preview

Autism And Nonverbal Communication Analysis

Decent Essays
Open Document

Human society has borne witness to unprecedented technological advances since the turn of the 21st century. We have the potential to be more informed, connected, and educated than at any prior time in history. It is truly an era in which an individual could conceivably become an autodidact on almost any imaginable subject. Technology has become both personal and portable, allowing a person to access a wealth of information and communicate to others in the blink of an eye. Humanity no longer has the option of ignorance, as we carry our knowledge in our hip pockets.
This easy access to information has led to the almost total societal immersion in technology. A seat at any restaurant comes with a view of diners engrossed in their phones, …show more content…

Tone, facial expression, body language, and other nonverbal cues assist in conveying the intent of a message. A vital part of the socialization process for a child is attaining competency in nonverbal communication. Not doing so can lead to lifetime of social difficulty. Individuals suffering from some Autism Spectrum disorders cannot process social cues and nonverbal communication signals. Interacting with others becomes an active task, with each cue being processed individually. An Autism sufferer must weigh each action logically, to ensure that his response is appropriate and warranted. It is within the realm of possibility that future generations may not be optimally socialized in person to person communication. For a generation who primarily interacts with others over the internet, a real danger exists that they may never learn the subtle cues and mores that allow us to function as a polite …show more content…

A society in which no thought is given to tact or empathy would be a bleak place indeed. For the individual, this lack of connection is a quick road to loneliness. Human relationships rely on far more than simple proximity to other warm bodies. As we sink ever deeper into the technological abyss, we run the risk of forgetting how to be social animals. A smart phone is incapable of sharing the day to day joys and tragedies of the human experience with the user. It is a tool, albeit a marvelous tool. This must never be forgotten, we may well benefit from asking the person next to us for a piece of information rather than relying on a web search engine. The answer we may get from person next to us has the potential to give us more than cold, unfeeling

Get Access