I'm glad that the school principal was an advocate for you. School experiences can be very traumatic for children on the spectrum. Our child was identified as gifted in the first grade, and transferred to the gifted magnet school. His homeroom teacher didn't think children with IEPs should be included there, and she would note all his homework was in, and he was doing fine on her notes to parents. I got notice that he had to leave the program because the majority of his homework was never handed in, he'd do his math work in pen, and didn't show his work on math problems. She'd falsified his records so she could expel him for his grades. Later we got a math tutor to teach him to show his work. He'd been doing it in his head. One teacher called him stupid, and a pinhead. There was a black student in his class that was also verbally abused in front of the other kids. By the end of a bad day he'd want to be in a room in the basement (school) wrapped in his coat. He was no behavioral problem. It was ugly, but he was too important, and I wouldn't let them just transfer him to some ED room. He went to college, he attended advanced placement classes. It was up to the teachers, and once he was put in their classes, they thought he was wonderful. He went through four years of French, but hated having to speak it in class. A tech teacher thought he'd be interested in drafting, and signed him up. He was amazing with his visual spatial skills, and it lead to him taking an interest in architecture. He now works for a company, and is in charge of computer programing, and inventory control. Many people who are searching for information that may identify them as "in the spectrum" should be aware of how they were treated in school. Unfortunately, it was a nightmare for so many kids because staff thought they were a bit odd, and policies were not in place to remove bad teachers.
I hope that adults who gain insight into their differences with experiencing being on the spectrum can volunteer to speak at schools about their good, or bad experiences. This would help so many students who can't explain things like how the noise in a school assembly is torture.

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