Introduction

Many parents experience their child's autism diagnosis as frightening, overwhelming (McCollum, 2012:101) and traumatic (Dale, Jahoda & Knott, 2006:464). Similarly, Navot, Jorgenson, van der Stoep, Toth and Webb (2016:605) have described the diagnosis of autism as a significant stressor for parents. Moreover, studies such as those conducted by Kaniel and Siman-Tov (2011) and Giallo, Wood, Jellett and Porter (2011) have found that parents of children with autism experience more fatigue, stress, depression and anxiety, compared to parents of children with other disabilities. This is consistent with Dudley- Marling and Gurn's (2010:5) argument that ‘living on the boundary of the normal curve’ affects the life quality of parents of children with disabilities. People search for meaning and justifications (Dale, Jahoda & Knott 2006:464) to make sense of stressful events and often seek online information related to education, practical help and support (Clasquin- Johnson & Clasquin-Johnson, 2018:4; Meadan, Stoner & Angell, 2015:1679; McCollum, 2012:108). I therefore conducted a literature review of South African websites to illuminate how autism is framed on these websites.

The internet shapes public opinions about autism (Thibault, 2014:60). While only about half of South Africans have access to the internet (De Villiers 2019), that is an increase from approximately one-third a decade earlier (Statistics SA, 2011:66), and it is an important source of information for those who do have access.