Pediatricians are alarmed that babies and toddlers who spend hours a day on phones, tablets, and around TVs can develop autistic-like symptoms, in a newly-identified condition termed Virtual Autism.
the symptoms of Virtual Autism often disappear when the children stop all screen exposure and switch to face-to-face contact, reading, and playing with care-givers, other children, and non-electronic toys.
Over the preceding five years, the doctors had noticed more and more toddlers with unusual changes in behavior. Some had stopped responding to their names, they would avoid eye contact, and had become indifferent to the world around them—characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Others were developmentally behind for their age.
Virtual autism is actually a condition that is believed to occur when young children (under the age of three) are exposed to excessive screen exposure. This happens when screen viewing for too long of a time causes autistic like symptoms.
In a study aiming at revealing the impact of early exposure of electronic screen on language development and autistic-like behavior,
Currently, children have more access to electronic media on a daily basis than those of previous generations. Some studies suggest that increased screen time is associated with melanopsin-expressing neurons and decreasing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter, and thus results in aberrant behavior, decreased cognitive, and language development.”
This can lead to speech delay. Cognitive abilities can be affected as well, possibly leading to mental disorders. These issues can affect a child’s ability to negotiate social interactions in the same way neurotypical children might.
Some studies suggest that increased screen time in young children is associated to negative health outcomes such as decreased cognitive ability, impaired language development, mood, and autistic-like behavior including hyperactivity, short attention span, and irritability
If your child has autism-like symptoms, and has had a history of too much screen exposure, it could be virtual autism.
With the rapid increase in device usage concluded the authors, “it is necessary to review the health effects of screen time on infants and to control excessive screen time.
A study of toddlers’ brains seems to bear out the behavioral indicators.
Experts say that young children are easily distracted due to excessive use of touch-screen devices, which affects their ability to focus on something.
So, what’s a parent to do? For one thing, to respect a child’s basic developmental needs. For kids to learn to speak, reason, and develop crucial social skills, they need face-to-face interaction with loving people and to use all their senses as often as they can.
The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that babies and toddlers should have no solo use of screens. Screen interaction should be limited to video calls with loved ones, with a caregiver standing by.
Preschoolers shouldn’t have more than one hour of screen time a day “to allow children ample time to engage in other activities important to their health and development,
The World Health Organization agrees that, for the sake of their health and proper brain formation, children under age one should have no exposure to screens.
When toddlers range around, freely using all of their senses to examine, taste and play with whatever they choose, they are making rich and lifelong neural connections.”
Talk and read with your child every day as much as possible
Provide materials, toys, and games that require manipulation, such as a play dough, finger paints, and a play kitchen
Go outside at least once a day and make sure the child has time to play alone and with other children
Not use screens when you are with children
Not hand a phone to your baby or young child (and keep the screen locked, just in case)
Keep the TV off around kids under age four, even if the child doesn’t seem to be paying attention to what’s on the screen
Explain to family members and caregivers why these measures are essential to a child’s healthy development, durability, and well-being
“To limit the time spent by the child in front of the TV, tablet, computer, mobile phone, parents should adhere to certain rules:
Make a daily schedule to follow with the child.
Establish rules for the use of the TV, the computer, and the phone by the child
Remove any gadget from the child’s visual contact
Physical activities have a major impact on the emotional development of the child. Emotional health is very important for the development of the child and can be greatly stimulated by movement. With the help of sport, the child grows physically, mentally and emotionally fulfilled. Sport stimulates interactions. With the help of it, children will learn to be patient with others, to wait for their turn, to be responsible, to respect others, to be accountable, to cope with unexpected situations, to adapt more easily. And last but not least, they will make friends of the same age with them and with similar passions.”
We learned above that the children who had the most effects from too much screen exposure were the ones who lacked parent-child interaction.
If we allow children to be looking at a screen for the right amount of hours a day, we are interacting with them, talking through what they saw, drawing conclusions together, laughing and learning together, we counteract the damage that is done. That is encouraging to me.
Spending time together boosts mood and helps developing brains. Removing screens is good, not removing ourselves is even better!
Just as an autism diagnosis isn’t the end of the world, a virtual autism diagnosis isn’t either. Children’s brains are resilient. A little bit of care, and a lot of work can help reverse the effects of early screen exposure, and make a huge difference in your child’s autistic like symptoms and behavioral issues.
Eliminating screen exposure, spending quality time with parents , hands-on learning, playing and social interactions can all go a long way.
A child should not be screened before two years of age. Children between two and five years of age should be given less than one hour in a whole day. No screens of any kind for at least an hour before bed. Eye contact, lovingly touching the baby, reading books should be common in the home and screen time should not be used during meals.
Mitigate
The screen should be watched sitting with children. This keeps parents involved in children's lives, as well as makes it easier to keep track of age-appropriate academic content choices for children.
Be Mindful
To keep a check on children's screen use, parents themselves have to keep a close eye on how much screen time they spend on screen and what kind of content they watch. If parents watch documentary or informative programs or commercial material, it will be easier for children too.
Modeling
The best practical example should be presented in front of the children in which they learn from the actions of the parents that reading a book, going for a walk outside, living an active lifestyle, screen with the family. Free time is very important. Parents need to limit their screen time, prioritize educational content over commercial content, and provide alternative good activities away from screens.
Parents of young children should show them something comfortable. Cartoons or games with very fast scene changes should be completely avoided. Use of mobile devices and tablets should be monitored and time monitored.
In today's age, it is impossible to stay away from digital media and keep children away, but if some rules are made from the beginning for yourself and children
Create rules for limiting screen time at home and enforce them as much as possible. A 'reward and punishment' strategy can be adopted to motivate children, rewards and rewards for following screen time hours. While violating this schedule they can be taken away from their favorite things as punishment.
the second . With regard to screen time, there is a need to set a specific time limit for when children can use TV or devices, as using devices late at night can affect sleep.
Last and most important thing. It is also important for parents to realize the importance of spending time with their children and family and to have constant communication with them. Regular inclusion can substitute for children's screen time.
We asked some question to
Tatheer Fatima
MSc behavioural sciences
Specialization: children with developmental difficulties
CEO SSK Montessori and Special education
Virtual Autism Questions
What is Virtual Autism?
Why does it happen?
What are its symptoms and causes?
Is it curable and can it go away?
Are there any statistics or how many cases have been reported in Pakistan?
How many such children have you treated so far?
A message for parents' guidance
What is Virtual Autism? When this child does not have autism spectrum disorder, but symptoms like autism spectrum disorder begin to appear, social communication and behaviour changes take place.
And the reasons for this are that if you let a child under the age of three look at the screen for more than three hours, they get symptoms like this.
In this we see behavior, we see hyperactivity
We see fixations, we see a lot of aggression, we see communication delays in children, or such children communicate in different ways and sometimes not at all, and what is more, they do not have social interaction and this is also seen. That the parents who hold the phone to the children and do not communicate with them themselves, hyperactivity in these children increases a lot.
Such children communicate in different ways. Stimming is the body. These children memorize any sentence from anywhere, from a cartoon or a movie. They repeat some sentences whether it is in our own language or another I am in language they also keep repeating
Yes, it is absolutely treatable, but such children require a lot of effort, especially the parents and the mother, and then the biggest challenge wherever the therapy is being taken is that the child How to keep away from the screen When you start to avoid the screen then we try to give the child rhymes poems something that has to do with the screen we move it away from the child we don't read it at all not at all Show and some children for six months
Children are kept away from anything related to screens for a year so that everything goes out of their minds.
The up-down of neurotransmitters in the brain should stop
Its population in Pakistan cannot be estimated because there is no complete research on it yet, but it is very large in number.
Till now there is not enough awareness among the parents that they should come and tell that our child has virtual autism.
And the children who come to us are cured
But people who don't come with this thing are carrying children with similar symptoms. About thirty to forty percent of the children who come to us have virtual autism.
Because children were given too much screen time during the code
Phones to children very young children and even before that since our parents use phones more and more especially on Android phones it is very common for children to get hold of it and parents themselves say that we give the phone to the child ourselves. If the child has not eaten, we put the phone in front of him, then he eats, or if the child is not doing this, we hold the phone to him, then he stops screaming and he sits calmly and If we see this around us, it is very common that let the children hold the phone and they will sit comfortably.
Yes, and many of these children have been treated and are being treated and they go into the mainstream. People with Autism Spectrum Disorder are also taken away from the TV screen along with mobile phones and tablets to reduce their aggression and other symptoms.
This is a message for parents, God, be very concerned about the mental health of your children, take care of them, pay attention to your children, and I would say that it is the parents' fault that their children are suffering because of them. Autism is a virtual disease, but the parents themselves are causing their children to suffer from this disease by their own will.
From today, you can see that if we talk about ten years ago or twenty years ago, children were not given so much use of phones, so there is a huge difference between the development of these children and the abilities of children now. Children are too hyper. Go to the play area in any mall and you will see it in children.
So, parents, listen to this carefully and understand that this phone or the screen is not playing any role in the education and training of your child. Training or his Madrasah where he is going to the school where he is going to get education will not even use the screen for learning, but continue the process of education and training of children in traditional ways, children's daily life. Minimize screen use as much as possible and instead of giving children screen time, show your love, your love, your compassion, your compassion. Your child will automatically stop using the screen.