Thanks for that Brighty  

Bonnie- "It may be preferable to use the term "Aspergian" to describe our population, for the same reason Edan chose it: because it sounds like an ethnic minority, whereas "autism" sounds like a medical condition"

The difficulty with that is that those with autism feel excluded by terms that originate from the word asperger, such as apsies, aspergian etc, we had complaints when we set up aspies for freedom that the name was exclusive, as we had already set the site up and purchased domain names etc it was too late to change everything, but I certainly appreciate their point of view.
Autism relates to asperger's, but asperger's doesnt mean those with low-functioning autism.
We cant do anything about the fact that it sounds medical right now, but with different usage and positive aspects considered we could present it from our more pro active view point.
At the moment we still have to work with language that is readily recognised internationally so I think clarity and communication must override in importance at first.
I dont see autism spectrum in any way as a negative term, I dont know how others feel about it.
It would be very good to have a statement from an expert in the field, once we prepare something, we can ask them to view it, as they would not provide a comment to something half done in case the meaning was eventually altered.