This is something that confounds him, as he believes that his IQ, physical health, finances, and social status should otherwise make him an appealing mate.

This turns out to be something more easily done in theory, as his questionnaire fails to produce a satisfactory woman and alienates many potential candidates.

The two manage to eliminate most of the attendees via DNA testing, which Don secretly does in the university laboratory under the guise of it being an official project.

Eventually, the "Father Project" eliminates all but a few people, two of which require that Don and Rosie travel to New York City.

Once there, Rosie forces Don to abandon his schedules in exchange for a spontaneous trip through the city, which he finds enjoyable.

After some thinking, Don decides that he will test Gene and that he will also try to persuade Rosie to marry himself, as he has discovered that he is genuinely attracted to her.

Rosie inevitably discovers that Gene may be her real father and she confronts him over this along with his wife Claudia, who attempted to ignore his womanising.

This test confirms that Phil was her biological father after all, and the whole issue was raised by Rosie's mother because of Gene's negligence in explaining to his students the rules of eye colour inheritance.

Jo Case, writing in Australian Book Review, says 'the overall effect will be...to increase understanding [of autism] and to refute some common myths.

[17] Autism activist Stuart Neilson writes 'I loved The Rosie Project, which had some acute observation of people like me.

[20] Conversely, Researcher Anna N. de Hooge sees the book as supporting 'Aspie supremacy' which she compares with anti-autistic ableism as 'two sides of the same coin', while noting the concept has its defenders.