The
relationship between technology and autism
It is widely held that computer literacy skills are
critically important for children, teens, and young adults diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder (hereafter ASD). Parents of young children are
informed by a wide variety of autism specialists that school achievement and
achievement in the 21st century workplace is dependent upon mastering computer
skills.
Although it is undeniable 21st century education and
employment requires computer literacy skills, the importance of these skills in
the lives of autistic individuals has been vastly overstated. More importantly,
the cognitive, emotional, social and physical damage associated with the use of
computers (and technology in general) is vastly understated or ignored
altogether within the autism community.
Given the unemployment rates of ASD young adults in the
United States (newest research reports unemployment at 50% to 75% ) who have
grown up using computers since early childhood, it would seem that computers
are not making a meaningful contribution to employment.
Although there are complex cultural, sociological, and
economic reasons ASD young adults fail to obtain meaningful employment I believe that daily interaction with
computers specifically, and technology generally, plays a central role in
blocking the development of the mental processes needed for successful
employment.
Put in a different way, the interaction between the autistic
mind and computer-based technology, video gaming, television, DVD-based
entertainment, and handheld devices increases static and repetitive thinking,
communication, and behavior, and thereby serves as an obstacle to the dynamic
cognitive, social, and emotional demands of the 21st century.
Why
Technology is Toxic for the ASD Brain
If we consider the relationship between technology and the
autistic mind, we can see how the attention that is consumed through
engagement with technology --
whether it be computer database searches (“research” on areas of special
interest), repetitively watching YouTube videos, eBay shopping, video gaming,
or searching for pornography – blocks the brain’s capacity to develop new
mental processes which, in turn, undermines the possibility of remediating
deficits in the type of problem solving required to maintain employment:
innovation, improvisation, collaboration, flexibility, grey area thinking,
self-awareness, perspective taking, monitoring, and reflecting.
Ongoing use of computers, particularly Internet database
searches and online gaming, produces intense and sustained states of pleasure, including
euphoric experiences similar to the “high” associated with the use drugs.The autistic child/teen -- who often feels overwhelmed by
the complexity of social interaction and experiences pervasive alienation from
typical peers -- can use the computer to escape into an endless variety of
cyber fantasy worlds.
Content
consumers vs. content producers
Although the computer can be used to develop connections and
create meaningful content and skills -- such as website building, blogging, posting
poetry, uploading videos/short films and photo galleries, and engaging in political
action -- children/teens with ASD very rarely use the
computer in any way except to reinforce rigid and inflexible neurological and
experiential patterns.
Children,
teens, and adults on the spectrum are content consumers rather than content
producers and the content they consume is static, repetitive, limited
in complexity and disconnected from the development of dynamic intelligence.
With the explosion of laptops, smart phones, handheld
devices/Nintendo DS, and iPads many autistic spectrum children now have access
to digital technology, including the Internet, beginning within the first months
of life. The constant “techno” stimulation of the ASD brain has become
so much a part of everyday life that its impact on thinking, attention and
social-emotional functioning has gone
unnoticed by parents/caregivers and educators.
Whether the exposure to technology proves to be an
environmental toxin for the ASD brain is a research question that has yet to be
pursued. As noted above, it is difficult to imagine that the dramatic rise in
children and teens diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder is unrelated to the
dramatic rise in home based technology, particularly the use of the home
computer.
If one were to sit down and design a form of environmental
stimulation that would be toxic/damaging to the ASD brain by virtue of
exacerbating the core neurological deficits of the ASD brain, that stimulation
is 21st century technology: laptops/the home computer gaming,
internet surfing, tablets, handheld gaming devices, and video gaming.
21st
century technology successfully:
1)
increases social isolation
2)
combines pleasure with social isolation
3)
decreases the need to develop reciprocal
conversation skills (and encourages monologues/lectures)
4)
decreases the need to read and react to
non-verbal communication
5)
provides limitless opportunities for the
acquisition of static information
6)
encourages static thinking (rote application of
procedures/facts)
7)
eliminates the need to develop skills in
innovation and improvisation
8)
decreases need to develop collaboration/teamwork
skills
9)
decreases the need to develop conflict
resolution and compromise strategies
10)
eliminates the need to develop “grey area”
thinking/”good enough” problem solving (problems with no “right” answer or
problems with multiple “right” or “wrong” answers)
11)
decreases the need to develop empathy and
insight (mindsight)
12)
serves as an obstacle to physical exercise and
outdoor forms of recreation
13)
increases involvement in fantasy and decreases
opportunities for three dimensional problem solving and competencies
14)
decreases opportunities for brain growth/neuroplasticity.
When discussing the dramatic rise in ASD diagnoses, I am
often asked the question: “Where were these kids 30 or 40 years ago?
Did they really exist? Did we simply not see these kids?” It is certain
that the range of children diagnosed has expanded – from non-verbal,
intellectually challenged, with poor behavioral regulation to hyper verbal,
intellectually advanced, with average behavioral regulation. Today, the children diagnosed with Asperger’s
syndrome and/or high functioning autism have very different deficits/needs and
thus we now have an expanded understanding of autism and what type of
intervention is effective.
I think it is fair to say that 30 or 40 years ago the “high
end” of the spectrum went largely unnoticed – perhaps they were described as
shy, antisocial, odd, strange, eccentric, or “nerdy.” Because we now include
children who have an abundance of language (but are poor communicators), may be
intellectually advanced (but cannot think dynamically), and are often skilled
at following rules (but lack resilience) the true incidence rate of autism may
now be reflected in 1/88 statistic recently released by the CDC.
One
thing is certain, three decades ago (and more) NO child was living inside their
homes – isolated from their peers and community, sitting in front of a computer
scrolling through facts/images, playing video games, looping through YouTube
videos, or simply watching a scene in a DVD for hours on end.
Until such time that autism research focuses on the impact
of technology on the developing ASD brain, it make sense to safeguard the ASD
brain from high levels of technology exposure. Given the particular limitations
and vulnerabilities of the ASD brain common sense clearly dictates that parents
and educators should exercise great caution in the way in which ASD children
and teens interact with any form of technology -- with computers at the top of
the “toxic” list.
We need to carefully frame how ASD
children/teens focus their attention so that they are able to experience
emotional intimacy, feel a sense of belonging to a social community, achieve
meaningful employment, and find a partner/spouse – rather than develop “techno”
competencies.
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