NEW YORK - Zachary Lewis is looking for a date with a "positive attitude." Josh Wolf would like to spend time with someone "polite and friendly." Zaheer Malik wants a girlfriend who is "not too serious and not too silly, but in between."

On Monday night, about a dozen participants gathered to make ziti, salad and garlic bread and learn the cha-cha at a pre-Valentine's Day party.

At "You and I" events, the participants - the guys outnumber the women 16 to three - learn "social-sexual skills," with specifics on body language, grooming and conversation starters. There are also sections on feelings, body awareness and sex education.

The program's coordinator, Bobra Fyne, says it can be tough for parents to realize that their children are adults who are ready for relationships.

Jeanette Reyes says her 20-year-old autistic son, Anthony Hasan, "loves girls dearly" but doesn't know how to connect with them. She decided it would be better for him to learn about dating from people she trusted.

Wolf's mother, Roberta Wolf, says the dancing is a "big plus" for her 28-year-old son, who works in the mailroom at Goldman Sachs. "He loves to dance, and any opportunity for a dance party is the biggest draw for him," she said.

In an exercise last week, group members drew hearts. Outside the hearts, they completed the sentence "I want somebody who looks like ..." Inside the hearts, they completed the sentence "I want somebody who treats me ..."

Members also practice phone conversations and have workshops on how to say no and how to get out of difficult situations. A holiday session was about gift-giving on a budget.

"You and I" is run by the YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network, which serves more than 20,000 people. The free program is funded by a state grant.

YAI President Philip Levy says the program speaks to a theory of Sigmund Freud, that a healthy person is a someone with the ability to work and love.

This is cache, read story here