My girlfriend got asperger's, and that in itself is just fine. But she's very fragile and a bit afraid of other people, because she has been bullied really bad by people in her small town. That has worsened some aspects of her condition. Wonder how I could cheer her up?
Just try to be understanding. Patience helps as well, it's nice for neurodivergents to feel that even if they aren't completely understood they are still accepted. Or at least I should suppose, I'm not good with people after all
It's different for girls to be different. They have more demands upon themselves.
Be really nice to here and compliment her alot (but not enough to be patronizing)
Isn't Asperger's rare for females? I admit I'm curious as to what they're like in comparison to aspie males.
She's very happy, and sad at the same time. She knows everything about dogs, and needs to have her room and stuff ordered in a specific way in order to feel safe.
I read somewhere that the two things most highly correlated to stable self-esteem in women are independent international travel and higher mathematics. it worked for me. Marxism has helped too. . . So, this actually translates into: Be especially supportive of anything she's doing that might help her build a sense of accomplishment. Self-confidence can help offset or reduce lots of things, including--maybe especially--social anxiety. As far as cheering her up in particular instances, pay a lot of attention to the things she likes and work from there.
I'm an "Aspie" male who was bullied quite badly at the last school I went to. I know a few "Aspie" girls..but I'm not sure if they were ever bullied. We tend not to speak about that sort of thing. If they were, I suspect they want to simply stop dwelling on it and move on, as I did. Jazzratt is right on this one. There's not a lot I could add at this point that wouldn't be common sense. Let her know that you sympathize, but that she doesn't have to let herself be scared into shyness. Obviously you care about her and Asperger's is not really an issue. Let her know that anyone worth caring about would not treat her so poorly. In moving onto high school, I really noticed a difference. As has been said, patience helps. I wouldn't highlight Asperger's too much, as at least for me, having someone emphasize the fact of being diagnosed with something that tends to mean social anxiety, and being treated so differently for it, just makes social interaction more awkward. So just remind her that she shouldn't be worried about what preconceptions people might have before she says or does anything. If they refuse to give her a chance, they aren't worth her time. If anything gets physical again, of course, she shouldn't take it, and should find help.
