It really depends a lot on the kid and on the family. I stopped going to autism support groups because so many of the parents were so overwrought about it that they (IMO) were making their kids worse. It got the hell on my nerves. To me, all kids have their quirks and issues. Mine have the quirks and issues associated with being autistic. But my kids are high functioning, which makes it easier. We have mostly just adjusted as we've gone along. They are teenagers now, so there are new challenges. Like, stuff that was just a little strange in a cute six year old is creepy in a gawky fifteen year old guy, etc. Plus, the kid seriously needs to shave, but he has horrible eye/hand coordination so is he going to look like he ran into a glass patio door?
It's really hard to explain. It's not the end of the world and it's usually not tragic or whatever, but it can be hard for everyone involved. But one of the first people to tell me my kids had something 'wrong' with them and that they were probably autistic . . . I was still in denial. She was standing there telling me this stuff and behind her, her kid (who was about my kids' age) was hitting my kid with a plastic light saber over and over again for no reason. Not hard, but just to be irritating. My kid was just kind of ignoring it, doing his thing. It always stuck in my head that if her kid was normal, I'll keep mine, thankyouverymuch!