Autism and autistic spectrum disorders?

is autism an autistic spectrum disorder or does autism mean autistic spectrum disorder. which one is portrayed in rain man?

Autism falls on the Autism Spectrum. Other disorders on the spectrum include, Asperger's syndrome, Fragile X, Rett Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Autism itself also has different levels of functioning. Some people have high functioning autism, while others have low functioning autism. And then there are some in between.

The character, Raymond, from Rain Man had autism. But he also was a savant, meaning that he had a special skill that he was incredible at (his being math). Not all people with autism have savant skills. Actually I would say it is uncommon to have a savant skill.

Autism is one of the autism spectrum disorders, along with Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger's.

I believe the character in Rain Man is autistic, but he is considered to be a "savant" in regards to his incredible mathematical abilities.

Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders are different. Spectrum disorders include fragile x syndrome and many other similar disorders. They are called spectrum disorders since these disorders have similarities to the symptoms seen in autism and have a wider range that can be both mild to severe.

I'm assuming that speech delays and sensory processing disorders are also considered "in-spectrum" ???

My son has never been officially diagnosed either. Is it common to have such inaction with modern medical doctors? I mean we had more help from 2 OT's....what is going on here? I had to do tons of reading and basically make a self diagnosis!!!!

Autism or classic autism is part of the autism spectrum. The spectrum is like a rainbow if you will, on one end of the rainbow is severe or low functioning autism (nonverbal, unable to communicate ) on the other end High functioning autism (verbal with diffuculties with social interaction) and in the middle is not too severe but not as high functioning (PDDNOS-pervasive dev. disorder not otherwise specified) they are in the middle. Please do not think these are the only disorders associated with autism spectrum there are many more. When someone says autism usually they are referring to the spectrum. Rain man was savant autism and please remember that no 2 person have the same exact behavior issues or exact symptoms as each other, they are as different as snowflakes.