[Amethyst_Stargazer]

I truly respect and appreciate my friend with Asperger's. I do love him deep down and I believe he knows of this. Never do I push myself on him or force him into anything. When he opens up, I appreciate it and truly listen to him. I never correct him, talk over him or push his buttons because sometimes when I joke he looks very confused by certain things or thinks I'm being serious when I'm simply just joking around or thinking I'm saying something mean. He's very sensitive but doesn't show it. However I can tell by his facial expressions. I always watch his facial expressions anytime I talk to him. If I notice that he's getting overwhelmed I ask him about something or talk about his interests. For years I found him very confusing and I never knew that much about him. He's very blunt and honest. If he see's if I'm hurt he ends up feeling horrible and feels as if he shouldn't be in a relationship. In the end I told him that communication is all that should be done and honesty and he loves honesty. He appreciates honesty more than anything. If anyone ever lies he can tell simply by analyzing people.

I've come to admire this about him. Overtime we learned to communicate with each other better and I'm very patient with him. This is important. Patience is key. Enjoys being alone and he doesn't need to talk to people every single day the way others need too. In the end he always comes back to his friends and people he cares about. If he has nothing important to say I probably won't hear from him and I don't take offense to this. Emotions, yelling and screaming upsets him and he doesn't like talking on the phone all that much. If he calls me or asks me to call him he talks for a short while and we catch up with each other. Christmas time came around and he bought me three gifts. When he told me that he cared about me, he means it. Hugs is something precious to him and he only does this to people he truly cares about. I've known him since 2010 and back than I had no idea he had this disorder and he didn't either. Now I'm supporting him, being his friend and told him I'll always be here for him if he ever needs anyone.

I have PTSD and bipolar disorder and I open up to him about it, but in some detail. I'm the kind of person where I hate feeling like people have to feel obligated to help me constantly 24/7. If I have issue, I simply write in my journal or post a thread online. I know I can get support from my Therapist too. Thankfully things is clearing up for me and getting better. I simply wanted to talk about my friend for a bit and how I respect him as a person. He's not a horrible person. He's a good person. I truly understand him better now than I ever have in the many years that I have known him. The last time I saw him he truly made me smile when he told me, "You know that movie you mentioned to me over Facebook. Well I watched it and I've been watching it a lot lately now." I still continue to learn about him, ask questions if there's something I don't understand and I don't get upset by things he says anymore. If he does ever hurt my feelings, I'm open with him about it. This hasn't happened in a very long time though. We get along very well together. I've learned overtime he doesn't like many horror movies and he hates big groups. So we tend to stay clear of that and watch more lighter type of movies. Many people find him very weird, odd and different. I never listen to what people say about my friend. Ever. Because I know people can be very cruel and judgemental.

[soundguy]

Hello. What a nice story, it sounds like you understand each other very well, which is more than can be said for many people! Have you talked about your feelings?