The choice of words on the website of a contact centre puts me off contacting them. They talk about autism spectrum disorder. Well, most people still do. But there are now people and organisations that use the term “autism spectrum”.
They also write that the disorder causes severe psychological suffering for the child and his family, limits his ability to adapt to everyday life and jeopardises his academic and professional success. I understand what they mean. But I am more of the opinion that the lack of fit between the individual and the environment causes the suffering and the danger.
You write that ASD is a real public health problem. I can’t imagine that these descriptions help parents or autistic children, adolescents or adults to accept autism, learn about it and find a good way of dealing with it. I also think it has a negative impact on the public perception of the autism spectrum. I would consider the long waiting times for a diagnosis, the lack of knowledge and the difficulties in dealing with it to be a real problem.
This is probably where different worlds of experience, language sensitivities, training and goals come together. As they represent these terms on a public, professional level, I would also like to point out the perspective here.