I agree with you because you obviously agree with me! While I know for a fact that many autistic people are hyper empaths (not just women), I believe the problem also lies in communication, not necessarily in processing.

I might get a deluge of information (emotional, sensory, cognitive) and be able to process it all, but the way I communicate my understanding of this doesn't make sense to the other person because they never made a minimal effort to learn different ways of listening, since they assume their convoluted communication style is the only way and everyone should conform to that.

That and of course misunderstandings based on processing times that differ from person to person and from environment to environment, like you said.

I have zero doubts that most people who are identified as "highly sensitive" by people who insist on this terminology are neurodivergent, not necessarily autistic, as you need more than sensory differences to be autistic, but the sensory part does play a major role.

As for the NPD stuff, ugh, that's... I have no words. I really would like to see more research done on NPD. I have a really strong hunch that all of these personality "disorders" (as opposed to actual illnesses) are coping mechanisms from traumatized people, yes, even those with zero empathy, who, wether we like it or not, are also neurodivergent.