*How* the condition came to be has never been part of the diagnosis of ASD, or for many other illnesses/conditions for that matter. Does it matter that you got cancer because you were genetically predisposed to it, or because you smoked like a chimney? Not really - we still diagnosis it as cancer.

Not always - there's a fair number of people who were great at the technical aspects of their jobs who were promoted to managers, despite their complete and utter lack of people management skills. I've found the best software developers usually end up making the worst managers, yet that doesn't stop many companies from choosing who to promote like that.

Try comparing how much time the average American spends driving versus how much the average person in the UK spends driving before you start reading too much into those numbers. Spending over 2 hours a day in a car just commuting to work every day is very normal for someone in USA as they just don't have the option to just hop on a train like most of those in the UK.

So we should just let the general public decide for themselves how much "risk" they want to take with doctors? Hey this guy here on the street corner seems to stock a lot of "medications" and he says he's a doctor...

But TV and movies have already taught us that all aliens speak English, so is it really that far fetched that they'd use the metric system too?

My experience has been completely opposite. I'm a manager in software at a large company and have been for 10 years. The few VPs I've ever come across who actually cared I don't have a degree have been only ones we've hired from the US directly and brought up here. I haven't encountered the same problem at all with any of our VPs who were from Canada. In fact they usually just get a chuckle once they realize the only person in my team who doesn't have multiple degrees is me.

I agree though that we don't value college diplomas nearly as much as university degrees, but I think much of that has to do with those small private colleges/trade schools that'll spoon feed through a 1- or 2-year program for anyone willing to pay. I'd certainly consider a graduate from a recognized community college, but definitely not all colleges are created equal.