This sounds a bit like people who go "haha, I'm so OCD, I like my pencils all pointing the wrong way" - incorrect self-diagnosis. "Slightly autistic personality" unfortunately seems to be fairly frequently used as an excuse to be an asshole.
And yet there may be a connection between a predisposition to work in tech and autism. See http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.htm... for the argument but also http://www.kennethrobersonphd.com/silicon-valley-breeding-gr... for an objection.
Maybe, or maybe wealthier folks are more likely to a) have computers for their kids b) have access to doctors for diagnoses and c) be white. We'll have to get the causation right.
I'm talking about the "I've never been formally diagnosed but..." and "I think I'm a little on the spectrum" sort of comments that often wind up in threads about programmers being socially awkward.
Side note: having Aspergers doesn't make you an asshole.
My experience of people (medically diagnosed) with Asperger's does not support that statement.
It's the people who are aware of and excuse being an asshole by a self-diagnosed "oh I'm probably on the spectrum" statement I've issues with.
Wasn't homosexuality treated as a mental illness?
Sure it doesn't, but the context was diagnosing it. As in recognizing it as a disease.
the identification of the nature of an
illness or other problem by examination
of the symptoms.