Yes, I agree with what esr says here but I would add along the same lines that it seems like a necessary condition for success in difficult fields is devoting a great deal of time and energy to that field and the problems one is working on. One of the defining characteristics of autism aside from social difficulties seems to be having narrow intense interests. This seems to match very well what is needed for success, so it doesn't seem surprising that autistic people, at least the high functioning kind (ie. those with what used to be called Asperger's) would be more likely to succeed in these fields than others. But where is the line between normal and autistic then ? I think that to be a good mathematician you need an intense interest in mathematics (an interest that could be considered idiosyncratic since it is somewhat rare are in the general population). Does that mean that all good mathematicians are "autistic" at some level or is it just a manifestation of normal neuroplasticity ? I think that if you spend a career doing mathematics, or writing programs and little time dealing with
monkey social rituals because you don't see the value in it you will end up exhibiting behavior that could be considered at least autistic-like.
Of course the danger is that if you ignore these rituals and you don't become wildly successful, either because your intelligence, though significantly above normal, is a bit below that needed for making world changing discoveries, or maybe even because of bad luck, then you risk personal catastrophe because you will have cut yourself off from the primary mechanisms society provides for maintaining one's livelihood.
In the end though I guess I believe that a person should try to be who they fundamentally are, rather than what society wants us to be. If you do that as life progresses you become ever more strongly who you authentically are. The risk of ultimate disaster is one that must be faced with courage.
Perhaps one day society will evolve to the point where it will allow each of us a little more affordance for following our true path. Unfortunately that isn't the world in which I have lived.