I found this post on a Facebook site that supports people with autism. It brings up many points made in "Deconstructing Data Viz." It points out that a simple horizontal bar chart does a poor job of illustrating a "spectrum" that is more like varying amounts of multiple symptoms than a simple "less severe" to "more severe" gradation. The circle charts that the author created are like pie charts, but with each "slice" of pie further divided into gradually increased size layers. The author further uses color to designate other variables. One downside to this chart is a lack of sources or authentication, other than the author's opinion and experience. But it is a great example of how one kind of chart can be more effective than another.
