Yeah, "thinks or reacts to things differently than most people" is way too broad.
It also shouldn't be a binary classifier. Some people are definitely "autistic", and some are definitely not, but many of the personality traits that define autism are continuous: e.g. some people are barely distracted by loud noises (normal), others are distracted by loud but not quiet noises (normal), others are distracted by specific quiet noises like chewing (autism?), others are very distracted by any noise even with noise-cancelling headphones (autism?).
I think people should just say "I have sensory issues" (or clarify "noise really distracts me"), "I'm bad at reading emotions", "my mood is really affected by others". And accommodations maybe do need to be binary (or graded), but should ideally be informal, and definitely be for specific traits instead of "autism": e.g. don't give someone who thinks methodically but isn't bothered by loud environments their own room (unless you give everyone that), but don't assign them vague tasks or they'll perform poorly.
It also shouldn't be a binary classifier. Some people are definitely "autistic", and some are definitely not, but many of the personality traits that define autism are continuous: e.g. some people are barely distracted by loud noises (normal), others are distracted by loud but not quiet noises (normal), others are distracted by specific quiet noises like chewing (autism?), others are very distracted by any noise even with noise-cancelling headphones (autism?).
I think people should just say "I have sensory issues" (or clarify "noise really distracts me"), "I'm bad at reading emotions", "my mood is really affected by others". And accommodations maybe do need to be binary (or graded), but should ideally be informal, and definitely be for specific traits instead of "autism": e.g. don't give someone who thinks methodically but isn't bothered by loud environments their own room (unless you give everyone that), but don't assign them vague tasks or they'll perform poorly.