Terminally ill sister and Just acknowledged my Nephew has Aspberbers....

[Tractorman]

My elder sister is terminally ill in France and I need to reach out to her son - my nephew. (I and my nephew are resident in the UK)

On the surface he seems disinterested - totally detached in fact but my sister had told me many years ago that he is on the spectrum and has Aspbergers.

I could do with some advice on how to interact with him - he's 40 years old but we have not ever been close. His mum needs him but he has shown little emotion or interest yet I sense he is fighting against his feelings . To complicate matters he has just become a father for the first time and so has other priorities. His mum would love to see the baby before she dies but I don't know how to approach him.

I am just becoming familiar with the condition but am very uneducated in the symptoms or on how to deal with it. Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks...

[Tractorman]

Oops, sorry about the title typo - not a good start to the Community! Perhaps I should join the dyslexia forum!

[sofirose]

People with aspergers are often thought to be and may appear to be quite lacking in emotion because they may not show it,my daughter has aspergers and in my experience because she may not cry in circumstances that others would do this doesn't mean she doesn't feel sadness deeply. You are probably right that he is bottling it up,you probably need to very open with him about your concerns for the sake of your sister,

[Tractorman in reply to sofirose]

Thanks sofirose, much appreciated. I've made a start with a few emails which he seems to prefer as a communication medium rather than telephone conversations which he obviously struggles with. Apparently he suffers from ADD as well so there's a lot for him to cope with.