What's this project about?
Electronic technology currently plays an integral role in the lives of youth across North America and around the world. There are growing concerns that youth are engaged in electronic use for excessive amounts of time and developing compulsive or dependent behaviours associated with electronic use. While it is clear that the use of video games and computers is widespread among typically developing youth, very little research has been done on electronics use in autistic people. Autistic people may be particularly susceptible to compulsive or dependent electronics use given their propensity for video games, computer-mediated communication, and screen based entertainment. Very little is known about electronics use and its positive and negative impacts on autistic people. The purpose of the current study was to examine electronics use in autistic people in comparison to non-autistic individuals of the same age.
How did we go about doing this project?
We asked parents of autistic children, youth, and young adults between the ages of 6-25 to complete a survey of standardized questionnaires, which takes approximately 35 minutes to complete. We also recruited a comparison sample of parents of non-autistic children.
What will we do with our research findings?
The results of the study help us to understand the benefits and problems associated with electronics use among autistic people. We communicated the findings by writing an article in an academic journal, presenting at conferences, and summarizing the results on this website.
Results
Want to know more about this project?
For more information, please feel free to contact Dr. Jonathan Weiss, Principal Investigator on the study, at jonweiss@yorku.ca.