Autistic Adults in Relationships

We have lot of autistic folks here and one of the biggest challenges autistic adults face in relationships is communication, emotional expression, and reciprocity.

Many of us have special interests that can sometimes dominate conversations (I love cat, monkes, and pandas), and while sharing them is great but often we end up overwhelming or boring over loved one even with the best of intentions. Similarly, navigating emotional expression, reading social cues, and balancing reciprocity is more than often very challenging.
For example, I used to think saying “I love you” should be enough, after all, I meant it. Or I would express affection by sending books, long reads, or interesting things to share. But I realized that wasn’t always received the way I intended. that.

I know a lot of normal man also struggle with expression part but from what I have read it's different for autistic people as it often feels like stacking difficulty modifiers: not just an occasional mismatch in love languages, but a deeper, more systematic misalignment in how emotions are encoded, transmitted, and received

For those of you in relationships (or who have learned from past ones), what strategies or insights have helped you improve communication and maintain a healthy relationship? Any specific approaches that worked for balancing special interests, understanding a partner’s needs, or strengthening connection?