More Social Media Fluff

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I know there was a recent discussion about people posting misinformation, or crackpot "cures" or causes for Autism, especially by those who do not have a child on the spectrum, or who aren't on the spectrum themselves.

I have a social media "friend". She seems really nice, but I don't know her too much and have never met her in real life. She friend requested me when a mutual friend (whom I told that I suspected my son was on the spectrum) thought it would be great if the two of us could connect. This was a couple of years ago. As soon as I saw the woman's profile, I knew we were not of the same mindset. She had a bunch of pictures of her kid doing various treatments, like oxygen chambers and stuff. She had written about how she was spending tons of money trying to cure the Autism, and that she was seeing improvement, and she would do everything it took, etc. She seemed like she really loved her kid, but was under the impression that Autism could be cured, and that it was super important that she do all of this expensive stuff.

She posts a lot of articles about how vaccines are linked to Autism, and other cause theories.

I don't have an issue with her so much, as I figure we are all doing the best we can with the information we have. She also seems to really love her kid. I guess what bothers me is that I feel the information is inaccurate, and I feel bad that she's going broke to try and cure her child.

I would not want to offend her, but am sometimes tempted to find a way to offer her a different perspective.

Just curious if any of you encounter this, and curious what your thoughts are.

I'm not sure which is worse - putting her son in an oxygen chamber, or posting photos of it online. Probably the photos. Regardless, I wouldn't say anything since you don't really "know" her. I would likely unfriend her, but that's probably not the PC thing to do.


Edit: You could try recommending a good, accurate book on autism to her. Pretend you just read it and want to share it with her.

I have thought of unfriending her, but I think it would cause issues with our mutual friends. The woman who connected us also connected me with her sister who works with Autistic adults, and was a really valuable resource for me when I did not know how to go about getting my son evaluated properly ( she does not share the views of the chamber woman). I don't want to offend anyone. I kind of see the chamber woman as more misinformed. Although, I agree that putting her kid in the chamber, and posting the pictures are both dumb.

Actually, our mutual friend's sister (the one who helped me) commented on the chamber photo that the woman should read Elijah's Cup. Elijah's Cup is a book by a mom (who later discovers she has Aspergers) of an Autistic kid, who eventually totally embraces Autism. However, if the woman read that book after the suggestion, it did not sway her search for a "cure." But, yeah, maybe I can think of another book recommendation.

It's kind of you to be concerned about her and her child, but I don't think you will ever be able to help her very much because you lack influence over her. You don't know her offline, and there's no reason for her to treat your thoughts with much respect, which is what would be required for her to significantly change her behaviour.
Asking someone to read a book makes sense but is quite a big ask. I would just add a link to a sensible website if you are going to comment on her posts.
Or alternatively, just switch off notifications and hide her from your feed. If you are on Facebook, click on the little down arrove at the top right hand corner of one of her posts and click unfollow. You stay friends, and she won't know you've done anything. But you won't be disturbed by her cause theories popping up in your feed.