Saturday, February 09, 2013

Interview on NPR

I just got interviewed on the show "To The Best of Our Knowledge" on NPR. Really love how it came out: http://ttbook.org/book/redefining-romance-david-jay-asexuality

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just listened to this - I think it must be one of the best interviews I've heard. The interviewer asked some really intelligent questions and was very perceptive!

JM said...

I listened to DJ's interview with relief and joy. It's not that I believed my son (now 26) was asexual. I did think my son was not sexual. Which wasn't a problem for me except that he is very isolated and lonely, and I just want him to be happy.

There has never been any indication he was attracted to either sex. For a while I wondered if he might be gay, although that didn't seem to fit. So I have from puberty been very careful never to make any suggestion of what his sexuality might be.

My eldest daughter is gay. My middle child, although married has been an active supporter of the g/b/lbj (did I get that right?) since her early teens. For me my son's sexuality is not an issue. I just want him to be happy. When my ex raises the question of girlfriends I tell him that our youngest child is very private about his life and to leave this alone.

My son has other issues. He has Tourette's Syndrome and OCD. He also has learning disabilities. Although he was tested as a teen, I was told he had too much of a sense of humor to be Aspergers, though I have decided he is. He does not relate to people and as far as I can tell has no friends and no desire to, though he likes being around his siblings and their partners. At ten he told me he was "defective" because his body controlled his brain. He has suffered from depression since he was a child. And has been on medications since he was diagnosed with TS at eight. Last year told me he was "broken."

After listening to your interview and asking my daughter she affirmed that she though her brother is asexual and has posted a documentary for me to watch on Netflix.

During your interview I had made a note of your name and just looked you up, and your website reassures me that my son can find a community online. He may already have found your website.

Whether this is posted or not, I hope you will forward this on to DJ. I greatly admire his willingness to educate the public, and I am one immensely grateful parent.