How to Decide which Expert to Trust when You're Googling Something New

If you're like many of my clients, you'd like some suggestions regarding how to learn about neurodiversity. Maybe, like them, you feel a strong desire to understand it and don't know where to start or what to believe once you get underway in your search. I agree it can be confusing. Even professionals struggle to stay current in this rapidly changing field. Here are few ideas that can help you approach your search with calm and with the faith that you will find what you need and feel confident enough to use the information in your own life. That's what were discussing here: education. How do you learn something new in a trustworthy way when you're undertaking it on your own?

If you google a topic, or scroll through your LinkedIn contact list, for example, you'll find no shortage of experts. They seem to be everywhere. But sometimes, credentials are difficult to evaluate. So is content. Authors write stridently and opinions vary. Sometimes, it even seems that facts can vary.

How do you know what to trust, especially since the reason you’re searching is that you don’t feel adequately educated about whatever it is you’re looking for? 

The first thing to ask yourself is this: where is the information coming from? Where is it published? It sounds obvious, but it’s very easy to overlook the source of online information and go straight to the content. Checking this first can give you an idea of whether the information is reliable, and it can also possibly help you identify any bias inherent in the information. A site about cardiac health is going to have heart matters as a focus, for example; a site for people to gripe about their partners’ eating habits is going to be biased. You know about this already, but it’s easy to forget when searching, especially if the topic itself is new to you. Challenge yourself to identify potential bias in everything you read.

Once you’ve done that, check the date of publication. In my field of autism and neurodiversity, language itself changes rapidly and new research is being done and published regularly. Make certain that what you’re reading is current enough to be valid and warrant your attention. Some of my own articles from several years ago still contain important information, even though they also contain the term Asperger’s Syndrome, the now obsolete diagnostic term for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Be aware of this, especially if you’re finding conflicting usage. 

The next point to consider is the style of what you’re reading. It is about someone else’s experience and their own expertise? Or is it information that can be helpful to you in understanding yours? No two people are the same, especially two autistic individuals. Nothing written from a first-person point of view will resonate completely with someone else. As we often say, if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. Be especially mindful of this as you learn about autism and neurodiversity. Read as much as you can and then sift through it to find common threads that improve your confidence and understanding. 

If you’re reading about clinical or diagnostic information especially, be certain it is embedded in a larger context so that you have a sense for professional grounding in the topic. One clinician’s perspective may be interesting, but it may not be representative of the field in a larger sense. 

Follow up on links that are embedded in an article you like. If you’re curious about a particular research project, you can usually contact the person directly. Most of the time, you will receive a thoughtful response. Sometimes, of course, researchers and writers cannot answer every email they get. I make a point, though, of responding to anyone who cites something I have written and wants to know more about a particular topic. 

You can also google a writer’s name to find additional resources on your topic. Then enter in your search bar any new names or terms you encounter. 

Trust your instinct. Once you begin reading about a topic, you will develop your own personal data base from which to judge additional information. Like most people, you are probably way more skilled at pattern recognition than you are consciously aware of being.  Trust yourself. If something doesn't make sense to you, it probably doesn't make sense to others, either.

And remember what we all know only too well. It’s easy to slide down a rabbit hole with a google search. One thing leads you to another that’s interesting but slightly off topic, and before you know it, you’re learning about autistic children’s sleep schedules when you began your search with exhaustion in my neurodiverse marriage. So – start your query again. Go back to your point of departure and keep your focus sharp. 

Give yourself time to digest new information and rely on your ability to discern that there are still things you want or need to know. If you can’t find the information itself, you can most likely find someone who can help you locate it. By keeping your curiosity alive, you’ll always be learning. 

Finally, remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good: once you’re comfortable about your grasp of something, you can stop searching until you come across a particular aspect that needs further clarification. There will be no exam, so try to recognize whether you have a residual sense of exam urgency while you’re searching. Remember that many of us have trouble shaking that framework after many years in school. It’s okay to have a good enough understanding of a new topic. 

I remember studying statistics in graduate school. I liked the math, but I found the coursework tedious My goal was to understand it well enough to avoid being fooled by statistics in the future, while at the same time I told myself that if I ever needed statistical analysis of anything done, I would find an expert to do it. 

The same principle applies to your google search. You don’t have to become an expert. You just need to know enough to determine which experts - and which information - you can trust.