It's fascinating that you brought up learned characteristics of autism. Our upbringing has a greater influence on our behavior than we may realize. Due to overstimulation and a lack of social interaction, many people today display behaviors that resemble disorders like autism or ADHD. Knowing this enables us to treat people with greater empathy rather than presumption..
Our attention is being eroded by the way and type of content we consume. Our social skills by the lack of diverse interaction we have with people. Perhaps empathy isn't what is needed, but a change in our behaviours is.