Autism is a disorder. Having a different brain structure is (not necessarily) a disorder but an observation. Having different traits is also not a disorder.
_If_ this is true, and I think autism could cause distinctive traits or disorders that impact quality of life.
Thankfully this is hypothesis is actually testable. If proven true, then autism would logically be able to cause changes in brain operation that are positive as well as negative.
Thus “traits” is a helpful word to include in the discussion.