Daniel, Oliver and Owen on their iPads. Poor things, so miserable and isolated…
For those of you who aren’t aware, The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest online news site and also its highest circulation newspaper, is running a series of articles at the moment under the heading The Autism Project. To be honest, I haven’t been following it religiously. At the risk of sounding like Sarah Palin, my expectations of what the mainstream media could accomplish in terms of reporting about autism in Canada was fairly low. Gingerheaddad and I read one article over the weekend and both agreed that it sounded like an advertisement for Autism Speaks.
If you look at the articles posted so far you’ll find references to:
- a “public health crisis”
- The 1 in 88 figure from the CDC, a U.S. metric used because there are no reliable numbers available for autism prevalence rates in Ontario.
- genetic research, scientists, therapists, teachers, parents of autistic children…
- There’s an article about Streetsville Secondary School but only one pupil is quoted – the rest of the story focuses on the teachers. Oh, and mentions that kids can watch The Big Bang Theory at lunchtime if they choose.
I haven’t seen anything yet from adults on the spectrum – maybe it’s coming…?
Estee Klar mentioned on Facebook an article about iPads and autism that had been published as part of this project, so I decided to read that one in detail. The piece refers to the ground-breaking study at the Beverley School conducted by Rhonda McEwen of the University of Toronto – an attempt to collate data around how effective iDevices are in improving the communication of autistic children. Separately, Carisa Kluver of Digital Storytime mentioned that she and Lorraine Akemann of MomsWithApps are writing a blog post together about children and screen time and that they have a survey they are trying to get parents and others to complete.
In considering my responses to that survey and after mentally digesting the contents of The Star article, I found myself with thoughts to share, so here they are:
Adults need iDevices too
The Star article is admittedly about the Beverley School project, so it focuses on the children that are part of the study, but I would have loved to have seen coverage that was more ambitious in scope. Adults on the spectrum are using iDevices, not just for communication purposes but to provide visual supports for life skills and also to help manage anxiety and mood fluctuations. Access to these devices is enabling individuals to succeed in higher education and the workforce in ways that might not have been possible previously.
iDevice communication myths
If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m a huge proponent of iDevices, having seen the benefits of them with my sons (who are both on the spectrum). However, The Star article does nothing to contradict certain ideas about iPads and autism that I find unhelpful:
- The iPad is a magic bullet for non-verbal children on the spectrum! Actually, an iDevice is not the only way for a non-verbal person to communicate and AAC (assistive augmentative communication) is not just for non-verbal people. Those adults on the spectrum who are verbal will often comment on the fact that when they are under stress, the first thing that falters is their speech. I’ve seen with Oliver, who is echolalic, that his ability to recall functional words and phrases improves (and his frustration and stress decreases) if he is provided with visual supports.
- Let’s give all these kids iDevices! To quote Gingerheaddad – a tablet without apps is about as useful as a toaster that isn’t plugged in. (I think I need to stop mentioning him or people will start to talk.) We need to train Speech and Language Pathologists and make their services available so they can assess our kids and make recommendations regarding which apps are best suited to them. We need to think of ways that would enable parents to try special needs apps before buying them – some of these apps can cost as much as $200. The Beverley School study used Proloquo2Go which is the AAC app that is always suggested first, but AAC is not one size fits all and P2G is not the best app for everyone.
It’s not just autism
There are so many families who are under-resourced and under-supported in our community and guess what, some of them don’t even have autistic children. The Star’s series of articles is called The Autism Project, I get that – but would it kill journalists to mention all the other special needs children who need support with respect to the challenges they face, but aren’t getting them at all because they’re not on the spectrum? Yes, the wait list for autism diagnosis and services in Ontario is appalling. But what if you don’t even qualify to get on a wait list – what then?
The isolation canard
The Star article mentions Bridget Taylor who Estee has heard of but I confess, I haven’t. Ms. Taylor is quoted as follows:
” Kids are drawn to technology and…there could potentially be a reliance on it that’s not so beneficial in the long run…The next step in terms of the evolution of these apps is to promote interaction.”
In conjunction with Carisa’s request to complete the survey on screen time, this got me thinking about certain ideas that in my experience are pervasive and need some challenging:
- time with a tablet has to be included in screen time. It’s the same as watching television, playing video games, being on the PC, etc.
- giving an autistic child a tablet increases their isolation from others.
- that success for an autistic person is best measured by quantifying how ‘normal’ they have become.
We don’t have video games or a television (in theory we have one so we can watch dvds but we never use it) and the boys don’t use a computer at home. These outcomes didn’t come about due to ideology however – I can’t afford cable, the boys aren’t into games and they think my laptop is useless because it doesn’t have a touch screen. They actually have a touch of pity in their eyes when they tap on the screen and look at me, disappointed.
In a world where schoolwork is increasingly completed on a computer and homework has to be done the same way, how exactly are we supposed to keep screen-time to only 1 or 2 hours a day? Even more importantly, why?
My children are generally more engaged with others as a result of their tablet use. They rely on their iDevices for fun and relaxation yes, but also for life skills support. Owen learns concepts and skills on his iPad that he has difficulty learning off screen and we generalize those skills into ‘real life’. Oliver is more interactive when he is singing or reading things on his iPad than he is when he plays alone with trains – so, why would I want to stop that? But, and it’s a big but, If my kids want to read a book or watch an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine and want to do it alone because they need some downtime, why is that a bad thing?
I have the same goal as most parents have for their children. I want them to be happy, healthy and feel confident and empowered. If the boys’ iPads improve their mood, communication levels and help them feel more relaxed and confident then why am I being made to feel bad about giving them access to their iPads as much as they want at home? As someone who favours data over anecdote however, where’s the data supporting the suggestion that tablet usage makes autistic children more isolated?
Oliver organizes a tea party for the three of us and his stuffies. I wish his iPad hadn’t made him so isolated…
Thank you for this post. I am not only grateful because my kid is in one of the pictures, but because I think the series misses a lot of opportunities to broaden the conversation about autism in our society.
I enjoy the Star. I go there for news daily. I read it on my phone during the commute and when they put up a paywall I will subscribe. Generally, I think they do a terrific job with their feature and investigative series. This one is a little too slapdash for my liking and it amazes me that they were very sloppy in using the “1 in 88″ number.
The series also doesn’t offer much of a platform for adults on the spectrum. This is really a series about parents of kids on the spectrum and not so much about the people on the spectrum.
On the isolation issue, I have to admit that I was concerned that tablets would not reinforce social skills, but when Daniel does turn-taking I know that I was mistaken.
I like The Star too Jim, it’s my daily Canadian news read, so that made the weaknesses of this series all the more disheartening. I know they can do better!
I love that Daniel continues to surprise you
Hear hear!
Thank you for this post. I am from the US and had no idea about what the Star was doing, so it was good to learn about that. But mostly I love your “myths” section. As a parent and a researcher of kids technology, I am discovering that finding the best apps for my son (with PDD-NOS) is not easy. It takes a lot of trial and error – and these apps are not so cheap to “trial”!
On a separate note – I love Oliver’s tea party picture! Has he tried the app “Toca Tea Party”? A nice way to bridge tech into imaginative play.
Great that you mentioned Toca Tea Party Melissa – I think it’s a really good example of an app that engages kids and gets them trying an activity on their iPads which they can then generalize and use elsewhere. It’s a huge favourite amongst the special needs commmunity.
Such a timely piece!
iDevices are tools – yes they can be great toys too – and I am put in mind of the autistic person who was told to turn their ipad off on an airplane and so were robbed of their means of comminication.
I’m not a fan of the arbitrary imposition of rules e.g. 1-2 hours screen time. My son loves to have an aquarium DVD on in the background as he bounces about. Is that “worse” than having a real aquarium (which didn’t work out to well when we tried it) because it’s on a screen? We use a recording of a Bill Withers concert to calm him and signal bed time. Does that mean he shouldn’t be allowed to use the interactive whiteboard at school during the day?
Thank you for bringing up the example of Carly Fleischmann who is, incidentally, a resident of Toronto and a great advocate for autistics and iPad use. Taking away her means to communicate was appalling.
Some of our best imaginative play occurs with the back drop of the Dr Who title screen from the dvd… It’s like it inspires him to play with his figures and talk to them.
He has also learnt to tell the story of goldilocks through a YouTube version (my rendition of it confused him because my tone and voice was different each time) he now tells people the story for himself. We don’t have an ipad but it’s definitely something we will look into if i win the lottery!
Some of his speech improvements have happened as a result of him repeating things he sees on dvds and getting me to.recite them while he watches my mouth movements. Technology plays a massive part in our interactions and i am ok with that!
I just wanted to let you know that I completely agree with the point that screen time (i.e. TV time etc.) is not at all the same as tablet time, the main difference being interaction. TV viewing is passive, while the beauty of tablets and Apps is the active role the user takes while spending time on a tablet. They can manipulate things, change, create, imagine, learn, and have a great time in the process! I limit the time my toddler spends on TV (though after not viewing it for a long time he is not that interested anymore), but I believe our iPad is great!
Thanks Marina – I don’t have any studies to back this up but an occupational therapist did once mention to me that television has a vestibular effect and my kids would certainly get very amped up while watching tv. Although they do enjoy it (and Owen who is non-verbal will vocalize a lot when he’s having fun on the iPad), tablet time doesn’t seem to rev them up in the same way that tv does. The contrast is interesting I think.
For me, essentially isolation is a two person process. It requires someone to ignore the other for that person to be isolated. My autie was given an iPad.
He plays on it alone sometimes, but at other times, we work on maths together on it. We read from iBooks. We look together at the dinosaurs and astronomy apps as discuss them. “Jupiter will swallow us?” Yes, they are valuable in providing downtime, but they can also be used very fruitfully to engage with him. It’s a bit like TV, which can also be very isolating, I guess. But then even with TV you can sing theme songs and dance together. To perceive of this things as been isolating, is to ignore the role of others in the isolation process.
Thanks for your post Autismdad!
A well done blog and thread.
Eitan
Deanne
Love the blog and the post- thank you! As such a huge advocate of these devices for special needs I would pass along information we learned at last weeks NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). Our company went there to sell our gripper stylus pencils for touchscreen devices but came back learning that even though a Kindergarten teacher invented our gripper pencils for the need of her students because she was afraid they were creating bad habits with using their fingers and lacking the fine motor skills to hold and grip a pencil correctly- the amount of educators that ended up ordering our kits were from the background of special needs children. For various reasons they explained needing the ability for a child to hold a weighted down stylus vs various fingers or parts of the hand that inadvertently would touch a screen and frustrate some children. As I realize this may not be all the children you are referring to it may be some? Let me know if I can assist further or give you more information about our product. http://www.smartyshortzshop.com
My biggest fear is the “silver bullet” you mentioned. It seems to be the thing that every child with autism “needs” and I just don’t think that’s the case. Parents need to really think and do some research before they decide to purchase and set one up for their children. For my son, it has increased our challenges at home, rather than negate any of the existing ones. The apps are insanely expensive, too!
Thanks for sharing this info! It’s exciting to see so much progress being made with the help of modern technology.
You say iDevices are great learning tools–do you feel the same way about Android tablets? And if so, which Android tablets would you recommend as learning tools?
Some parents may not be able to afford the hefty price tags on Apple products, but Androids are often a bit more affordable.
Thanks Jessica. Unfortunately, Android (in comparison to iOS) has a lot fewer educational apps for children and very, very few special needs apps. Part of the problem is that there isn’t one platform – apps that are on the Amazon market may not be on Google Play for example. So, if you’re looking for a touch-screen device for educational or special needs apps then iOS is your best bet. If you have to get an iPad then look at the Apple-sold refurbished ones (iPad 2 or older) as these come with a one-year warranty and are cheaper than new. If you can live with a smaller screen then an iPod Touch or even an iPhone is a great option. A speech therapist I follow recently wrote a handy summary of things to consider when shopping for a device that you also may find useful: http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/sp_6/archive/2013/03/25/what-device-should-i-buy.aspx