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J Autism Dev Disord (2010) 40:260261 DOI 10.1007/s10803-009-0805-5
BOOK REVIEW
S. Hendrickx: Love, Sex & Long-Term Relationships: What People with Asperger Syndrome Really Really Want
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, UK, 2008, 144 pp, ISBN 978-1-84310-605-0. $19.95 (paper)
Amy Drahota
Published online: 1 July 2009 The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
There is a long history of specialty self-help books regarding love and relationships for adults; however, few books target adults with Asperger Syndrome as the intended audience. Sarah Hendrickxs book, Love, Sex & Long-Term Relationships: What People with Asperger Syndrome Really Really Want, is a welcome addition to this collection of literature. Written primarily as an instructional guide for adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and their partners, this book offers a direct and focused discussion about dating, relationships, love and intimacy, and sexual behaviors. Due to the often limited social interactions that individuals with AS experience throughout their life, Hendrickx attempts to provide the information and lessons that neurotypical individuals often gain through discussions with friends, intimate encounters with partners, and subtle social cues in a straightforward and concrete manner. The information and perspectives presented in this book are derived from Hendrickxs own experienceshe is a neurotypical partner of a man with ASand also from surveys and interviews from single individuals with AS, those in relationships, and their partnerssome with AS and others without.
Each of the 11 chapters introduce a topic related to relationships, love, and sex with a brief discussion of the topic and specic difculties that may be experienced by individuals with AS. For example, Chap. 3: Love and
Intimacy begins by discussing the desire of many for emotional closeness and intimacy (p. 31) in their relationships then transitions to a discussion regarding difculties that many individuals with AS have understanding and responding to emotional requirements of a partner(p. 31). Exemplifying these difculties, Hendrickx includes statements by individuals who responded to her surveys and interviews. For example a neurotypical female responded, I asked my husband (AS) to please be nice...