actually used to do this, and i still wish i could). I love hugs from them, but at the same time i'm scared of asking for them. I would love it if i was in a hug all of the time. This is prolly pretty weird, i've never said it before, but there are a lot of times i crave hugs.
When i was younger i would stay glued to my bio mom when she would come visit. and this was up until i was 17. I would lay my head in her lap, snuggle her, lean on her, sit on the floor and lean against her legs. but my parents hated that i did that with her, everytime she left, i would be in a great deal of trouble, they wanted me to sit across the room from her and have no contact with her. it was their jealousy because i didn't even hug them without being forced, and then i would be glued to her for hours without even being asked. I kinda wish i could go back to then... and all the times before when i wasn't afraid to be myself.

I don't have Aspergers nor Autism but that is me to a T! Can't stomach touching family members (exceptions being my nieces and nephew), and I have issues with friends outside of a pat on the shoulder or a hug if I haven't seen them in ages or won't see them again for a long time. But if I've been drinking I'll hug anyone. I also have zero issues with children touching me - I tend to forgive them for it because they're kids.

Another situation came up with me tonight when I was out and I saw someone there who I used to go to school with who I hadn't seen in years and once again I decided to hug her and once again we stood very close to one another for a part of the night.

my surroundings dictate how the 'touch-factor' will scale appropriately from 'no, not ever!' all the way to 'hold me tight until i relax'; neither extreme has indicated to me whether or not there are some underlying feelings at work here; basically, when i sense a high degree of trust then my immediate vigilence against touch becomes less; when the environment sucks the life out of me and i can't think straight, then my walls and defenses are hightened and i don't care who you are, don't touch me.

Same here. I stumbled across this while looking up reasons why I myself hate being touched, so while I don't have Asperger's I can relate very well.