It’s not really that people have autism that makes them respond positively to deep pressure, it’s that people with autism very often have sensory processing issues in addition to being on the spectrum. Many people with ADHD have sensory issues too, and you can have neither disorder and still have sensory issues.
It’s a wide-spread enough reaction that they sell weighted blankets for both children and adults. I have ADHD and I’m contemplating buying one of these myself. There are other weighted products too, so you might also like browsing this page.
I’d be likely to freak out, but then, I tend to freak out when I’m physically restricted (tell me to climb a rock wall, lunch is up there, and I’m likely to do it; tell me I have to wear a safety harness to do it and I’ll find another source of food). I’ve seen babies have different reactions to being constrained, and to being constrained in different ways, but IANAPsychologist and have no idea whether or how much those preferences are lifelong.
I remember a similar device mentioned in the title essay in Oliver Sacks book An Anthropologist on Mars. Some googling shows that, yep, it is the same person.
One of the women found it pleasurable. However, I’m not sure if that really happened back when she conducted her experiment or if it was movie fiction. In any case, they made it seem like not everyone had the same reaction to being in the device.