New treatments for autism? Yeah…don’t hold your breath

I read an article on News24 about two promising looking treatments for autism. The first one was feeding autistics the eggs of an intestinal worm found in pork. The second was giving autistics baths at temperatures of 102°F (40°C). Both supposedly trigger an anti-inflammatory response in the immune system and thus reduce the severity of autism symptoms.
Even leaving aside the small sample sizes, I’m unimpressed. The article says:

“The findings verify earlier reports that about one-third of people with autism show an improvement in symptoms when they suffer a fever, the researchers said in background information.
Parents have said when their child got fevers, they see a marked improvement in autism symptoms.”

So an autistic who is running a fever is more docile and has less energy to act up. This is Captain Obvious type research. I was very sick last month to the point of needing an injection in the backside, and I was more docile and had less energy to act up. As for the very hot baths, a lot of people (not just autistics) enjoy very hot baths and showers. Once again, I’m one of them. A hot wash is very relaxing. Of course an autistic is going to have less severe symptoms after having a steaming hot soak. The researchers look to be drawing a very long bow in reaching their conclusions.
If you want to give your autistic child a nice hot bath or shower and said child likes hot baths or showers, go ahead. Just realise that it works because it’s relaxing, not because of an anti-inflammatory response, and it works on nonautistics as well.