Top 15 signs that a website or article about synaesthesia is a crock o' crap

1. It uses medicalized language to discuss and describe synaesthesia, with references to "symptoms", "diagnosis",  a spectrum of synaesthesia, "mildness" or "severity". 

2. The author is a non-synaesthete who writes with confidence about the nature of synesthesia and what it is like to experience. Only a dope would dare to write with overconfidence for an audience which would certainly include some members capable of seeing flaws in what is written. 

3. There is an implicit or explicit incorrect assumption that synaesthesia is a rare phenomenon. 

4. Synaesthesia tests are promised but the only thing that is offered is a half-baked questionnaire. 

5. There is an implicit or explicit incorrect assumption that synaesthesia is essentially a sensory experience. If the misleading cliche of synaesthesia being "crossed senses" or "crossed wires" makes an appearance, run a mile. 

6. Synaesthesia is treated in a way suited to discussion of a new-age or mystical experience. 

7. There is decoration with a rainbow, or lots of gaudy, saturated colours. 

8. There is an implicit or explicit assumption that all synaesthetes have unusual gifts or that synaesthesia is a type of enhanced perception. 

9. There are references to a spectrum of synaesthesia, as though it was a disease varying in severity, or can be conceptualized in the same way as autism. 

10. There is an implicit or explicit assumption that all synaesthetes are unusually creative or imaginative.

11. There are no traceable bibliographic references to papers or studies published in science journals to support scientific claims or information. 

12. There is an implicit or explicit assumption that synaesthesia can be taught or learned. Beware tips for developing your synaesthesia. Either you got it or you don't. 

13. There is an implicit or explicit assumption that synaesthetes are superior beings or that synaesthesia is a form of spiritual enlightenment. 

14. There is an implicit or explicit assumption that synaesthetes have more empathy than mere neurotypicals. Does this sound likely, given that Lili Marlene is a synaesthete?

15. Daniel Tammet is discussed as a typical or highly instructive case of synaesthesia.