How Does Technology Affect Autistic Children?
Alexander Weatherholt
National University Abstract
The first case of autism was diagnosed in 1943. Since this, the yearly amount of diagnosed cases has increased 1000%. As of 2013, 1 in every 120 girls and 1 in every 70 boys were born with autism. With the steady increase of autistic birth rates, it has become an important social issue. Since autism was first diagnosed, technology has progressed at a rapid rate. This technology is integrated into everyone’s daily lives. Autistic children in general are affected by technology in such areas as communication, learning and social integration. Which leads to the question: How does technology affect autistic children? This paper pursues an answer to this question through exploration and analysis of the existing research on the relationship between autistic children and technology.
How Does Technology Affect Autistic Children?
Autism rates are on the rise. In 1938, a child referred to as Donald T. to keep his identity hidden, was seen by psychologist Leo Kanner. Upon observing the child, he noticed that Donald showed symptoms unlike anything else recorded in medical history. The child was withdrawn, showed an obsession with spinning blocks and lining up toys, was indifferent towards people, and did not react to things that other children took an interest in. After five years of observation, Kanner made the first diagnosis of autism (Kanner, 1943). In 1943, there were 11
It is estimated that one in every sixty eight children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (CDC, 2014). In schools around the country these students are struggling in their classroom environment due to deficits in three areas; communication skills, social skills, and repetitive behaviors or interest (Marder & Fraser, 2012). Implementing the use of technology in the classroom like iPad, iPod, android tablets, e-readers, and computers is beneficial to students with autism spectrum disorder. It can increase communication skills, can help make their classroom experience more pleasant, and it gives them the best chance at success.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a growing problem throughout the entire globe. Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined as deficits in social reciprocity and communication, as well as unusual, restricted and repetitive behaviors (Lord). Such behaviors may include running back and forth, excessive cleaning, noises, and clapping. These also vary greatly with age and ability, and the notion of ASD has been introduced to recognize these diversities (Firth). Autism was first discovered in 1943 when Leo Kanner observed 11 children with several common traits such as, impairments in social interaction, anguish for changes, good memory, belated echolalia, over sensitivity to certain stimuli (especially sound), food problems, limitations in spontaneous activity,
Some of the characteristics of those who have autism consist of repetitive thinking and compulsive attention in things like symbols, languages and numbers. The cause of autism is not yet known as of now, however, many people consider it a genetic disorder which takes place at birth. Christopher Boone has one specific form of autism known as Asperger’s syndrome, his disorder is reflected through his fascination with mathematics, detail, astronomy and colours; his thoughts on routine and violent hatred to interaction, even though it is not specified in the book. In 1943 Leo Kanner a psychiatrist published a paper surrounded around the research of 11 young patients that fit into a fine variety of diagnostic principles that he measured out to be autistic. During Kanner’s career he has seen fewer than 150 cases that go with the description he came up with of the syndrome, he theorised that autism was very unsupported and rare. Autism turned out to be a foundation of embarrassment and several of those who were diagnosed were certified; in the 1970s everything started to change (Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Simons Foundation, n.d.). Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner both used the word autism, in the 1940s when they were doing
Eugen Blueler, a psychiatrist, was the first to introduce the name "Autism" but he diagnosed this disease to a schizophrenic adult. Leo Kanner distinguished the two later in order to clarify the understanding of the disability. (Forty-six)
Autism has undergone significant definition changes in the past. The term was first used in 1912 by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler from the Greek word for self—autos—in his description of patients with “schizophrenic thinking divorced from both logic and reality” (Rorvik 249). However, an established set of guidelines for diagnosis would not be established until 1943, when Leo Kanner, a German émigré to the United States, wrote “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Content”, a landmark essay in which he “described eleven children who, from infancy, had seemed to cut off from their parents…[and] existed in their own, often impenetrable world” (Pollak 250). The common features that he noticed in those eleven children were
Autism may appear to be a new topic because of its prevalence in recent years. But autism has been a thought for more than 70 years. Historically autism was originated by a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist named Eugen Bleuler in the 1912. Autism first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM I) in 1952, under Schizophrenia and classified as extreme isolation or withdrawal from social life. By 1968, the term autism was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM II) and replaced with the word autistic but still under the diagnosis of schizophrenia. In 1980, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Technology has broadened and improved upon educational institutions in both normal and special education areas. There are a number of methods that can be utilized by assisting educators to instruct autistic children in order to help them thrive as they progress through their academic lives. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of technology that allows autistic spectrum disorder may be educated into adulthood to find meaningful jobs and possibly attend college and achieve a bachelor’s degree. Many autistic spectrum students find improvement on socialization is more copasetic when using technology, they are more comfortable utilizing methods such as text, being online, using games, videos, music, and digital learning applications.
Leo Kanner, a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the first self-described child-psychiatrist, first described what we now know to be autism in his 1943 paper titled, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact." He described a disorder similar to, but distinct from childhood schizophrenia. Autism, taken from symptoms of schizophrenia, described withdrawn symptoms or social interaction problems, and was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Ed. (DSM-III) under the name Infantile Autism in 1980. This was later changed to autism in the revised DSM-III in 1987. The authors indicated that some camps still considered autism a schizophrenic disorder, and that infantile autism
It wasn’t until 1943 when the classification of autism was introduced by Dr. Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner, a psychiatrist from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, reported on eleven child patients
Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the early years that affect a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a spectrum condition that affects individuals differently. However, in 1943 psychologist Leo Kanner studied a group of 11 children who had unusual behaviors that made them different from other children with other disabilities. Kanner in 1943 notice that children with Autism spectrum disorder had special needs. Some of the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder that he observed were having an inability to relate to other people, they also have delayed speech and language development, failure to use developed
There is a wide range of assistive technology for autistic students that allows them to thrive academically. Through assistive technology, students are actually able to learn independently, which reduces the need for one-on-one teacher support and can also assist their educational needs. Assistive technology benefits autistic children with its easy use, unique application, and its ability to improve educational academics, communication, and social skills.
.Leo Kanner’s (1943) original description of a child presenting what he called “infantile autism” was “He seems self-satisfied. He has no apparent affection when petted. He does not observe the fact that anyone comes or goes, and never seems glad to see father or mother or any playmate. He seldom comes when called. (Kanner,1943)
Diagnose autism has changed substantially since the diagnosis was first introduced nearly 75 years ago. In 1943, Leo Kanner first coined to describe children who seemed socially isolated and withdrawn. In 1966, researchers estimated that about 1 in 2,500 children had autism, according to criteria derived from Kanner’s description. This and other early estimates of prevalence probably focused on children at the severe end of the spectrum and missed those with subtler features. Autism didn’t make its debut in the DSM until 1980. In 1987, a new edition expanded the criteria by allowing a diagnosis even if symptoms became apparent after 30 months of age. To garner a diagnosis, a child needed to meet 8 of 16 criteria, rather than all 6 of the previous
Autism was first presented in 1943 by Leo Kanner when he was conducting a several children study; he later described the children as having withdrawn behaviour. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the suitable treatments used in behavioural therapy were focused on medications such as LSD and electrical shock as a form of pain and punishment (WebMD Medical Reference, 2014).
autism was first described in the 1940s. Leo Kanner in the United States and Hans Asperger in Austria independently published papers describing children with severe social and communicative impairments. Both Kanner and Asperger used the term "autism" (meaning “alone”) to describe the syndromes they had identified. Kanner described children who had impoverished social relationships from early in life, employed deviant language, and were subject to behavioral stereotypies. Asperger’s description identified children with normal IQs and normal language development who suffered from social and some types of communicative impairments. (slaughter)