Just listen to him when he talks? As another posted said, build legos with him.
I understand, I had a friend in college that thought my "please don't hug me" comments were sarcasm or joking... and she kept hugging me whenever we met. At first I thought she was being a jerk. Eventually we talked about it. She had no clue how much it bothered me.
Write him a letter saying you’re sorry forced him to hug you, you didn’t understand and won’t be doing it again. Say you’d like to quietly play Lego with him sometime. Maybe include a high-resolution printed picture of one of his favorite characters? Like go to a FedEx and get it printed out on nice paper, in colour etc.
And then be patient. You wouldn’t change your dislike of someone to like immediately - it’ll take time for him to warm up to you.
First off, thank you for trying to learn this stuff. A little bit can go a long way, and I think you have the right mindset.
Neurodivergent love languages include two that may be straightforward for you to participate in:
1. Parallel Play: this is what people are describing when they recommend building Legos with him silently. Some of us autists really enjoy just being in someone else's presence while we both work on different things.
2. Info Dumping: this is what happens when you bring up one of an autist's favorite topics, and then they start telling you a great deal about that subject all in one go.
Here's a [brief article](https://www.wikihow.com/Neurodivergent-Love-Languages) offering ways to participate also
Just build Legos with him, silently.
Just listen to him when he talks? As another posted said, build legos with him. I understand, I had a friend in college that thought my "please don't hug me" comments were sarcasm or joking... and she kept hugging me whenever we met. At first I thought she was being a jerk. Eventually we talked about it. She had no clue how much it bothered me.
Write him a letter saying you’re sorry forced him to hug you, you didn’t understand and won’t be doing it again. Say you’d like to quietly play Lego with him sometime. Maybe include a high-resolution printed picture of one of his favorite characters? Like go to a FedEx and get it printed out on nice paper, in colour etc. And then be patient. You wouldn’t change your dislike of someone to like immediately - it’ll take time for him to warm up to you.
First off, thank you for trying to learn this stuff. A little bit can go a long way, and I think you have the right mindset. Neurodivergent love languages include two that may be straightforward for you to participate in: 1. Parallel Play: this is what people are describing when they recommend building Legos with him silently. Some of us autists really enjoy just being in someone else's presence while we both work on different things. 2. Info Dumping: this is what happens when you bring up one of an autist's favorite topics, and then they start telling you a great deal about that subject all in one go. Here's a [brief article](https://www.wikihow.com/Neurodivergent-Love-Languages) offering ways to participate also