I would seriously doubt that little girl is autistic in any sense of the word (I read the article, too, and was outraged as well).
That little girl was probably never told "no" when she was tiny, and now because the parent's can't or won't control her, they expect they can dump her in the school system and make it their problem to figure out how to deal with her.
You're right - it makes it all that much more difficult for children who really do have medical conditions to be accepted and understood when idiots like this use it as a convenient excuse for not disciplining their child.
Not as big a vent - but one just the same!