Autism Care and Screentime #WorldAutismDay

Screentime is an addiction.Lets accept that. On World Autism Day I will share my experience at the Sishumangal Child Development Centre and Research Institute Raigunj where they had an interesting panel discussion on the screen usage it’s effect on kids and what is a safe zone.

Autism spectral disorder represents a range of neurodevelopmental condition presenting with challenges in social skills language delays and presents in various degrees of severity.A genetic component is there, but environment has a role to play to especially those on the borderline of the  spectrum .Early childhood parental interaction ,avoiding screentime ,and early diagnosis of speech or language delay will go a long way in fighting the battle.

Most research is from TV watching data.

Research for tablets, smartphones is still limited.Based on survey results:

Over 40% of children regularly watched TV, DVDs, videos by 3 months.

By 24 months, this rose to 90%.

Children 0-24 months watch approximately 2 hours of TV/day in the US.

In 2017, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto presented research regarding the relationship between screen time and language development .

Around 900-1,000 children, ages 6-24 months folowed between 2011-2015.By their 18-month check-ups, 20 percent of the children had daily average handheld device use of 28 minutes, according to their parents.

Used the ITC- Infant Toddler Checklist.

RESULT: Infants with more handheld screen time have an increased risk of an expressive speech delay.Every 30-minute increase in handheld screen time was linked to a 49% increased risk of “expressive speech delay” (i.e. score below the 10th percentile in the symbolic, social or the total score of the ITC).

Guidelines for Screentime by AAP

• Birth-18 months = no screen time; facetiming
• 18-24 months = high-quality programming- CO-VIEW
  • Blue’s Clues, Sesame Street, Barney
• 2-5 years = 1 hour daily of high-quality programming- CO-VIEW
• 6+ = make sure it isn’t replacing sleep, physical activity, etc.
• Be consistent with how long kids can watch media
• Designate media-free times: dinner, driving, one hour before bed
• Watch WITH your children: “mindful use”

American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016

Screen exposure increases the sensori overload that can cause even more difficulty I communication in kids who haven’t yet developed speech.

Speech and language development delay occurs if children exposed to screen less than 18 months of age.

Data shows that :

Less than 3 months screen exposure 40%

By 2years 90%

By 10 years personal phone!

There’s a problem right there.

Happinetz  or similar device is a good solution right,out of the gate for young kids developing screen addiction.Remember the tantrums now are better than what happens later.

But in this scenario I will tell you a problem we adults are facing too.In this rapidly changing world of bricks and cements we are stick indoors with no physical activity.The smart phone is a whole world right from your palm and when you take out that phone to scroll and refresh  instagram/Facebook/X for random  number of times we are not walking the talk.I  am guilty of that too.But I am also a digital creator for health and educational content.The solution lies in choosing where and how to spend our time .It’s not going to be easy .But nobody said it would be !

Sishumangal Child Development Centre and Research Institute is doing their best to spread awareness and help the kids and parents requiring special help,training and  support .

Know about managing Internet Access for kids 

This is part of Blogchatter A2Z challenge C post and the Ultimate Blog Challenge .