> The reason many people think autism is a faux disorder is because it includes everything from an individual who simply sits in the corner endlessly flapping his hands, completely unable to function as a human being, to Bill Gates or Elon Musk.

Autism and intellectual disability are different things. Successful people like Bill Gates can also be depressed, as can somebody who sits in a corner. That doesn't say anything interesting about depression, nor does it say anything interesting about autism. Same with cancer or male pattern baldness or really just about any condition you care to think of.