Moving to Learn

Preventing Autism – It might be easier than you think!

Baby Watching TV

Recent shifts in autism research from biological to environmental determinants, has yielded prolific data with exciting implications. This information when applied, could not only prevent autism, but also reduce symptoms in children who already have autism. Interested? This proposed intervention for autism prevention and treatment requires two components 1) absence of screens, and 2) eye contact with the parent. Two simple acts performed by one or both parents on a daily basis, could prevent and treat autism, providing children with a future full of vast and rich social and emotional experiences. Two easy to administer, yet profoundly impactful initiatives, could save children from a world of intense isolation and loneliness, as well as endless, costly therapies. Two quick actions, eliminating screen time and increasing parent time, could ensure a child grows up happy and healthy, with meaningful relationships and academic success. Simple logic implies that as screen time goes down, parent/child social interactions go up, increasing the critical time frame for formation of functional social relationships. Studies have shown that even as early as 0-6 months, the brains of infants exposed to screens and deprived of parental eye contact, are being wired differently. This article written by a pediatric occupational therapist and a family physician, present documented research findings which support the premise that eliminating screen time, and increasing eye contact with parents, will significantly reduce the risk and incidence of autism.

Autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder, one that is marked by the impaired ability of a child or an adult to be able to participate in reciprocal human relationships. Children on the autism spectrum lack connection to the humans around them, seeing other people more as objects.  They often have difficult and baffling behaviors, uncontrollable tantrums, inflexible eating demands, social phobias, school difficulties, and disruptive sleeping habits. Autism incidence continues to escalate. According to the Center for Disease Control’s most recent report published in 2014, the prevalence of autism went up 30% from their prior study two years earlier.  In the recent study, the prevalence for boys was one child out of 49, with four to five times as many boys as girls. For some time it was thought that autism was largely a genetic disorder; that children are born with it or not. Based on small twin studies from some 20 years ago it was commonly thought up to 90% of the cause of autism would come from genetic factors.  However recent population studies from Sweden, Denmark, and California have placed the hereditability of autism close to 50%.  These studies involve very large cohorts of children giving them great validity (Sandin 2014, Therese, 2013, Hallmayer 2011).

Recent studies have lead researchers to realize that autism has its roots in the first year of life. In 2011 Dr. Chonchaiya published a study looking retrospectively comparing groups of 50 children with and without ASD.  She found that those children who developed ASD had started watching television six months earlier at six months of age and by the age of 12 months were watching twice as much television a day as the children without ASD. Using eye tracking technology Warren Jones showed in 2013 that children who were destined to develop autism had abnormal eye tracking findings as early as 6 months of age.  Another study, again using eye tracking technology, showed reactions to human speech at six months of age could separate children who would develop ASD from those who would not (Shic 2014). Finally a third study this time using neuroimaging demonstrated a difference in the actual structure of white matter tracts going to and from the occipital cortex in the brains of children who will develop autism, again at 6 months of age (Elison 2013). The link between autism and screens is not new. The introduction of cable TV in the 80’s was followed by a 17% increase in the number of cases of autism (Waldman 2006).

It is known that infants learn the sounds of the language spoken to them during the first year of life and by the end of the first year are no longer attending to non-native sounds (Kuhl 2005). The critical time for learning this part of speech is during the first year of life. Could social behavior be the same?  There are studies showing language acquisition is impaired by screen-time (Chonchaiya 2008, Okuam 2007), and the learning of social behavior could likewise be impaired. Autism is the failure of a child to develop reciprocal social relationships with other human beings, so how might screen-time in infancy block or interfere with the development of this vital skill set?

Screen viewing could interfere with tasks that require infants to scan the three dimensional world such as joint attention, a critical social skill for the child under one, effectively changing visual processing (Charman 2003). Screen-time is thought to be a major distractor from social relationships in older children with autism, and there is no reason to think that this distraction would not start from the time of first exposure of infant to screen-time (Engelhardt 2014). Screen-time cannot offer social interaction. Learning social interaction requires social interaction. Screen devices are social dead ends for infants and babies. In today’s world as an infant looks around at people and follows their eyes to see where they are looking, there is a good chance those eyes will lead back to a screen device. Most children with autism are entranced by screen devices.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2001 recommends no screen-time until the child is two years old and no more than two hours a day after that, yet children are using 4-5 times that amount (Kaiser Foundation 2010). Will the escalation in screen-time as opposed to face-to-face time, be a major contributing factor in the epidemic rise in autism? Will we be known as a society that chose to give a diagnosis rather than quality time, medication rather than a hug, and costly programs rather than applied common sense? Prevent autism now. Turn off the screens and play with children.

Research References

American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Public Education. Children, adolescents and television. Pediatrics. 2001; 107 (2): 423-426.

Are Autism Spectrum Conditions More Prevalent in an Information-Technology Region? A School-Based Study of Three Regions in the Netherlands. (2012, 5). Jounal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(5), 734-739.

CDC Autism and Developmental Monitoring Network Surveillance Year. (2014). Prevalence of Autism Sprectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years- Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States,2010. MMWR, 63(2), 1-22.

Chonchaiya, W. (2008). Television viewing associates with delayed language development. Acta Paediatrica, 997-982.

Chonchaiya, W. (2011). Comparision of television viewing between children with autism spectrum disorder and controls. Acta Paediatrica, 100, 1033-1037.

Elison, J.T. (2013). White Matter Microstructure and Atypical Visual Orienting in 7-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism. American Journal Psychiatry, 170(8), 899-908.

Hallmayer, J. (2011). Genetic heritability and shared environmental factors among twin paris with Autism. Archives General Psychiatry, 68(11), 1095-1102.

Jones, W., Kiln A. (2013). Attention to eyes is present but in decline in 2-6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism. Nature, 000, 1-5.

Kaiser Foundation Report. 2010.

Okuma, K., Tanimura, K. (2007). Television viewing, reduced parental utterance, and delayed speech development ininfants and young children. Archives Pediatric Adolescent Medicie, 161(8), 618-619.

Sandin, S., Lichtenstein, P., & etc. (2014). The Familial Risk of Autism. JAMA, 311(17), 1770-1777.

Shic, F., Macari S, Chawarska K. (2014). Speech Disturbs Face Scanning in 6-Month-Old Infants Who Develop Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biology Psychiatry, 75, 231-237.

Therese K., Gronborg, D. E. (2013). Recurrence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Full- and Half-Siblings and Trends Over Time. JAMA Pediatrics, 167(10), 947-953.

Waldman,W. (2006). Does Television Cause Autism? NBER Working Paper No. 12632.

Author Biographies

Cris Rowan is a pediatric occupational therapist, biologist, author, and speaker and lives in British Columbia. Her website is www.zonein.ca, blog www.movingtolearn.ca, and book is “Virtual Child – The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children” available on Amazon and www.virtualchild.ca. Cris can be reached at info@zonein.ca.

Dr. Leonard Oestreicher, MD is a family physician, author, and President of the Society for the Study of ASD and Social-Communication and lives in California. His website is www.ssas-c.com, and book is “The Pied Pipers of Autism” available on Amazon.  Leonard can be reached at leonard@ssas-c.com.

Cris Rowen

Cris Rowan, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT

Cris Rowan is a biologist, pediatric occupational therapist and sensory specialist with expertise in the impact of technology on child development, behaviour and learning. Having worked in school settings for over 3 decades, Cris is committed to improving student health while also easing the job of learning for children. Cris is a well-known international speaker and author to teachers, parents and therapists globally on topics of sensory integration, learning, attention, fine motor skills and the impact of media content including video games, social media and pornography on children’s brain and body development. Cris has a BSc’s both in Occupational Therapy and in Biology, is a SIPT certified sensory specialist, and has Approved Provider Status for CEU provision with the American Occupational Therapy Association. Over the past 3 decades, Cris has provided over 350 keynotes and workshops, writes monthly articles for her blog Moving to Learn, publishes the monthly Child Development Series Newsletter, and is designer and creator of Reconnect Webinars which offer research evidenced information for teens, parents, teachers and clinicians to manage balanced between screens and healthy activities. Cris is member of the Screens in Schools committee with Fairplay for Kids, member of the Institute for Digital Media and Child Development and sits on the Board of Directors for the Global Alliance for Brain and Heart Health. Cris has two adult children, Matt and Katie who grew up without screens.

Cris can be reached at crowan@reconnectwebinars.com. Reconnect Webinars offers a free, 5.5-hour CCAP accredited Screenbuster Program training webinar for teens which qualifies them to perform Tech Talks for their peers. The Screenbuster Program requires one counsellor, teacher or principal to complete the 3-day Balanced Technology Management certification CEU provided course in order to adequately supervise the teens.

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14 Responses

  1. Both my kids are autistic and we never did any of those things that the article says causes it.

    1. Hi Hailey,

      It appears that there are two types of autism, what is termed Virtual Autism related to early screen exposure (ESE) and more traditional autism.

      I’ll point you toward 2 research articles that shed further light on this subject:

      1. Intensive early screen exposure as a causal factor for symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder: The case for Virtual Autism.
      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31685125/

      2. Early Media Overexposure Syndrome Must Be Suspected in Toddlers Who Display Speech Delay With Autism-Like Symptoms.
      https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2333794X20925939

      Love to hear your thoughts.

      Cris

  2. We are a strict no screen time family, and we do make eye contact with our ASD son but we do not force it. So, no, this does not PREVENT autism. I would argue instead that it would reduce those possibly misdiagnosed with autism due to excessive screen time usage.

    1. The critical period for socialization the researchers spoke about was 3-6 months of age. If during that time the infant experienced high screen exposure and/or low parental engagement, then the causal model indicates there would be a higher incidence of developing what we term autism, which is a failure of the primary attachment between parent and child. At 3-6 months the infant is beginning to see they have impact on those around them e.g. they smile and someone smiles back; they cry, and parents say “you poor baby” and cuddles them. When exposed to screens, the baby doesn’t experience this dyad communication e.g. the screen does not respond to the baby, so the baby quits trying, and misses the critical period for social interaction.

  3. I’m very happy and encouraged to say that we removed all screen media for a period of 6 months from our 3.5 year old son who received an ASD diagnosis in Feb. 2015. He has made tremendous gains and we feel like we have him back with us now. When screens were turned off his eye contact and joint attention reverted back to a typical level within an 8 weeks of the screen fast. His pervasive spinning that took up much of his day stopped within 6 weeks of the fast. Just these two factors have allowed him to learn at a rate we have never seen before with his development. He was receiving Speech, OT, and PT weekly for a total of 7 sessions. At this time he receives only 1 session of speech a week in a regular preschool setting with no other assistance. We have recently had him retested for autism and though we have not received the results at this time, none of his therapists, teachers, or others that interact with him feel like this is a concern any more. Removing screens has changed his trajectory forever…I truly believe that. If you have a child with ASD or other learning delay I believe you should give this a try for at least a month. It would mean removing your child from view of any and all screen devices including TV, DVD, tablets, smart phones etc. But I feel you will see fast results for the positive that nothing but their absence can explain…GO AHEAD AND TRY IT…I DARE YOU!!! You will be glad you did!

    1. Thank you Lori for your courage and leadership, as well as your belief that removing screens can cure autism. I strongly encourage all parents of children with autism to put down their devices and pick up their children and put a stop to the escalation of autism incidence. Please read below causal model for autism to explain how screen use at a young age (3-6 mo) can alter brain development and result in autism.

      http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/S0306-9877(15)00238-8/fulltext

    2. my son is 3 years old and show autistic characters like no eye contact, speech delay, repetitive motion n so on , his doctor has also advised us to eliminate his screen time (he’s been watching cartoons since he was 8 months, what a mess i have created 🙁 .) and also to put him in a nursery so that he’ll learn to interact with other kids. I’m really hoping this plan would work for us too.

    3. Hi Lori,

      My son is 18 months and he is not communicating with us, no pointing and no talking. His doctor said it could be a sign of autism and we are very worried. He watches TV a lot… since he was 3 months or so. I wanted to know how is your some now? Any more improvement? Thanks,

      1. Hello there,

        Hope you are well and your little one as well, what was your result regarding the screen removal ? I am doing the same and I am 12 days in, results are positive lets see how it turns up after 45 days.

        1. Max is still doing well. He is in a regular first grade class and just started to receive support for reading comprehension. We work with him daily on this and he is just missing the mark. We are still very cautious with him with screen time and at home he has less than 5 hours a week. School has less than half an hour a day right now and we really try to get him involved in social opportunities as much as possible by involving him in a lot of the daily routines and also cubscouts, gymnastics, and play dates . I’m so glad that you are seeing positive results with your daughter! We noticed this with Max very quickly too! I have seen similar progressions with other children each according to their own developmental trajectories, but these parents feel that removing screens for a length of time such as 6 months or more had a very positive effect on their child’s development with ASD.

  4. Several people in my family have autism and so I feel like it is a genetic concern. However, I do agree that it could be an environmental issue as well. I went to one of those genetic testing companies while we were having kids to make sure that we were doing all we could to best help them have normal lives. None of them have come out autistic but even if they did we’d be happy to be their parents. We would love them anyways.

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