Autism covers a big spectrum. I've read Dr. Grandin's book, "Thinking In Picutres", which I recommend. I believe she categorized herself, in the book, as autistic, but not deeply so. She is obviously very intelligent as well, and she participated in her own treatment and constructed her own treatment device. One doesn't 'recover' from autism. One reaches a modus vivendi, hopefully.
Some folks claim Asperger's Syndrome is a form of autism. And most such people can function successfully in the modern world. One person I heard about is a high functionary in the US government, but I'm not going to mention the person by name because I'm not sure they were 'officially' diagnosed. I think if we look at autistic people as a whole we'll find some who are easily accomodated in regular schools with some special support, and we can also find many who will not fit in at all or without significant support from, as we call it in the US, "Special Ed". But I think that on the Western side of the pond the main approach is to incorporate autistic students into the general school system.