Love it!

The stereotype that autistics have no empathy leads on to the stereotype that we are incapable of romantic love, which is definitely not the case. It might be that an autistic seeking a partner is more likely to find them at a club or interest group than a pub or a nightclub (both of which can be overwhelming to the senses) but there’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t find one.

Being socially clumsy, or literal, can make romantic love more problematic but not impossible. My own experience has been that the difficulty in picking up hints (or telling the difference between honesty and manipulation) sets you up for humiliation, but if you’re sufficiently determined that can be overcome. The autistic tendency to be very all or nothing can also add challenges – if you see things in extremes (you see people you know as wholly good or wholly bad, for example) then as soon as the beloved does something even slightly wrong they fall off their pedestal into the “wholly bad” category. So if you’re the kind of autistic who is looking for perfection and will settle for nothing less, your chances of success butt up against human reality. Relationships depend on compromise and flexibility and those are not automatically autistic strengths. Nonetheless, although it may well be more difficult for an autistic person to find and keep a partner than a neurotypical person, many succeed and are very happy.