The problem is partly in how people communicate - as asked above, is it okay to discuss or debate wheelchair use / autism - of course it is, we live in a land of free speech and this is a discussion forum, those who want no discussion really shouldn't be here, there is no right to tell others that discussion or debate is not allowed... There is a HUGE difference between discussion or debate on the one hand and provocation / being goady / being a troll / trying to upset on the other - that is what is not allowed in any thread, whether about disability or anything else...
Samcro is quite right in her latest point that this is not about one thread, it is not about autism per se, it is about a pattern of leaving up threads where they have clearly been started to goad - I can't see anyone on this thread who disagrees with that - such threads should be removed...
However there are still people on here who do themselves no favours by telling everyone else what they can and can't do / what is allowed within any debate - that is surely MNHQs job and ultimately if any of us don't like how they do it we leave the forum - it is their choice, what they are doing is not illegal, therefore the balance is up to them.
ref. definitions for Autism - as I was trying to explain, there has been historically, and still can be disagreement over how you define / label / describe / etc. autism / aspergers / etc. If there is no cohesion within the industry - and there isn't, then how does anyone expect the public who are not involved to understand? There is a public perception of Autism and it is those on the autistic spectrum who are in a place where they are really not going to find it easy to fit within society - e.g. non-verbal might be one sign of that... The public perception is that Aspergers is different as it relates to people who while they have some of the signs or traits can still hold down a job, live in society etc. - but may have rub points.
This is not some form of disability top trumps, there is no disagreement on this thread that autism is a disability... nor that everyone within the ASD umbrella has a disability - however the level of disability will vary as it does with any form of disability - as does how it affects life... As others have said above, there are those who are clearly on the spectrum who don't see it as a disability and will be offended if it is described as such, who therefore has the right to define what / when it is a disability? The disabling factors of ASD are around ability to cope with societal norms - that might be different from a physical disability as arguably were societal norms to change then those not on the spectrum could be argued to be disabled (as per the comment on scientists above) - that means that there is a philosophical element of discussion as to why Autism = disability which is as much a debate on society's failings as on disability. So that establishes immediately a good valuable reason for debate and discussion - and lets not forget, there are many academics and medical professionals who will and do debate these same topics - they are valid lines of debate - once again it means that back to the original point - debate = okay, being goady is not - and MNHQ make the decision as to which something might be, and no they shouldn't get it wrong, but they will at times...
There is a good post here: spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/why-fold-asperger-syndrome-into-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-the-dsm-5/ on DSM-5 and bringing Asperger terminology back into the ASD umbrella - it is a good overview of why there was an issue previously - but it is important to remember that the public's perception and understanding of terminology has considerable lag behind that of the professionals - who themselves often are slow in adopting new phraseology - often the public can be up to a generation behind as children diagnosed under one approach continue in the public perception as the same 'label' - so while this change is on the way, and ultimately should be helpful, it is very understandable that in the public eye there is still confusion - and that is back to the original point I was making, if the public see confusion, how are they supposed to moderate a forum?