"He is not disabled"
Really?! The Equality Act guidance specifically mentions Autism:
"Disability has a broad meaning. It is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.‘Substantial’ means more than minor or trivial. ‘Impairment’ covers, for example, long-term medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes, and fluctuating or progressive conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or motor neurone disease. A mental impairment includes mental health conditions (such as bipolar disorder or depression), learning difficulties (such as dyslexia) and learning disabilities (such as autism
and Down’s syndrome)."
Government guidance also doesn't actually state that an official diagnosis is required - although it is generally beneficial in that it makes it easier to enforce your rights.
From a different doc, also govt:
"The Act defines a disabled person as a person with a disability. A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (S6(1)).
A2. This means that, in general:
• the person must have an impairment that is either physical or
mental (see paragraphs A3 to A8);
• the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial
(see Section B);
• the substantial adverse effects must be long-term (see Section C);
and
• the long-term substantial adverse effects must be effects on
normal day-to-day activities (see Section D)."
The paragraphs further down mention developmental disorders such as autism, but it also states further down that:
"The term mental or physical impairment should be given its ordinary meaning. It is not necessary for the cause of the impairment to be established, nor does the impairment have to be the result of an illness" and "It is the effects of these impairments that need to be considered, rather than the underlying conditions themselves"
I have Aspergers - I'm high functioning, hold down a well paid job and only got diagnosed in my late 20s. In spite of appearances (most people would never know) it most certainly is a disability.