So, when I met with Wanda last week, she was in tears about yet another situation that was frustratingly mysterious. Every new situation requires explanations and general rules because each one is different and Wanda doesn't generalize from one circumstance to another. Yet, she tries very hard to maintain her composure and very good manners and would be mortified and deeply saddened to find out someone was put off by her behavior. So here she was, in a new situation, this time involving the university where she attends a conversation clinic with other clients in our program. Wanda wants to hug the student interns from the university each time she sees them, which is twice a week before and after the sessions. This was becoming an obsession and making the interns uncomfortable. Once again, we had to go through the explanation of why and when and hope that some part will make sense to her. She had many questions about her observations of others, but why and when were those appropriate and her attempts not. To Wanda, it seems so unfair. She agonizes about her own internal conflict of trying to do the 'right' thing with others, while wishing she could freely act on her own compulsions.
I tried to help her understand the difference between friends and family and people who work with her. I explained that I don't hug staff members very often even on special occasions because we all work together and we see one another daily. Did she get it? Her tears slowly subsided as it seemed we made some progress on her understanding and acceptance of what I said. She was able to give me a summary of what we came to after our long chat. But I know better. I know that someone somewhere will break Wanda's understanding of the rules and hug another someone, and for Wanda, it will be another brand new situation.
Maybe you could just tell Wanda that other people in our society have a tendency to be afraid of too much closeness with other people for reasons that are not easy to explain because they are not entirely rational. Tell her that for that reason, it might be best to just not hug anybody unless they tell you they want a hug, or reach out to give you one. I'm not autistic, but even I had to learn that one the hard way. As a child. But I didn't really learn a bunch of complicated rules. Everywhere I go everyone is different, with different cultures and personalities. They are not all following the same rules, so no one can really learn them all. Maybe Wanda wouldn't feel so bad if she realized that the rest of us don't always know if anyone else wants a hug, and so we just don't give them. It is sad, I think. I'm sure the world would be a nicer place if everyone would play by Wanda's rules instead.
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