Must be something to do with Asperger's?
I don't know the answer to that but it's a really interesting thought.
I learnt how to do cryptic crosswords by 'helping' my dad with the Guardian prize crossword on Saturdays, but have subsequently learnt a lot more from reading Don Manley's book and from following the blog at fifteensquared.net. You definitely get better with practice - it's partly down to learning the techniques and partly down to learning the standard crossword tropes (eg 'sailor' in a clue often stands for the letters = TAR or ABS).
The best clues avoid the tropes and clichés. Araucaria was always good at coming up with original and witty clues, which is one of the reasons he was so loved by progressively minded solvers, and why he was hated by the more conservative types.