Screen Time - *gifted Autispark app

Z has always loved screen time, whether it’s CBeebies on the TV, using his tab, or watching videos on our phones…he loves it all. For a long time I felt such guilt at letting him spend too much time on whatever device it was. 

We all know that there are guidelines on how much is recommended per day, but taking away an autistic person’s obsession isn’t simple. In the past I’ve tried all sorts to distract him away from the screen and move him on to some kind of educational play based activity that he isn’t particularly interested in, all because I’m feeling guilty for letting him spend time in-front of a screen. 

Don't get me wrong, we do say no sometimes; if he spends too long just watching TV he definitely gets VERY crabby, but that’s nothing compared to forcing him away from it when he isn’t ready. So, there really wasn’t much for it but to embrace it and try not to get caught up in the guilt of allowing him this obsession that we're told is unhealthy.  

Best decision for us. 

Not only does it make him happy but I really think that the improvement in his speech has been incredible. He does a lot of scripting/echolalia but not only that, he uses the language he has learned in context. One line he is particularly fond of when feeling anxious is “no, it’s too dangerous, better to stay here and play it safe”. He’s learned new words, names of objects and is even now trying to sing along to theme tunes. 

Of course there are PLENTY of times where it drives me nuts while he hogs the family TV to watch the same video over and over (never thought I’d dislike Wall-E). But when we can move him onto something else we try to vary the screen time he does have. This includes apps like Autispark who kindly gifted us a subscription to their app. 

Z is particularly a fan of the sorting and matching games on the app. There’s a lot of word repetition which he responds to well, as he often asks us to repeats words to help him learn them. We found some of the illustrations a little confusing, for example, one task was to sort animals and Z was confused that a teddy bear wasn’t an animal - the illustrations are all cute cartoon style images so it was a little hard to tell it wasn’t meant to be an actual bear.

I thought that the daily activities games are a good feature. Short, interactive, instructional games to perform tasks like brushing teeth and washing hands, great to encourage activities that Z doesn’t always like to do. I also liked that there is a section for social stories; it would be great to see an even bigger selection of these in the future.

It’s unrealistic to feel completely guilt free about allowing hours of screen time, instead I try to focus on the joy it brings, the happy stims, the learning opportunities that it provides and take one day at a time, assessing his needs, and learning when to push to do something different and when to just go with the flow.

Sarah x