UPDATED: It has been pointed out that Autism Speaks still funds research looking for the supposed link to vaccines! People have resigned over this. Do not give your money to this organization.

Some books on autism:

• The Out-of-Sync Child (Kranowitz)
• The RDI Book (Gutstein)
• More Than Words by Sussman (The Hanen Centre)

There is also the 100 Day Kit from Autism Speaks.

The Autism Speaks 100 Day Kit and the Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Tool Kit were created specifically for newly diagnosed families to make the best possible use of the 100 days following their child's diagnosis of autism or AS/HFA.

You're right. There is a lot of mis-information out there about autism. The problem isn’t you’re a non-expert. It’s that the “experts” really don’t know.

You can't do controlled studies. You can't say to one parent, “Give Jonny OT, but don't give him speech therapy or ABA (or horse therapy), and come back in 10 years,” and tell another parent, "Just give Jonny horse therapy."

That said, a mainstream view is forming. Get speech therapy to help with pragmatics. Get some form of behavioral therapy (ABA, RDI, etc.) Get occupational therapy to help with sensory. Don’t try to do all of this on your own. You want good therapists.

A bad therapist is worse than no therapist. Until you've had a few, it can be hard to tell these apart. There are a lot of bad therapists.

Some other generally accepted good uses your of money (probably!), include:

• some form of behavioral intervention at home (ABA, RDI, etc.)
• some form of behavioral intervention at school

Depending on the part of the world in which you live, the school component might be free. You would do well to keep in mind that free is not be the same as good, or even appropriate. (Remember: No bad therapists!)

I would also get the child in to see a developmental peditrician to create a treatment plan. Your pediatrician probably knows less about autism than you do. You want a specialist.

There are lots of other things you can try, but it’s best to think of these as unproven/highly experimental. I, myself, would probably add another hour of OT or speech (or create a cash buffer) before trying anything else.