I don't mean that women consciously think: "autism? Gross!" It's more the case that they turned off by attributes that are common in autism, like social awkwardness or lack of self esteem. I've heard many women share that what turned them off from some guy was that he was awkward.
I've often heard: "you have to be confident. Women like men with confidence." Everyone says that as if one could simply choose to be confident like it was magic. When someone has spent his entire life being told that everything he does or says is wrong or unacceptable, how do expect that person to "just have confidence"? Furthermore, even when an autistic person is feeling confident, we will not express that in the same way ballistic people do or expect others to. When I feel confident, I go around grinning like an idiot, and/or get carried away info dumping about some topic nobody else cares about. And sure enough, the result is always that I get socially penalized for it in one way or another. And, surprise of surprises, that leaves me not wanting to repeat the experience.
Is also like to add that this affects men in particular much more than women. To be clear, I don't mean to say that women on the spectrum don't face many challenges and even danger in many way. But in this very specific aspect, men do not care if women are shy, quiet, or awkward; they'll still approach them regardless. This simply does not work the other way around.