How We Check Facts

Last reviewed: November 14, 2026.

Families make real decisions with what they read here, so every fact on this site should be one you can check for yourself. This is how we work.

Where our facts come from

  • Health guidance from public health and professional bodies: the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and its parent site HealthyChildren.org, and, for technology and safety, U.S. agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI.

  • Research from peer-reviewed journals and official reports, each checked at its original record. The Resource Library pages keep to a short list of large studies and reports, mostly from JAMA Pediatrics and Pediatrics, plus UNESCO's 2023 report on technology in education. The book, Virtual Autism, lists every source it uses in its notes and references.

  • We do not use rumor, social media posts, news stories about a study in place of the study itself, or sources that promise results for children.

How each fact is checked

  1. We find the original: the agency's own page, the published statement, or the study's record.

  2. We read it, then copy the exact sentence our line rests on, with its address and date.

  3. We write our sentence so it says no more than the source does. Where we quote, the words are the source's own, in quotation marks.

  4. Studies that find a link are described as links. A link between two things does not show that one made the other happen, and we say so.

  5. Our own practical suggestions, such as a play idea or a tip for a chat box, are marked as suggestions, never presented as research.

Dates and reviews

Every Resource Library page shows a "Last reviewed" date. We review each page at least every six months, and sooner when a source we rely on changes. At each review we open every source again; if a page has changed or moved, we update the line or remove it.

What we never do

  • Make medical or developmental claims, or suggest that any product, book or activity prevents, treats or changes autism or any condition.

  • Present "Virtual Autism" as a diagnosis. It is a phrase, and we say so every time.

  • Name, rate or criticize schools, companies, apps or products.

  • Invent reviews, testimonials, statistics or credentials.

Found a mistake?

Please tell us. Corrections are explained on Editorial standards.

Virtual Autism by Adam Linmore. "Virtual Autism" is not a medical diagnosis.