ASPIRES is an on-line resource for spouses and family members of adults diagnosed or suspected to be on the autistic spectrum.  Our approach to one another and towards our "significant others" is directed towards solving problems in our relationship with a spectrum-sitting spouse.

ASPIRES is an e-mail subscription list for individuals with AS, and those who have a parent, spouse, or child with AS.  We share our family and relational experiences, resources and survival tips as well as offer encouragement and hope.  Through sharing, we hope to lighten one another's burdens and find positive solutions to many of the troubling challenges that characterize our relationships and bridge the communication gap that exists in everyday life.

PBS Presents "This Emotional Life." Asperger's Segment Included
This Emotional Life airs January 4 - 6 on PBS. Check your local listings. From PBS:
How can we all lead more emotionally healthy and fulfilling lives? What’s the secret – and is there a secret – to emotional and mental well-being, and happiness, according to those who study it and those who experience it? It turns out that connecting with others may be a huge part of it. But for many children and adults who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders – including Asperger’s syndrome – connecting with others can be a constant challenge.

Autism seen as asset, not liability, in some jobs
A new movement helps hone unique traits of disorder into valuable skills
 Ron Brix’s longtime job as a computer systems developer for Wrigley, the gum and candy maker, required intense attention to detail, single-minded focus and a willingness to work on something repetitively until perfect. The secret he credits to his success? Autism.
Brix, age 54, was diagnosed in 2001 with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism often marked by the exact traits that help make him an ideal employee.

Relationship Survey
We are interested in the thoughts and feelings of people who are currently in a heterosexual romantic relationship that has lasted three months or longer. In particular we will be asking you about your general approach to relationships, a few questions about your personality, and about your current relationship including your perceptions of your relationship partner’s behavior, the fairness of your relationship exchanges, your perception of challenges in the relationship such as neglect or abuse, and finally relationship satisfaction and commitment. In addition, we will ask a few questions about you such as your age and ethnicity. This research study will involve completing a survey online that will take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete.

A Powerful Identity, a Vanishing Diagnosis
  It is one of the most intriguing labels in psychiatry. Children with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, are socially awkward and often physically clumsy, but many are verbal prodigies, speaking in complex sentences at early ages, reading newspapers fluently by age 5 or 6 and acquiring expertise in some preferred topic — stegosaurs, clipper ships, Interstate highways — that will astonish adults and bore their playmates to tears. In recent years, this once obscure diagnosis, given to more than four times as many boys as girls, has become increasingly common. Much of the growing prevalence of autism, which now affects about 1 percent of American children, according to federal data, can be attributed to Asperger’s and other mild forms of the disorder. And Asperger’s has exploded into popular culture through books and films depicting it as the realm of brilliant nerds and savant like geniuses.

The Challenge of Autistic Intimacy
Robert W. Murray
Are meaningful relationships an insurmountable challenge for autistic people? As someone who has published on, spoken about and studied Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), the most popular topic of all seems to be whether someone with AS can ever have a successful romantic relationship. While my discussions tend to focus on my own experiences as someone with AS, I see a major literary and medical shortfall in the way this topic is presented or understood by many observers, including professionals. There is cause for concern, I think, when medical professionals take a sampling from a group of people with AS and apply those outcomes universally to all with the disorder.

Asperger Marriage: Viewing Partnerships Through a Different Lens
Aspergers Syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological condition on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum. Across individuals, there is wide variation of AS traits, of how each person experiences their neurology, and how AS evolves as they age. Shore (2003), a member and President Emeritus of the Asperger’s Association of New England (AANE) Board of Directors has said, “When you meet one individual with Asperger Syndrome, you have met one individual with Asperger Syndrome.” Marriages or partnerships with a person with AS are often very challenging, with mental health consequences for both members of the couple, for their children, and for their larger family systems. In this paper we will share insights on the complexities of these partnerships with hope that this information will help and encourage other clinicians to better understand and support people in these relationships, whether working with individuals, couples, families, or groups. Our insights come from our professional experience with individuals and with groups for the partners of men with AS at AANE, along with review of the literature on AS.