Dear Mr. Porter,
It is indeed a sad day when it takes a journalist to suggest to parents that ingesting bleach is not a good idea.
In your recent Newsweek article, “Parents are making their children drink bleach to ‘cure’ them of autism” (January 28, 2018), you bring to light the dangers of pseudoscience and the unregulated marketplace surrounding autism treatments. For that, we are grateful, as parents of children with autism are vulnerable to a bombardment of misinformation, false promises, dangerous claims, and outright quackery.
You may not be aware that there are over 500 “treatments” put forth for autism. What an overwhelming experience that is for individuals who just want to help their children, particularly given that every one of these treatments has someone who would loudly tout the merits of that “treatment.” We believe that the loudest voice should be saved for those who have solid research findings to share.
Many among us do not adequately respect the relevance and contributions of science and nowhere is that disregard more harmful than when discussing the care of some of our most vulnerable children. As an advocate of safe and effective treatments, the Association for Science in Autism Treatment (www.asatonline.org) helps family members and providers make the best possible choices for their children; choices grounded in science and peer-review.
We invite your readers to review a recent article authored by Kelley Harrison and Dr. Tom Zane: Is there Science Behind That? Bleach Therapy. In addition, they may want to read Underwater Basket Weaving Therapy for Autism: Don’t Laugh! It Could Happen, which lays out a framework for determining when a “therapy” is actually therapeutic. ASAT has also posted a list of 15 warning signs to help people identify pseudoscientific treatments.
As we continue to combat the pushing of treatments with no basis of evidence that they work (and many lack the plausibility to boot!), we gladly reach out to those in the journalism community willing to expose these “treatments” for what they are – snake oil in a bottle. Again, we applaud your recent article, and are glad to see writers like yourself who stand for science, safety, and sensibility.
Sincerely,
David Celiberti, PhD, BCBA-D
Joshua K. Pritchard, PhD, BCBA-D
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
