"My child is autistic" is something you will never hear come out of my mouth. Like many other adjectives to describe people, they tend to reduce a person to a limiting characteristic.
If you have diabetes or bipolar disorder, would you rather be introduced as "My cousin Sofia who is schizophrenic", "my brother Pete who is diabetic" or as "my cousin Sofia with whom I have a good relationship" or "my brother Pete who is so nice"?
Society loves to label people:you are this or that. It creates for others a false sense of control over the unknown. What should you expect when you meet someone? If you have basic information, then you feel you have more control.
"Austistic" is an adjective that describes a permanent and inherent characteristic of a person. Is Andrew "a sweet, funny, loving little boy with Autism" or is he "autistic"? Autism does not qualify and describe who Andrew is, just like diabetes, high blood pressure or bipolar disorder does. Yes, Andrew "has" Autism, but Autism does not define who he is. If someone refers as someone else as "Autistic", please tell them to refer to this person as someone living with Autism.
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