Factors related to parents’ choices of treatments for their children with autism spectrum disorders

The history of autism treatment has been plagued with fad therapies which waste parents’ and children's time, energy, and money. To determine if referral sources, such as professionals’ recommendations, media, or scholarly sources, have influenced parents’ treatment decisions, parents of at least one child with an autism spectrum disorder (N = 400) were surveyed to determine the sources they used to obtain treatment. Recommendations from professionals in non-medical fields and autism books were the most popular sources of information. Due to the diverse range of influences on parents’ treatment decisions, a multifaceted dissemination strategy for the most effective therapies is warranted.

► Our examination of parental treatment decisions for children with autism spectrum disorders indicated that less than 1/2 of surveyed parents reported choosing a scientifically supported treatment.
► Sources of influence for treatment choices most often came from popular media, anecdotal reports, and professional recommendations.
► Demographic factors (e.g., child age, parent education, family income) had little relationship to treatment choices.
► The most influential group of professionals, educators, tended to recommend treatments with less scientific support than treatments with scientific support.