I don't think it's our job to educate the world. You need to decide who really needs to understand this. If you are talking about extended family... then writing letters, talking about it in pieces, and sending them books on the topic sometimes help. If you are talking about medical personnel, then you should first find out if they are interested and then the same methods. If not, move on to another provider. Now school personnel.... that's a huge topic.

One thing that worked when mine were very young was having a medic alert emblem front and center. People are less likely to say something nasty about a child they can "see" is sick, and it's a good idea in case you get in an accident or your child is separated from you.

One of my favorite t-shirts says something like: "Yes, the lights are on. Yes, I'm home. You're just looking in the wrong window."

@rmnet: I think neighbors are a tricky situation. Try to focus your "education" efforts to any issues that might be going on. So do the old-fashion thing, bring over some baked goods, knock on the door, and ask if you can talk to them about your child. Preferably do this first meeting without your child being present. Then seek their help. Explain your childs difficulties. Ask them to keep an eye out for him and list any "help" specifics. But start small. And the end of the conversation, ask if there's anything you can do to help as well. Polite, respectful. Don't point out anything bad their kids are doing in this first meeting. You are trying to get them to be on your kids' team. Save the struggles between the kids for the next meeting. And then always mention at least one good thing and tackle only one bad thing per time.

You can try to get this kids more involved in your son's life if you think they are good peer examples. There's a ton of literature out there for setting up peer interactions.

I have heard people say they had note cards that they would hand out to people that explained Autism and even saw a place where they sold them but it was so long ago I don't remember any of the details now. But you could always print some out from home.