Speed of Dark   by Elizabeth Moon

It's about a bunch of autistic people. They are employed and well looked after by a large organization that appreciates how clever and useful autistics can be. Compared to others, however, their upkeep is expensive. Then a treatment becomes available to cure autism. Two issues arise from this: will an autistic person be the same without the autism, and is it right for the organization that looks after them to force them to have the treatment? That's what the book is all about.

As well as treating the straight issues, however, the book gives us insight into the daily lives of these people, with some emphasis on the bullshit they have to put up with, and with the romantic entanglements they encounter.

So now I know what autism is, and I'm grateful to Elizabeth Moon for the deep insight.