Imagine a gaussian curve compared to the average (bi modal)
Autistic curve is somehow a little centered below the «average curve» when it comes to learning, because of the sociopathic trait making them tougher for them to enter the mold.
Then this curve will be more spread than the non autisitic one: those who fail will fail harder, whereas those who make it at the end will have learned either to compensate the lack of «empathy» with observations and/or working more the raw knowledge.
For every «gifted» autistic there is at least one that failed harder than average in academic field.
A handicap is like a marathon you are given to run with a distanced point of departure: it will be tougher for you in life and you may have to work more than the others to develop your raw running skills to make it to the finish line.
People able to make it, are both still handicaped (mold adaptation) but also they over-developed skills to compensate. But they often don't complain; they finally want to be seen as normal. So they silence their pain, and probably have met people like them that failed without deserving it. Plus, they have experienced bullying and may want to make a low profile to avoid it again.
HR in Tech industry at my opinion have developed an intuition of the profile of autistic coders and are taking advantages of them.
They are weak, they fear to unionize because they fear retaliation, and they don't like how they are represented.
Most of them who believed once that computer science would be the saving path, may now be disenchanted. But like people who turned the table once, maybe they don't care thinking of the next plan to finally achieve happiness for what remains of their life.
Overcoming a handicap gives you both confidence, and doubt.
Oh! By the way, a handicap does not come from your differences, but from the look the society is having on you.
I have no doubt, being black or a women... is not making you significantly different, the handicap comes from being treated differently... especially by Human Resources.
I don't buy that latter claim either, and it's worth talking about how the "autistic programming genius" stereotype is harmful to everyone, autistic or not, but writing an article that's centered around committing the base rate fallacy doesn't mean much of anything.