As anyone who’s read Shakespeare, seen the Twilight movies or trudged through junior high school knows, there is no social interaction more maddeningly complex than romantic love.

So someone with autism, who presumably lacks the ability to understand others’ thoughts and feelings, couldn’t possibly manage a meaningful relationship. Right?

In fact, many people with autism forge deep romantic relationships, as I learned last month from an engaging New York Times profile of two teenagers with Asperger syndrome.

The couple, Kirsten and Jack, live together and are in love — and they’re not all that unusual, according to the article. There are apparently large online communities devoted to helping people with Asperger syndrome find dates and improve their intimate relationships.

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SFARI, January 2012.

When I’ve talked to researchers about the reportedly low prevalence of autism outside of the U.S., Canada and the U.K., the word that comes up repeatedly is ‘stigma.’ Some South Korean families, to use an oft-cited example, think of autism as a mark of shame, and are hesitant to seek medical help for their child’s developmental problems.

Less talked about are the parents in developing countries who do, in fact, seek help — sometimes hundreds of miles from home — but have trouble getting it because of poor healthcare infrastructure, high costs, long lines and, most dishearteningly, doctors’ lack of awareness. That was what struck me the most in a survey about Rett syndrome in Chinese families, published 21 November in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A.

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SFARI, December 2011.

Here in the United States, psychologists have been talking about autism since Leo Kanner’s first description of the disorder in 1943. But in China, the first case wasn’t reported until 1982.

It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that knowledge of autism in China is still pretty spotty. According to a large survey published last month, just 58 percent of people in China can identify characteristic features of autism from multiple choices.

The researchers analyzed responses from a survey of 4,947 parents or caregivers of kindergarteners in Harbin, one of China’s largest cities. The survey asked multiple-choice questions about the disorder such as ‘What are the symptoms of autism?’ and ‘Do you think that autism is a rare disease?’ It also asked them what they would do if their child showed symptoms of the disorder.

Based on the responses, 94 percent had heard of autism, but many had gaps in their knowledge and held interesting misconceptions. Most correctly identified that autism affects communication, language and eye contact. Only 45.9 percent knew that it is also often accompanied by narrow interests and stereotyped behaviors, and only 36.7 percent recognized that children with autism may talk to themselves or talk repetitively. Two-thirds of respondents answered ‘No’ when asked, ‘Do you think that the onset of autism is only in childhood?’

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SFARI, November 2011.