SchaferAutismReport: As Autism Web Sites Boom, Experts Urge Caution

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NEWSAs Autism Web Sites Boom, Experts Urge Caution Too often 'treatments' turn out to be bogus, but simple guidelines can help By Jenifer Goodwin xrl.in/5gca

HealthDay News -- When Connie 's son was diagnosed with autism a decade ago, she scoured the Internet looking for treatments. "I tried all sorts of things I now consider bananas," said , now community scientific liaison at Kennedy Krieger Institute's Interactive Autism Network. "At the time it didn't feel like nonsense. It was hope. People will try all sorts of things to help their child, sometimes even against their better

judgment." Since 's son was diagnosed, the number of Web sites devoted to autism and autism treatments has multiplied. While a 1999 study counted about 100,000 autism Web sites, entering the term "autism" into the three major search engines today yields more than 17.4 million results, according to new research. So how can parents know how to weed out fact from fiction when faced with so much information? It's not easy, experts say, but there are some steps parents can take to determine if the information they are getting is from a reputable source. In a study presented recently at the International Meeting for Autism Research, experts analyzed about 160 of the most visited autism sites to determine how often they met measures of quality and accountability, including whether or not the site was selling something; if citations about research

supposedly showing the efficacy of a treatment included author identification and references; if the information was current; and if the site asked visitors for personal information (a red flag). Most sites did not meet all of the criteria for quality, said lead study author Reichow, a

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