Autism is no longer called Autusm it is now ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder.
They have lumped all, OCD...Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Ashburgers, Autism, ADSD, Disbractisia, Hypa Activity all togather as you will find if you are Austic you will have traits of lots of them.
Have a look here:
Autistic spectrum disorder Introduction - Health encyclopaedia - NHS Direct
The National Autistic Society - Statistics: how many people have autistic spectrum disorders?
Before we got a diag our son was first Hypa Active, then we went through a few and now we have a proper diag and he can cope...That is the point the child needs to accept, that they are differant and not the world accept them.
The idea is that there is a Spectrum of Autism from "normal" at one end to "Rain man" in the middle to "very bad" at the other...(I am not being rude) and he will be some where in that.
My Son went from Very Aggressive and sleeping 3 hrs a night at 3 to mainstream schooling at 11....ok with a bit of FUN in between.
The main point is you need to get you child assessed by the Local Authority and try to get a Special Needs Statement...STATEMENTED in school talk, so you get the help you need, they may offer Action or Action Plus but you need to get a statement.
If you need any more info...PM and I will send a fuller answer.