Why is autism synonymous with mental retardation?

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I think there's too much oversimplification of the IQ/mental retardation controversy fueled by those with an agenda. Why not just basically admit that there is a small percentage of autistics who are very highly intelligent and capable, while there is a large percentage of autistics who aren't and are very impaired, and then make that understanding prevalent among the public at large? Nobody has said to rely on IQ for all predictions, and many who gain opinions about IQ based on the popular press don't know much about the IQ test, and aren't aware of many of the facts that actual professionals could tell them.

I hate it. I can pass as NT but am trying to be out of the closet. Every so often, I come across a person who changes the way they treat me when they find out. It happened again just about two weeks ago. I told someone. He has spoken very slowly to me and been extremely condescending ever since. The sad thing is that he teaches me music, where my obsessive devotion to learning the instrument and good hearing give me an advantage.

I feel that somehow this inaccurate lumping of the two might come about from the notion persons with severe classical autism often have difficulty which can affect his/her cognitive abilites but, honestly, I don't think that should be seen as marking someone as mental retearded.Realistically I had suffered a traumatic brain injury 1yr before my diagnosis of AS therefore, I did not score verry high.Still, I'm not found of professionals making the notion that autism and mental retardation are somehow the same...

I think that it's because of the social problems that we have. A lot of us don't think before we open our mouths, and that might be interpreted as Mental Retardation.