Autism, reading and telling the time

Why does there appear to be a visual issue in autism? Many autistic people have difficulty reading a clock face but can read a digital clock. On a clock face it is possible to 'see' the time to come and the time gone by.  Not true on a digital clock you only see 'now'. giving no sense of passing time.  Attention can get fixed on a part of the visual scene making saccading around it difficult. You need to do a visual search with a clock face. To understand the emotions on a human face your eyes need to do a visual search of the human face.
Fluent reading needs controlled attention shifting as you read. Many people identified as autistic years ago turned out to be dyslexic. Many people identified as dyslexic ..........
Is there a connection ?