I think moving from a deficit-based understanding of autism to whatever "neurodiversity" is was ultimately a mistake.
Not only has it made the definition of autism so cloudy that people don't even know what it is anymore, it's also made it so that people have a convenient excuse not to work on improving their weaknesses.
I've met people who insist that they don't need to improve their social skills because autism is just who they are and asking them to change would be asking them to go against that. I've met people who are deeply inconsiderate of other people's feelings but refuse to even acknowledge it because "autistic people just experience empathy differently than neurotypicals." I've met people who are obviously struggling but won't admit that they're struggling because they think autism isn't a disability.
Deficits are not a bad thing. Deficits can be improved upon. It's when you tell someone their deficit is not a deficit that there's an issue.