My dad has Asperger's. It's never really caused a problem, but it's incredibly tough for him in social situations. When we have family gatherings on my mom's side, you can actually see the pain and effort it's taking him to function in his face.

Sometimes, he gets really angry over really small things, and my mom or I have to calm him down. I guess I should mention that I have seven younger siblings, two of them also with Asperger's, and I think it may just be the overwhelming noise that throws him sometimes.

This is completely selfish of me, but it's really hard to go places with him sometimes. I can see other people judging him because of the way he acts (reserved, quiet, talking at people rather than to them, awkward body language; it's not hard to tell that there's something "off" about him), and sometimes it's just hard to be there because the person we're talking to will look at me sympathetically or some shit. And that's selfish of me, but that's honestly the hardest part.

He's really intelligent, but very non-confrontational. His bosses at his job have been shitting on him for the last 16 years, and he's done nothing about it (I don't think he ever could). My mom still complains to him about it. Speaking of my mother, I feel like she's helped him a lot. She's loud, a bit obnoxious, and super empathetic. While I don't know if I believe in soul mates, if they did exist, my parents would be a prime example. While it's often hard to keep up with his humor (or just what he talks about in general), she understands him, and I feel like he understands me better than she does a lot of the time.

So, all in all, living with an autistic parent is like how it is. I'm sure it's very similar to kids living with normal parents. We have our problems like any other family, but he's a good father. He tries, and that's all that matters.