Published on 12, July, 2020
”What if we are not odd, but Aspergers is the next step in evolution for humans?”
We are no less loving or empathetic than other humans. As someone once said, we perhaps feel too much.
So perhaps we evolutionary firsts!
It's a fun idea, as it means that NT's would be tomorrow's Neanderthals, but I don't think it's particularly plausible.
The current 'rise' in ASD has more to do with better awareness of the diagnostic criteria than anything else. There is also evidence that we share ASD with other apes and that it could always have been in the mix rather than being a new phenomenon.
For an evolutionary change to occur, the change must have conferred an advantage that allowed the individuals affected to breed more effectively than those not affected. People with ASD, or Asperger's in particular as your question says, don't outnumber those without but we do obviously exist so it seems that, while useful (otherwise we wouldn't exist at all by now), it's not an overall evolutionary advantage (otherwise we would surely outnumber NT's by now).
Shall we suggest a captive breeding program! lol