Andrew Edwards, a 39-year-old autistic man from Wrexham, has given up on online dating after experiencing being ghosted, misunderstood, and judged on dating apps. He says that there needs to be more support for autistic adults who are looking for love and describes his experience as “demoralising”. Andrew used both conventional and autism-specific dating sites but has learned from his experience and feels “less naive” now. He said that the constant ghosting is quite confusing for someone with autism, causing his moods to fluctuate wildly and affecting his stress levels.
Andrew requires 24-hour care from his sister Mel after his mother died after developing pneumonia following Covid-19. While he has a busy life playing cricket, training at the gym several times a week, and working part-time for an autism charity, the lack of a romantic partner weighs heavily. Andrew believes that there must be other neurodiverse people who feel the same way as him and that local friendship or dating groups for people on the autism spectrum could help.
Andrew has tried to set up a group himself but faced difficulties and found it too stressful to organise. He said that there’s a lack of support and funding for those with autism who are adults and that services are geared towards youngsters. He would love to attend a group that could help lead to possible romantic relationships. Andrew’s friend, former community nurse Mai Rees Moulton, hopes he finds a lovely partner but also believes that meeting someone face to face would suit him better.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people communicate and interact with the world. Autistic people often have difficulty interpreting both verbal and non-verbal language like gestures or tone of voice. They can have difficulty “reading” other people – recognising or understanding others’ feelings and intentions. Many autistic people like routines so that they know what is going to happen. Anxiety is a real difficulty for many autistic adults, particularly in social situations or when facing change. There are about 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK, and one in every 100 people is on the autistic spectrum
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