Autism due to seizure disorder?

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I have an ASD, specifically Aspergers, this question however isn't about me, it is about a relative of mine, who is the same age as me.

Lets call this person John. John was perfectly normal child until the age of 1 when he developed epilepsy. Outside of the epilepsy John continued to developed normally. He learned to talk by age 2, and would play with kids his own age. Then at the age of 8 John suffered a series of catastrophic seizures, which fried his brain and nearly killed him. This basically destroyed any cognitive ability he had. Now John can no longer speak, he can no longer understand speech, he has no ability to think, or comprehend anything around him. The only thing John can do now is walk around aimlessly making strange garble noises. He basically has no higher mental function. John has been living like this for nearly 20 years now.

My question, would my relative be considered Autistic, and if not what would he be considered as?

No since it has to be present in early childhood. Maybe he be labeled as having mental retardation since it's present before 18 years of age. Is his IQ lower than 70? Or maybe he be labeled as having brain damage or cognitive disability. I don't know really.

Brain damage sounds about right. I have heard of severe epilepsy causing brain damage in childhood.