× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Dear Annie: I am a college-age male and in desperate need of your advice. There is in my class a wonderful young woman, someone with whom I have talked often but never deeply. I want to get to know her better but simply do not know how; in fact, I do not even know whether she is as interested in me as I am in her. This is made worse by my autism, which prevents me from detecting emotions and social cues.

What should I do? I seek someone whose hand I can hold and whose eyes light up when they look on me. That is all I want and all I need. -- Forsaken

Dear Forsaken: There are a great number of books that go into more depth about the unwritten rules of dating than I ever could here, and some are geared toward people with autism -- Kerry Magro's ''Autism and Falling in Love'' and Joe Navarro's ''Ten 'Must Know' Body Language Secrets for Dating,'' to name just two.

But I will say that the best romantic relationships start as friendships, so you're off to a good start simply by talking to this young woman often. Perhaps you could ask whether she'd like to get coffee sometime. If she says yes, take the opportunity to build a connection by asking about her background -- where she is from, whether she has any siblings, what she's hoping to do after college, etc. Tell her about yourself in equal measure.