Screen time linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder in children

Atono Tsükrü Kense
Kohima | June 18

“My five year old niece learned Korean language watching Korean movies on YouTube. She was able to speak the basics when she was just three. Now, she tries to talk to us in Korean and when we don’t respond, she gets irritated and angry,” says Bano.

This is the reality in many homes today as modern devices have influenced and impacted every home like never before.

However, experts have warned about the negative impact on a child’s growth and development due to longer period of using electronic devices.

The COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown has perhaps, ignited the addiction of electronic screen time among children due to various reasons. Several studies have linked screen time to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among young children.

Dr Akumtoshi, MD (Paediatrics) Fellow Neonatal Medicine, PGC (Neonatology) in social media questioned, “is the effect of lockdown and too much of screen time (mobile, TV etc) showing up now?”

“Felt sad and apprehensive as I saw more and more children coming with signs of autism behavioural problems and learning difficulties in the outpatient department,” wrote Dr Akumtoshi adding that research clearly shows increased risk of autism in children who are exposed to longer screen time.

Speaking to The Morung Express, he said “even before the pandemic, parents would give phones to the kids and they would be on the phone the whole day.”

However, he observed that during the COVID induced lockdown, the accessibility of phones to kids with the excuse of online classes would extend to watching videos which “probably ignited what has already been started and this got worse with lockdown.”

“Children start watching and talking like the way they listen and hear, and get lost in their own world. If people try to talk to them, they wouldn’t respond. This has been going on even before the lockdown” said Dr Akumtoshi.

ASD symptoms
Among his young patients, he observed that although every patient is different and has varied symptoms, the most common are: doesn’t respond to calls, lost in their own (imaginary) world, delayed speech, irritation, short attention span, not able to concentrate, not able to sit properly in one place etc.

These are small things but these are things we need to pick up, said Dr Akumtoshi adding “this is one thing that has been coming on and off to the OPDs. We did see problems like this before also, but not as frequent as it is now.”

He also noted that approximately 1 in 30 kids have ASD, wherein boys are found to be more affected than their counterparts.

Effects of longer screen time
“A child is meant to discover and to seek out how things work. Unfortunately they get stuck to cell phones 7-8 hours a day” Dr Akumtoshi noted regrettably.

The first 2-5 years is a very crucial period. This is when major learning takes place and the brain growth increases very drastically and fast, he stated.

However, during this time if the kids are stuck to one sided communication, then the mental developmental problems starts, wherein the learning ability and communication skills are all hampered, explained Dr Akumtoshi.

Apart from that, he pointed out that kids are hyper-stimulated because of cell phones and they just need 24/7 entertainment, then they become very agitated, angry and inattentive, and they would want to do things in certain way and not try to change at all.

“A child of 5 years can learn up to 35 new languages; that is the capacity of the brain,” said Dr Akumtoshi. However, he stated that this has been suppressed drastically by one-way screen time. “If a child is taught properly, learning 35 languages is not difficult for a kid to handle” he added.

Begging to deflect a little from the famous adage “an idle mind is a devil’s workshop”, he maintained that boredom has its own benefits as it enables a person to think deep and open up the imagination to become innovative thinkers. Unfortunately, he said, that part of the brain is also suppressed.

How much time is recommended?
Citing the American Academy of Paediatrics which recommends that a child shouldn’t be exposed even once to the cell phone before 18 months, nonetheless, Dr Akumtoshi said it would be even better if a child is not exposed to any screen up to 3 years.

In general, he said kids above 3 years can have some screen time by restricting to 45 minutes to one hour a day.

However, he cautioned that it must be monitored by parents as some cartoons do contain foul language.

Alternatives to screen time
Instead of giving cell phones, Dr Akumtoshi recommended giving kids toys, blocks, toy cars, and learning tools with which they can explore. “Let them break it and explore what’s inside,” he said adding that children are meant to break and spoil things and their toys.

He also suggested giving children time to think and explore their imagination by providing them with paint, colours, comics and good books to read for older children. That way, he stated that kids will develop much better.

Treatment
ASD, he said has three levels, where different levels of the spectrum would require different types of treatment.

“Treatment is possible, but time consuming. But if it is level 3, probably that may go on for long while milder symptoms have a chance to get back to normal,” said Dr Akumtoshi.

The process of treatment ranges from occupational therapy, speech therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy etc, explained Dr Akumtoshi. “It is not just one person who takes care of the kid – it is a group of people – psychologist, psychiatrist etc” he added.

Caution to parents
“Parents get so excited and happy when their 1-2 year old start learning rhymes through the cell phones,” noted Dr Akumtoshi.

However, he cautioned “what parents should remember is that is not the end of education. That is going to destroy the child actually, as it is a one-way learning, not two way learning and it is definitely not the best way to learn.”

Further throwing in a note of caution citing a research, he said “parents please keep mobile phones away from kids.

Parents who focus on cell phones more, have their kinds at a higher risk of autism in a certain subset of children.”

Source: https://morungexpress.com/screen-time-linked-to-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-children