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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Married to someone with Asperger’s/ASD/ ND: support thread 18

677 replies

Bluebellforest1 · 21/05/2026 18:55

This thread is for those of us seeking to explore the dynamics of long term relationships with our ND partners. Some of us are ND ourselves, some have ND children. It is a support thread and a safe space, it does get emotional at times. Avoid sweeping generalisations and try to keep it specific to you and your partner.

these threads have been going about 10 years now and have been a lifeline of support for many of us.

Previous thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/relationships/5447569-married-to-someone-with-aspergersasdnd-support-thread-17?latest=1

OP posts:
SpecialMangeTout3 · 05/08/2026 11:03

@Dialledin im quite uncomfortable that the counsellor has to,d you you have ADHD as if it was a given. They are not trained to do that and can’t diagnose autism or adhd. Saying they suspect it (even though after just a few minutes, I still find that 😵‍💫😵‍💫) is fine but spenfing the whole session concentrating only on that isn’t.

From your description, I’d also say they aren’t a good counsellor. No way it is ever ok to concentrate only on the ‘faults’ of one partner. Unless they have assumed your partner is autistic (I suppose you’ve told them yur dc is autistic and you suspect your DP is too?) and then they went down the route of ‘everyone should accommodate autism and if something goes wrong it’s never the autistic person fault’.

Basically I’d change counsellor! And I believe they’ve made things worse. Now that your DP thinks you’re ADHD and it’s your fault he is getting overstimulated etc… it’s going to be hard to convince him otherwise. Esp as this came from ‘a professional’.

Maybe you could try to convince him to see if he is autistic whilst you do your adhd assessment. Like you do it together type of things.
Otherwise a counsellor who is REALLY knowledgeable about ND might be helpful. But I would try to see them first on your own to assess how good their knowledge is.

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 06/08/2026 00:00

@mcrlover I'm really sorry to say this, but actually ... I think the way things have panned out with him going back to his home country is going to be far the best for you in the long run.

I realise it's going to be exceptionally hard for you to see that, but read back on these threads (they go back years) and thnk about the future with a man who wanted half your income while not working, not doing childcare and not helping in the house, and who is exceptionally selfish and unreasonable. Imagine living with that 5, 10 years in the future.

You've lost in terms of a decent other half, but you've won in terms of losing an absolute dead weight. I'm not sure if autism even plays into this. He's just a drain in all sense of the words and even if it doesn't feel like it, objectively speaking you're almost certainly very lucky that he's gone. People who live with this sort of dead weight end up burned out, and very often with serious immune or other systemic problems because of the strain they live under for years. You're going to escape that.

user0512 · 06/08/2026 10:10

Hi everyone,

Jumping back in, has anyone gone through phases in their long term relationship/marriage where their partner has been very detached?

DH has a lot of debt which has caught up with him recently, he is depressed but I’m just wondering if that’s a cover for him not loving me anymore. He’s more withdrawn, not just with me but with others too. Recently I’ve tried pushing him to see his friends as he was struggling to do basic tasks such as shave, go for a shower etc and I thought maybe a change of scenery will help.

There’s nothing outwardly suspicious about another woman, he’s like this with his family too. His grandad (his grandparents raised him) just got married again recently after his grandma who was like a mother to him passed away a few years ago. I think he may be struggling to accept this too but I’m just not sure if he’s just fallen out of love with me or if it’s just a blip?

He’s always found it hard to talk about feelings and definitely has rejection sensitivity dysphoria

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 06/08/2026 11:53

Reading what you've said here it sounds very much like a blip.

What's clear is that you're feeling unloved, because he's not there for you. But it seems far more about his current state of mind/heart than about his feelings for you.

Is he diagnosed autistic?

Would it help to write a letter to him? Less confronting than a verbal dialogue, and it gives him time to think and absorb what you say.

Your feelings matter too. It may be that you just have to endure it for some time til he starts to come out of it, or it may be that he needs some external help. Would he seek it if he needs it?

I think you need to give him some time (months, not weeks), but not forever. If he won't seek help eventually, you need to tell him (in a conversation or written) that this is starting to not-work, that you need more connection, like things were. That he needs to seek help, or he's risking your relationship too. If you say that, you need to mean it though.

But because he's withdrawing from everyone, it really doesn't sound like it's you at this point. Hard as it might be to believe Flowers

WindyW · 07/08/2026 08:13

Hi @user0512 sorry to hear your DH is struggling. It could be depression due to debt and support for that (therapy/medication).

It is maybe worth mentioning my DH has recently realised that he has a tendency towards disassociation when stressed. I think it’s more common in people w ASD. Maybe it’s something your DH also experiences? https://neurodivergentinsights.com/glossary/dissociation/

See also shutdowns: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/glossary/sensory-shutdown/

Sending a big massive hug, since it’s really difficult to be trying to maintain an emotional connection to someone who is struggling like this 💐

Transparant+logo+initials

Dissociation & Neurodivergence | Neurodivergent Insights

Dr Neff explains 'Dissociation'. A protective response to overload that can involve detachment, numbness, or feeling checked out.

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/glossary/dissociation

Morrisons26 · 07/08/2026 12:51

He sounds depressed. Debt has a lot of shame around it.

Is he getting support to process the debt?

I would be looking at external factors first, not blaming yourself. It’s hard to feel anything when you’re in the abyss of shame other than self hatred.

MyPlumHelper · 07/08/2026 13:07

I wish I had seen this before I posted in aibu and got a bit a thrashing. Apparently I drip fed.

Would anyone mind if I asked something about my partner with ASD / OCD among other things?

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 07/08/2026 13:25

Go ahead!

AIBU is often absolutely horrible and a fire pit of hate. The target of the hate changes depending on how you phrase the original post, that's all - sometimes the targets the OP, sometimes it's the person / situation the thread's about. Specially if they're male. Oh, and forgiveness doesn't exist. /rant over

MyPlumHelper · 07/08/2026 13:43

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 07/08/2026 13:25

Go ahead!

AIBU is often absolutely horrible and a fire pit of hate. The target of the hate changes depending on how you phrase the original post, that's all - sometimes the targets the OP, sometimes it's the person / situation the thread's about. Specially if they're male. Oh, and forgiveness doesn't exist. /rant over

Thank you.I made a mistake of drip feeding.And also, as I am dyslexic, I need to use speech recognition.So I often find it hard to edit large paragraphs of text.So I kept it in small chunks. Which apparently was a drip feed.

I feel a bit fragile as I was told.My partner should dump my sorry arse other things. World post when I have time to edit it properly later today given my dyslexia.

SpecialMangeTout3 · 07/08/2026 16:25

You won’t have anyone telling you off for drip feeding here.
Or telling you off altogether!

Do you want to tell us more about what’s going on?

MyPlumHelper · 07/08/2026 18:04

Been together 3 years. Lots I didnt know about him when we started dating. He did well at hiding who he waa. He didnt even tell me about his ocd and I figured it out for myself with his rituals and repetitive behaviours and anxieties about things. It worked its way into conversation.But only after i've already noticed.

Same with the asd. He hasn't had a diagnosis, but he's got something going on. He kept so many things hidden and pretended he liked them.And then gradually over time, things have come out.Where he says, you know this about me now, and I said, but I didn't know this at the outset.You can't just change your mind. So now he's come out with all these additional needs and thinks he can't do.And he's acting like the victim as if I won't support him.In them. If I'd known this about him at the outset, quite frankly, I never would have gone on a second date with him. But of course now I have feelings. But I find it quite gaulling that he's speaking about stopping lying as if he's the victim when he hid his true nature from me.

Since we've been together, he's drastically scaled back the level of contact with which he's prepared to give me. Of it is to manage his nonstop fatigue when he is a single middle aged man with no children, no mortgage and no one to care for but himself. He has plenty of support from family among other people.And on the face of it, his life really isn't that difficult, but he doesn't see it that way.

Sent, we started dating.He's ruled on no overnight sleepovers.Midweek, because he can't handle it, it's too much for him to have me there when he has to get up to work in the morning. We have one meet up during the week of about four hours and we spend overnight together every weekend. He received to make phone calls to me, saying he's got better things to do with his time. Never actually communicate and have to store things up for a week.Unless you want to get it lost in the translation of text

He used to say he wasn't ready to live together.Now, he says he never wants to, and now he's come out with the fact that he's ambivalent about the whole relationship.He doesn't miss me very much.He doesn't look forward to or enjoying my contact at all.And I found this devastating to hear, and he just shrugged, and he said, you want to break up? But then after we have conversations like this, he's back to being completely normal.All over me suggesting things for the future.And acting as if these conversations never happened.So how am I supposed to respond to this?It's got me really confused. If I don't show enthusiasm for plans, he's making for us.He said, I expected better than this.He doesn't factor in that.I can't ignore the things he says to me.

He has a habit of saying, detrimental devastating things about what he really feels about this relationship, and acting as if he never said it.

We both work in london, but live in different places.And it is quite some distance by train to get to each others at the weekend.So if we can't stay over mid week, it's quite restrictive.

This relief relationship is beginning to feel like death via thousand cuts as he comes up with more and more things.He's not prepared to do.And he just says, I should tolerate it, and i'm not being supportive of his needs.

Sometimes my ability to cheerfully rapch it back.My requests is compromised, and whenever I try and ask for more from him, we end up having a massive fight.And he says he's sick and tired of me.So demanding and all I care about is myself and all I care about is whether or not i'm being prioritised and he sees that as me being selfish and he said, I need to develop some self awareness....!

The most recent fight that we've had is over a new job.He's applied for and got. It's in his local town that I don't live anywhere near.So what does that mean for us?Meeting midweek, is that something else he's going to cut down. He says he's not, but quite honestly.I don't believe him.I don't think he'll want to get on a train after working.Come straight into london to meet me.

Anyway, my problem was not so much.The job because you can make anything work.If you want to it was his behaviour.Surrounding it. He lied to me about it.And concealed the application from me, knowing I would probably have questions about our ability to meet. When I caught him making the application, he was a bit sugarned and then the next time I saw him he screamed and shouted at me in public saying I was so bloody selfish and all.I cared about was myself.And he really wanted this job.But all I cared about was the impact on me. What partner wouldn't consider the impact on them?

He calls me his partner by the way, he started it.Even though we don't live together.He decided that girlfriend was too transitory, and given the amount of time would be together.Partner is correct
I've met all the family, all the friends and we frequently socialise together with his family and friends and mine.

He first of all, said with this job that he would always make an effort to come and see me.But we've been fighting more and more because he's in such a foul mood, because, of course, changing jobs is far too much for him to cope with ... And he's in a foul mood.Every time we meet because he's so stressed about it. I can't say anything.He ends up annoyed at me.

He said it's a mistake talking to me about his job and he should have kept it hidden from me and he shouldn't talk to me about it. He often says the rocketry, things about my work.And takes the side of colleagues who've been nasty to me, I might add. Reminded him of that, and he at least conceded.

So anyway, the way it's going is this.I am not happy with this job.Not only just for the implication, it has for our relationship in terms of skill level.It is like falling off mount everest in.Terms of de-skilling for him. It is like hiring a formula one driver to ride a kid's tricycle. That's how much of a downgrade, he's taken in terms of work. I don't think it will last.I won't go into it.But I know the industry.I don't think there's any longevity in the role.And i'm really worried that I'll have to deal with the fallout if he gets sacked or doesn't pass probation.

So anyway, what to do anymore?Just sit back and see if this job works out.Or what. Sorry for the massive typos and weird words you do know, and I have said, I am dyslexic and I don't often notice the typos that come with.Speech recognition.

Morrisons26 · 07/08/2026 20:46

i would not want to be in a relationship like that.

What do you get out of it?

Does he make you feel safe, protected and fulfilled?

Actions speak louder than words. Anyone can say anything but it’s what they DO that shows you who they are.

He sounds like a dismissive avoidant in terms of attachment forming. It may be worth googling more about that kind of attachment stylr as it explains so much.

Finally I’m sorry someone is treating you so poorly. It must be deeply confusing.

MyPlumHelper · 07/08/2026 21:17

Morrisons26 · 07/08/2026 20:46

i would not want to be in a relationship like that.

What do you get out of it?

Does he make you feel safe, protected and fulfilled?

Actions speak louder than words. Anyone can say anything but it’s what they DO that shows you who they are.

He sounds like a dismissive avoidant in terms of attachment forming. It may be worth googling more about that kind of attachment stylr as it explains so much.

Finally I’m sorry someone is treating you so poorly. It must be deeply confusing.

Thank you thank you for your kindness.

The answer is yes.He can make me feel incredibly valued cared for and loved. He can be very protective of me most of the time.. I've seen him in tears over things.Relating to us before so he does care

But when he's bad, he's truly awful and I don't know.If he genuinely values, our relationship and just says these things to be hurtful, or if he really is truly ambivalent, about me and couldn't care less if we split.

It's so confusing to have him say 1 day he doesn't enjoy the. Relationship and long term, he would see himself better off.Single But then the next time I see him acting as if nothing happened

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 07/08/2026 22:15

@MyPlumHelper ... YOu said your heart is engaged, but that if you'd known then what you know now, there would not have been a second date.

I'm afraid it sounds like he very carefully did not tell you ahead of time about all the offputting things, and then slowly, as you became more involved, revealed them.

It also sounds as if he can be absolutely horrible when he's on bad form.

From the outside, it sounds to me as the most hard headed and sensible thing you can do at the moment is to write down a list of the pluses and minuses in the relationship and actually, in the minuses column to write down the things you've said here. Because they sound devastatingly hurtful.

I think in fact you probably need to take a step back and engage head as well as heart, because this relationship seems to have both great highs and great lows. It's clearly troubling you a lot. Is this what you want in the long term? Because the pain is clearly piercing at times.

Pashazade · 07/08/2026 22:54

@MyPlumHelper you do not have to stay in the relationship. It appears to be making you miserable so what if he’s undiagnosed ASD and has OCD. He deliberately with held info about the OCD and now plays the victim. Life is too short. There should be no making you miserable on a regular basis. That should be maybe a once a year thing, everyone gets a bit pissed off with each other or outside circumstances make people behave badly sometimes. It shouldn’t be an ongoing feature. You can end a relationship for any reason. Whenever you want to and you do not have to explain yourself.

MyPlumHelper · 08/08/2026 00:11

I'll be alone, though if we break up.But I guess I am anyway. Don't have any supporting family

SpecialMangeTout3 · 08/08/2026 10:12

@MyPlumHelper i think that what you have so far is worse that being alone.
Because he is making your life worse than if he wasn’t there.

The issue isn’t as such that he hid some of his issues. Even though it’s not great on a trust pov..
Its his whole attitude. Who screams and shouts at their partner in public?
Who demands accommodation? Plays the victim?

From outside, your description sounds like textbook emotional abuse. Blowing hot and cold. You noticing something not quite right and it’s suddenly ‘ha yes. I hadnt told you but I have xyz and I can’t do abc. So now you just have to accept it’. Shouting at you. Looking unbothered about splitting up but wanting to call you his partner.
And yet he is also caring and kind etc… he makes you feel loved. When things are good only though.

And yes autism and OCD might be reasons that explain his behaviour. Theyre not excuses. The fact he has some struggles and needs accommodation doesn’t mean he is allowed to treat you like s**t. Or that you have to accept it.

I agree with @ReleaseTheDucksOfWar
If I'd known this about him at the outset, quite frankly, I never would have gone on a second date with him. Is telling you exactly which direction to go. You won’t be in a worst place than you were before meeting him. Not more alone.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 08/08/2026 10:47

Better to be alone than to be so badly accompanied. He is a manipulative man who should now be your ex. He is not diagnosed with ASD and was not honest with you about his OCD. There is no acceptable excuse or justification by him for the ways in which you’ve been treated. Do read Women who love too much by dr Robin Norwood.

MyPlumHelper · 08/08/2026 10:58

AttilaTheMeerkat · 08/08/2026 10:47

Better to be alone than to be so badly accompanied. He is a manipulative man who should now be your ex. He is not diagnosed with ASD and was not honest with you about his OCD. There is no acceptable excuse or justification by him for the ways in which you’ve been treated. Do read Women who love too much by dr Robin Norwood.

It's hard because this year has been particularly challenging and his behaviour has deteriorated towards me. But I have learned that he deals with stress by taking it out on me.

Before this, he was never this bad.He can be very supportive and kind to me.And he really supported me when I was going through a rough time at work.And a rough time with family issues, he was there.For me, every step of the way and I didn't know what I would have done without him.

It hasn't all been bad, but this year, in particular, his behaviour has deteriorated, and i've noticed that when dealing with stress, he pushes me away and treats me like that because he feels like that.

Once said to him, you are treating me like shit - he responded by saying I feel shit. Oh that's okay is it.

I'm waiting for the next fallout with this new job. Which far from being the magic bullet he wanted it to be I don't see any longevity in it. I won't go into the details of how I suspect this because it's irrelevant and it's too identifying.

Morrisons26 · 08/08/2026 11:39

You can be good company to yourself. Being alone is more peaceful and happy than being on a rollercoaster.

Have you read about narcissistic traits?

He sounds like a narcissist to me

From Gemini:

Shifting back and forth between intense affection (love bombing) and emotional cruelty (abuse and devaluation) is the core mechanism of the narcissistic abuse cycle. This repetitive pattern creates a powerful trauma bond, keeping the target confused, emotionally dependent, and continuously trying to win back the initial affection.

The Abuse Cycle Phases

  • Idealization (Love Bombing): The person showering a partner with excessive flattery, grand gestures, and premature promises of commitment to build quick trust and emotional dependence.
  • Devaluation (Abuse): The dynamic shifts to constant criticism, belittling, gaslighting, emotional withdrawal, and shifting blame.
  • Discard or Hoovering: The relationship may face a temporary or permanent breakup, followed by hoovering—where they return with a fresh wave of love bombing to pull the person back in.

It sounds very upsetting and painful.

Thr recommendation above Women Who Love Too Much sounds very good too. I looked it up and came across a thread on Reddit of women who have read the book.

well worth reading how it impacted their relationships.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Codependency/comments/1egkh2w/has_anyone_read_women_who_love_too_much_by_robin/

Looking at your relationship with your parents and maybe you dad might be illuminating especially with a therapist. It explains for me why I tolerated so much for so long. My dad was a narcissist of some variety. This was the relationship I saw modelled to me growing up. It was very confusing and painful. I went on to love another man who also made me confused and feel painful. He also has narcissistic behaviours too.

Sadly too autism can look like narcissism and this is where the pond gets murky. I now believe you can have autistic narcissists. As autism is so hard to deal with some children will experience narcissistic traits at the hands of their autistic parents. You either then become a narc yourself or you turn the sadness and anger of never having had your needs met as a child inwards and become vulnerable to bullying, being taken advantage of, depressed and anxious.

ive been in therapy for nearly a year and am divorcing my husband.

Learning to parent myself has been part of the journey of my recovery. When you are a child you are vulnerable and dependent on your parents and you have no choice but to stay.

However as an adult, you can choose. Becoming conscious that you can build out supportive networks of other adults who can be there for you is crucial.

How does your support network look like? Being alone is not scary to me. I love it. I get to choose peace and freedom every day and I’m no longer in thrall to the difficult traits of my ex. Love is not endurance. Love is consistent and supportive and kind and chooses growth, not deception. People can fall in love but that is not the same as capacity for growth, for self reflection, for a desire to change. I think you need that in a healthy relationship. I also left my husband because I saw him in the end as a fossil. Like an ant stuck in amber. He has chosen not to change, not to increase his capacity. He said “this is who I am”. And I walked away because I realised he will never meet my needs.

Narcissist Love Bombing Cycle and Narcissistic Abuse | TBYI Blog

This article covers the narcissit love bombing cycle characteristic of relationships with people who have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

https://thebetteryouinstitute.com/love-bombing-the-narcissistic-abuse-cycle/

MyPlumHelper · 08/08/2026 12:38

Sorry. It 's just a new buzzword. True.Narcissistic personality disorder is extremely rare. Everyone is a narc these days.

It's more likely ND and him, being a generally, miserable person alongside it. Doesn't like change routine. Act out on holidays and spoils them all.Despite telling me on our first date, he loved holidays.Now he says he finds some high stress and never wants to do them again.

There's also a strong history of it, and the family, with several members of his family, actually formerly diagnosed. I don't see the points of him getting an assessment and diagnose.Now what will it change.

Don't think he has ever loved bombed me.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 08/08/2026 13:09

Not everyone is a narcissist in terms of personality thank goodness but there is more awareness of what emotional harm such people inflict on their targets or families.

He targeted you myplumhelper to abuse you. These types are quite plausible to those in the outside world. Look at how he treats those other people in the outside world : they are not treated in the ways you are. He is your common or garden abuse and as such the relationship to him is over. These types of abuser all behave well to start with but it’s an act they cannot hope to maintain.

Pashazade · 08/08/2026 13:26

@MyPlumHelper ok so you don’t feel he’s a narcissist. Fair enough, he’s still an abusive wanker who chooses to be nasty to you because he can behave decently to everyone else. You do not deserve this, a good relationship does not consist of being abused by your partner in any form, verbally, mentally, emotionally, for any length of time. Being alone is different to being lonely, you deserve to live life unencumbered by his shit.

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 08/08/2026 13:27

@MyPlumHelper being lonely is horrible. It hurts and it digs and one wants to be held and cherished.

Sadly, this relationship has too much, much too much bad, to go with the good to ever bee a truly calm, supportive and fun relationship from all you've said.

No more holidays? Really?

MyPlumHelper · 08/08/2026 15:30

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 08/08/2026 13:27

@MyPlumHelper being lonely is horrible. It hurts and it digs and one wants to be held and cherished.

Sadly, this relationship has too much, much too much bad, to go with the good to ever bee a truly calm, supportive and fun relationship from all you've said.

No more holidays? Really?

Yes, we spent whole first date talking about travel and holidays ewe've been on

after we'd been a few to get together all of which he spoiled, he said, I never want to travel again.I absolutely hate it.

One I reminded him, he said nothing about holiday talk on our first day.He said, yeah, but you wouldn't have liked me.If I said I didn't like them.