Autism Spectrum Disorder: When There is no Cure, There are Countless of Treatments

We investigated parent reports of use of special education and support services, use of evidence-based practices (EBPs), use of past and current complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments, non-use of CAM treatments, willingness, and unwillingness to use CAM treatments, reasons for use and non-use of CAM treatments, and perceptions of EBPs and CAM treatments in their children's functioning. We collected data from a total of 166 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through a web-based survey. 94% of the parents reported lifetime use of at least one CAM treatment. Parents weighed on a wide variety of factors in decision-making. CAM treatments use was positively associated with parental educational level, length of time since ASD diagnosis, and child's ASD severity.

Automated summary

This study investigated the use of special education and support services, evidence-based practices, complementary and alternative medicine treatments, and parents' perceptions in children with autism spectrum disorder. The findings showed that a majority of parents reported using at least one complementary and alternative medicine treatment, which was associated with parental education level, time since ASD diagnosis, and severity of ASD.