I wasn't really commenting on the veracity of the ASD diagnosis - it's quite conceivable that there was confusion over the exact diagnosis, or that JA was referring to what he had been told as a child. For example, we used to tell DD1 that she had a "squiffy brain" because even the medics can't agree what her brain condition should be called.
What I was referring to as 'damage to the world of Autism' is more about the fact that if he was not nonverbal until age 11, and if he didn't learn to read and write at 18 (which isn't actually contradicted by having 2 GCSEs because one of the SEN adjustments is to have a scribe), then all those parents who are staring at their nonverbal, minimally verbal or language disordered children, hoping beyond hope that they too can overcome their difficulties, have been badly misled.
Some children do catch up. Glue ear, for example. Once treated, because they have normal intelligence and patterns of learning, these children will catch up. It is known that bilingual/trilingual children will present with a language delay in earlier years, but then will develop fluency. Children with pure speech and language disorders can be taught specific tools to understand language and because their barrier was language, they can catch up. Dyslexic students can be given software and resources to overcome the barriers they face, or use a dictaphone or scribe to communicate their thoughts.
Children with ASD have a pervasive disorder of development. I know there are some that would argue that it isn't a disorder and that they have super powers and that it is society that fails to accommodate their shiny uniqueness. However, reality bites, and in today's world, believe it that a child who is nonverbal and has a disorder that interferes with social interaction is going to be behind.
What people don't realise is that when there is global developmental delay the gap widens as time goes on. Think about it. Child X, average NT, develops 12 months worth of skills in 12 months. Child Y, globally delayed, is only developing 6 months of skills in 12 months.
So, at 3 years old, when they hit preschool and their only observer is not their parent, child X presents like a 3 year old. Child Y presents like a 1½ year old. 2 years later at 5, they start school. Child X is presenting like a 5 year old. Child Y presents like a 2½ year old. So now, the gap between them has increased to 2½ years from 1½ years.
For a child with GDD to 'catch up' they have to develop faster than the average child, and if they were going to do that, they wouldn't be delayed.
Now, there will be outliers. Some children plateau, others click later, etc. But for a child to be nonverbal at 11, and unable to read or write until after school age, it is phenomenal that they would be studying at postgraduate level and incredible that they might reach the standards of a prestigious university.
Parents battle to accept that their child will not follow the traditional path and that no effort on their part will 'catch their child up'. It's a huge shock and I know that for me, the realisation hit again and again, as key ages/stages occurred. When your child does not line up, does not sit in the circle, does not care what all the other children are doing....the list goes on.
False hope is incredibly damaging.