I'd guess my husband has full blown autism. If you ever watch Big Bang Theory, think Sheldon (but not necessarily a genius). My husband hates social situations, although he does fine if I can actually force him to go and be around people. This includes his own family. He has this awkward thing where he hates to be around them, but he feels guilty if he's not with them at holidays, etc. His day is very scheduled and he gets anxious if anything messes with that schedule. He eats the same things everyday for breakfast and lunch. We can switch what that is (we switched brands of protein bars for breakfast, for example), but it's generally the same every day. He sees things as very black and white. For example, he takes a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day. We're out of peanut butter today. Me? I'd get lunch from McDonald's. Dan? Cannot come up with a solution on his own, and would never dream of going out for lunch. He takes his lunch. There is no other option. I think he ended up scraping a bit of peanut butter from the bottom of the jar. He doesn't really have any emotions, so he doesn't understand when I'm emotional. If I'm upset with him, he wants me to shut up and go away and forget it. He just can't deal with it.
Honestly? It's exhausting for me. I teach kids on the autism spectrum and have to deal with their quirks all day... and then I come home and deal with an adult who also doesn't have any perspective outside his own. My son also has some spectrum issues, but he's not as bad as his dad. My daughter has OCD tendencies and had an eating disorder at one point. So just know that if you have children with someone who is on the autism spectrum, your children may also have those tendencies, or have an associated disorder.
That said... I love my family. Quirks and all. I'm not without a few of my own, I suppose. They make me happy every day.
