A couple of things I feel about autism, coming from someone who has it.
1) I don't really care if someone goes around and uses the word "autistic" to describe someone being an ass, because 1) I know they're not referencing me and 2) they're not, most times, talking about someone who is severely incapacitated, and you can tell when they are.
2) The bigger problem with autism is honestly the stigma associated with it. Autism is an incredibly broad subject that defines people who are mildly impaired to those who cannot function in society without great amounts of assistance; however, since people fear that a child may become the latter, they end up hindering the former. Yes, this does happen and yes I've seen it first hand, and it's freaky. The ONLY thing you can generalize about autistics is the thing that defines them in the first place - the DSM definition (which is being updated). I've heard people say all sorts of stupid **** to my face, such as 1) They're commonly criminals, 2) they don't have emotions, 3) they don't like roller coasters, 4) they don't care about people dying, and 5) they're incapable of being judgmental.
The biggest problem is very simple - most autistic people are not so severely incapacitated that they can't have independent lives. Many are capable with fairly mild amounts of assistance. They may have peculiarities but for the most part if 1) people are respectful and 2) they learn how to deal with people who hurt them then usually mild to moderate autistics are able to overcome the ********. 1 is particularly difficult to deal with but that's what life is all about.
Sadly it's "scary" in the face of most adults, the idea of their child being autistic, because of this stigmatization. Think about it. To other people, you're considered wrong, because of the way your brain works - but to you, that's normal. Then people try to tell you how to handle your life and tell you how you can't do this or that or should do this or that and they talk down to you. I'm smart, I have an IQ of 134. I don't need to be talked down to because of these people.
But I mean at least in my own personal experience I have found that there is always someone out there who will look beyond your flaws and accept you for everything you are, autistic things or not. I have a lot of talents (as do many autistics), and how I see it is a different brand in most cases. People just wanna focus on all the wrong things instead of all the right.
Honestly I don't see what's so bad about something that makes me analytical, gets things right, observant, intelligent, knowledgeable on an (important) narrow subject and able to concentrate fully on tasks.