Last Sunday, Anita Lesko and Abraham Talmage Nielsen became the first ever couple to get married with an all-autism ceremony in San Diego California. The couple, those who helped organized the wedding and the entire wedding party were comprised of individuals who belong to the autistic spectrum.
As reported in Fox News, the wedding was held during the second annual "Love & Autism: A Conference with Heart" event in San Diego California. Organizers reported that this is the first ever all-autism wedding. Dr. Jenny Palmiotto, founder of the Love & Autism conference explained their aim, "Our message is really simple. Love is part of the human experience, and this doesn't change with neurological differences associated with autism. We wanted to bring to light these relationship issues."
Everyone involved in the wedding ceremony is identified as being on the spectrum of autism, which is very broad. This may pertain to five related conditions including Autism, Asperger's syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of complex developmental disorders of the brain development. The all-autism wedding ceremony was reported to have 185 people in attendance.
Anita met Abraham 6 years ago at an autism/Asperger's group that Anita started after learning she belongs in the spectrum at the age of 50. She was relieved with the diagnosis as it explains her inability to establish relationships and her constant feeling of loneliness. Meanwhile, Abraham a former draftsman earned a cybersecurity clearance formed a friendship with Anita. Anita is a certified registered nurse anaesthesiologist and was already planned to speak at the conference but had a great idea and told Palmiotto about it. She asked if she and Abraham, 28, could have their wedding during the event. Palmiotto was thrilled with the idea and agreed to make it the venue.
"It must be so different to live in a world where people assume that ... you are inept or incapable of having a relationship, or maybe even don't want one. That's really contrary to my clinical practice and even all of the available relational research to date", Palmiotto said, who also holds the position Clinical Director and CEO of The Family Guidance & Therapy Center of Southern California.
With this first all-autism wedding, Palmiotto hopes to break the stigma associated with the disease. "Looking at all these [wedding] participants dancing, socializing, we could hardly get them out of the hall," she said. "People on the spectrum are social beings. Relationships are core, from the cradle to the grave, and that is very true as well for people with autism."