A close friend of mine is going through the same struggle as described in your initial post. Her boyfriend is a high functioning autistic who can be vibrantly fun to be with – intellect in art and creativity, good looking, affectionate etc. But after nearly a year’s dating, some frustrating traits become more and more obvious in his behavior:  lack of understanding and empathy of others, got defensive easily, extremely selfish, enjoy being taken care of without return. My friend feels very lonely and depressed. Another frustrating thing is this bf is becoming so forgettable and occasionally confused that he started resemble the symptoms of dementia as his late father who started the illness in the similar age of his. Beside feeling depressed and extremely uncertain, my friend is also troubled with ta sense of guilt thinking to break up with this man. She had a NPD boyfriend before this experience too. What happened to the relationship after your post a couple years ago? Your experience sounds so close to hers, I would like ask and appreciate much if you could share more about your experience, your feeling as well as the lesson you’ve learned. (please feel free to kindly reply to celebra2003 at yahoo) Thank you and hope all is well!