I find it quite a paradox when people I don’t even know very well are able to read my facial expressions accurately, while my husband struggles to- but it’s not for lack of caring. It’s just the reality of one of the effects of Autism in our relationship.

How can it be

That with just one glance

A stranger looks into my eyes and sees into my soul?

Just one look

And there it is

A splash of colour

Reflective recognition

Of my inner world

It seems like everyone can see it

Except the one who loves me most

He knows me intimately

Of this there is no doubt

So close

Yet worlds apart

And after all these years

He still cannot see me

He goes by feel

Knowing through touch

Comforted by the feel

Of familiar patterns

And I am to him

The most familiar pattern

Yet when he looks into my eyes

He cannot read me

Sometimes it feels as if he does not see me

The stranger does not know me

But in that moment

He saw me