How can Aspies learn about personal space?

Are you an adult with Asperger's? If so please can you give me some advice?


My son has Asperger's Syndrome and I'm incredibly proud of him. He's doing really well at mainstream school and tries very hard even when things are difficult for him. 


I want to help his way through life as much as I can. But I know he faces challenges my other sons don't and that I really don't understand completely. 


One such challenge seems to be knowing how close is too close.


For those of us not on the autism spectrum, personal space is one of those things you just know. Watching my kids, I observe that even my toddler has an understanding of this, one that my AS boy lacks. 


It might not seem like a huge problem, but getting too close to someone or shifting away if they invade your space can make things feel all wrong. Lack of awareness of someone's 'personal space' can make social interaction very difficult and uncomfortable.


My question to adults with Asperger's is - how do you learn about personal space? 


Is there a rule you can follow? Has someone given you some good advice you could pass on? 


Please leave a comment here or email me at ellenarnison@hotmail.com. 


Thanks very much.






UPDATE: I have been offered the suggestion that teaching someone not to come closer than you can reach with your elbow works for some. 

Are you an adult with Asperger Syndrome?

Pic: Ed Isaacs via Dreamstime.com

If so, you might be able to help with my project. Would you mind answering the occasional question posed by parents of children with Asperger Syndrome?


My 12-year-old son is an Aspie. We are very lucky, he gets lots of support at school and is very happy as far as I can tell. However, I'm often wondering how I should be doing things and what we can do to help him, both now and in the future. 


I would love to be able to ask grown-ups with the condition what they did and about how things were for them. So, I came up with the idea for Ask Aspie. 


One or two adults with AS have agreed to help, but I'd love to have some more people who could spare a moment or two to answer a question. 


Here's how it will work. Parents will contact me with their questions. I will then pass them on to helpful AS adults who will give their opinions. Then, I will collate the answers and post them here. 


So, can you help?


Thanks 


My email address is ellenarnison@hotmail.com or leave a comment. I'm also on Twitter @Ellen27. I also have another blog called In A Bundance.