How to describe autistic people without using stereotypes

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Lately, I've been trying to figure out ways to describe autistic people and/or why I've had issues with some autistic people without using stereotypes.

It is hard to describe autistic people as one big group without resorting to stereotypes because everyone is so unique. You have one million autistic people: unless you resort to some general characteristics found in most autistic people, then you will be telling one million stories.

What do you mean by stereotypes?

I've seen 'stereotypes' used in three different ways:

* inaccurately attributing a trait to a group that the group does not have (or no more than expected by chance) - to avoid this kind just make sure you've got the facts right (an example would be thinking women aren't very intelligent)

* overattributing a trait, such as seeing a trait as present in 80% when it's really present in 30% - to avoid this kind be clear about how common each trait is, whether it's near-universal or just present more than average (an example would be thinking all people with Tourette Syndrome have swearing tics)

* making generalizations about a group of individuals - this is unavoidable unless you want to individually describe each and every autistic person you know

Autistic.