This is not from my professional perspective (that's actually been covered pretty well above!), but from my personal one: I was in a similar grade placement, at a similar age, and while not as motivated a student as your DD
, what does strike a chord is the description of sociological studies on adolescent behavior, which is exactly how I managed peer social relations at that point in my life. I don't think I've ever been described as lacking empathy by my clients, co-workers, or friends (except for my spouse, who thinks I should coddle Someone's aches and ills more--but that's something else entirely!), but I definitely dealt with the developmental gap between pre-adolescent and adolescent by studying and categorizing my schoolmates. Actually, in high school, it transformed into social currency for me, as I was perceived as a reliable source of objective, rational, drama-free advice on social interactions, by a number of peers.
And of my sibs, the one with the least patience for people (especially ignorance and incompetence) is in medicine, and quite effective as a clinician.
So not only are these behaviors not necessarily indicative of the autistic spectrum, they are not even intrinsically absolute predictors of suitability/unsuitability for helping professions.
