ASD... or just related

So a friend of mine was asking about Autism Spectrum disorders because one of his professors pointed out that he may be high functioning autism.  It intrigued me so I started looking into it and in my research travels it became apparent to me that my son has quite a few of the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome (and had even more when he was younger and his allergies were out of control). 
This was both a surprise and not a surprise at the same time, since I never considered ASD as part of his issues before.  Does this mean I think my son has a mild ASD, no,  not really.  On the other hand I know he has autoimmune issues (since he is being treated for them now) and  as his immune system gets strong some of the worse Asperger's traits have faded.  It just got me to wondering if ASD and autoimmune diseases have more in common than the medical community thinks.

My husband is not sure that this information is at all helpful, but it does actually help me to see his behavior in a new light.  It also means that I had to try some of the techniques out there for dealing with Apserger's and  I discovered that they do indeed work on my son as well. Of course it doesn't get rid of the general problems we can still have on a "bad day" but it makes the rest of the days easier and gives me a tool chest when I am feeling overwhelmed and helpless about his behavior and my lack of ability to modify it.
It also gives us a place to start in the future when he starts working on going to college, especially if he falls off the diet wagon and starts having more autoimmune issues again, and it gives me some tools to actually teach him how to control some of his own behaviors and recognize when there is a problem.  I guess you can call this an answered prayer!