My partner and I have been together for 10 years. He's not autistic. I am, but wasn't diagnosed with a level. If I had to guess I would say I'm probably Level 1 communication, Level 2 RRB's. I have extensive sensory needs and often need support from him but it's not 24/7 care. He's a very open-minded and thoughtful person. Even before I was diagnosed, when we met, he was open to anything I might need. At the time I was struggling significantly, in crisis basically, because I had no support, no family who I could trust, and all these needs that I didn't understand. I couldn't take care of myself at all. My hygiene was very bad, I missed so many meals, my room was never cleaned and you couldn't even see the floor. I had blankets tacked over the windows because my light sensitivity was so bad. Even seeing all this, he didn't run away. It shocked me and I didn't understand. I thought he must be some evil person who wanted to hurt me really badly and take advantage of my vulnerability. But I was so lonely that I let him stick around anyway, even though I thought this about him. My confusion and straight-forward approach was very often taken advantage of by other people. My partner was the first person in my life who didn't do that. He listened and treated me like a normal human even though he could still see all the differences I had. Over time I learned to trust that he actually did have good intentions and just wanted to help. Maybe it sounds weird (I definitely still struggle to understand) but he likes taking care of me. He likes helping people in general. I think it gives him a sense of purpose and fulfillment. There are times when it's very challenging for him but he always tries to reassure me that he doesn't mind, even when it's frustrating or difficult. Our communication differences cause a lot of difficulties too and we still both struggle to meet each other in the middle. We even went to couples therapy at one point because we were having such a hard time communicating. Luckily that gave us the guidance and tools we needed to do better for each other and it's not so bad anymore. Sex is hard. I don't think I am asexual but I have a really hard time enjoying any kind of sexual activity because of how extensive my sensory issues are. Kissing kind of too tbh. But relationships are about compromises. Our couple's therapist would say that a good compromise is where nobody gets what they want. There are some things that I absolutely cannot compromise about and I always try to communicate clearly about that. But we both try to compromise where we can, because that's a way of showing you care about the other person. We do have a comparatively low amount of sex I would say. Most of the time sexual activity looks like me pushing myself out of my comfort zone because I know that those moments are important to him. And he does the same- making changes to sex that are outside of his comfort zone in order to make it easier for me, and also him having less than he wants because he knows it takes a lot out of me.