Some explanation, maybe?

Someone with any actual knowledge of the subject would be a good thing, but my primary research has this pegged as something else I don't believe in. I recently met someone that claimed to be Autistic, so that's why the research, but if these are the symptoms/characteristics:

Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
Difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words
Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
Laughing, crying, showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
Prefers to be alone; aloof manner
Tantrums
Difficulty in mixing with others
May not want to cuddle or be cuddled
Little or no eye contact
Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
Sustained odd play
Spins objects
Inappropriate attachments to objects
Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
No real fears of danger
Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
Uneven gross/fine motor skills
Not responsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf although hearing tests in normal range.

Who doesn't have it with that list? I would hope that they wouldn't just say you have it if you fit one of the symptoms, or even a few of them, but still. It's apparently some lacking facility to have social interaction, like the early indicators are if you don't have a certain level of communication skills by two years old.

Sorry, but it seems like another load of crap to me. I have a history of this whole not believing in common problems thing, some of you might know. But the fact that I don't want to talk to you doesn't make me have a mental/neurological issue. Especially if it's YOU that I don't want to talk to, lol.

But like I said, if someone has better information than: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=autismcharacteristics I welcome your information.