Autism in juveniles and adults is principally marked by the damage it does to 3 crucial areas of relationship building with others: socialization, communication, and behavior.

Autism impairs social interactions:

• The person with autism lacks many of the nonverbal behaviors, such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expressions, body postures, and gestures, that help us flourish in and regulate our social interactions.
• This person fails to develop relationships with others on the same developmental level.
• Because this person is unable to point out, talk about, or show any things that are of interest to others, he or she cannot spontaneously share enjoyments, interests, or achievements.
• This person cannot reciprocate when placed in some situation that calls for social or emotional interaction.

Autism impairs the ability to communicate:

• This person will experience delays in language development, or may not develop language at all. Nor will this person make any attempt to compensate for this lack by expanding alternative modes of communication such as gestures, writing, or mime.
• Even those individuals with adequate speech will be unable to initiate or sustain a conversation with others.
• Such individuals will use stereotyped and repetitive language, or will develop a completely private language all their own.

Autism spawns interests in repetitive activities and patterns of behavior.

• The person becomes preoccupied with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal either in their intensity or focus.
• The person adheres stubbornly to specific routines or rituals that have no real function.
• The person moves the body in stereotyped and repetitive ways, such as hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements.
• The person is persistently preoccupied with parts of objects.

From the above, it is sadly apparent that a person with severe autism cannot build and nurture full relationships with other people.