| This is a very good point. The only problem would be if people with an ASD are highly self-selecting into the technical field, thus being a significant influence. Below is what I could find in academic journals.
TL;DR it is not significant. There are 2 studies I could find which found that: - likelihood of autism (or being on the spectrum) is 3 to 7 times higher among maths students (Cambridge university, 1.85% vs. 0.24% in the control group)[1]. - [2]: People with an ASD (autism spectrum disorder), "have one of the lowest overall college enrollment rates", but "young adults with an ASD who attend college are most likely to pursue STEM majors".
It is noted in the analytics section that those with an ASD have a 34.31% enrollment rate in STEM fields with a heavy bias towards maths and CS. This compares to >32.6% in the general population [3] (data from 2012). So, it looks like the percentage you listed are correct, with a potential of it being quite a bit lower due to hiring practices within the industry. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26181845 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620841/ [3] https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-08.html |