I recently read an article on the Intense World Syndrome that offers an alternative hypothesis to autism. There were a number of startling similarities to children with gifted characteristics in the Markhams hypothesis.
"The behavior that results is not due to cognitive deficits—the prevailing view in autism research circles today—but the opposite, they say. Rather than being oblivious, autistic people take in too much and learn too fast. While they may appear bereft of emotion, the Markrams insist they are actually overwhelmed not only by their own emotions, but by the emotions of others."
https://medium.com/p/70c3d64ff221/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518049/#B86
