"Acquired Autism Spectrum Disorder"

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It's even older than that. People were complaining about this during the golden age of Athens.
The world hasn't ended yet, but people are very set in their ways and afraid of change. I don't understand why people can't see that every generation grows up in a world with different pressures than the previous generation and this of course necessitate a change in lifestyle.

Heheh, Generation Z people have never come off as having ASD to me. If anything, they seem hyper-social, always, always texting, talking, connecting, and still managing to spend a good deal of time in, uh, corporeal get-togethers. And since I'm already generalizing, yes, they do seem aloof, uptight even; those I've spoken with have an awful habit of getting on their high horse over trivial matters, or simply shunning me if I say something they don't like. Sounds anti-social, yet maybe it's more of an amplified tribe mentality, in which even minor differences get you booted out of the group.

My overall impression, from the encounters I've had, is that they are markedly non-autistic-like.

How many autistic texting demons are there, anyway? The space limitations could be a deterrent, the constant sense of connection a major energy drain. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Classics stand the test of time.

I used to be on an online forum with a lot of teenagers, and to be honest I was concerned by their lack of interests. All they ever seemed to want to do was message each other. (Which is very social, so I disagree it's making people more aloof or detached, but it leaves out an awful lot, like reading, playing outside, or just looking around and even taking the time to just think.)

There have been studies that found that multitasking, like texting or browsing the internet while trying to do homework or listen to a lecture, made for a very poor performance on all the tasks that were attempted at once, while the people engaging in them actually thought they were being super-efficient.

I think it's true there is a shorter attention span and an intolerance of boredom and quietness. (But it has absolutely nothing to do with being more autistic, if anything it's just the opposite.)

"Worst Aquired Autism Ever!"

I just turned 60 and I work with a lot of twenty somethings who cannot live without their pocket communicators. They hide in corners while on the clock to text people. There is an anti-cell phone policy where I work, "don't use it while on the clock." Everyone is an outlaw now. I don't like to talk on the phone so I mostly don't. Texting on a device that was originally invented so you could use your mouth to talk to someone you can't see is rediculous to me. I don't own a cell phone or any of the other doo-dahs. I do use the net but only for three or four activities. Have you looked at your spam lately? Have you run across any bogus web sites lately? Have you dumped a boyfriend or a girlfriend wirelessly in the last year? I think people on the net have a great opportunity to misrepresent themselves to others. Not everyone does it. The psychologists are wrong to invent Acquired Autism and that other thing. They are generalizing at the beginning of a study instead of at the end. I like the idea of putting people in the woods for a bit without buttons. A tree fell next to my house one winter and killed all power so my kids couldn't go electronic. We found them to be quite capable of adapting to life without technology. But they wouldn't do it on their own without the drastic circumstance to force the issue.That's all, I'm out of air now.

Exactly. If you force the living circumstances for awhile, THEN this BS idea would be exposed for what it is. Clearly nobody thought of that in the midst of whatever scientifically-flawed thing it was they did that they falsely called an "experiment."

How does spending all your time texting or on the Internet suddenly mean that you have impairments in social communication and reciprocity? Or other things usually associated with ASDs such as sensory integration dysfunction and executive functioning deficits (apart from short attention span apparently)? Spending all your time on the Internet /= autism. Are the people quoted in these articles forgetting what is actually required for diagnosis?

Apparently so.

It's really annoying when psuedoscience is mistaken for the real thing.

I grew up pre-internet and when AS was unheard of- I spent my lunch hour of high school in the library reading encyclopedias. I used to check out a ton of books from the library and spend my Saturday nights reading and watching TV while other teens were going out.

Just because the number of AS cases are growing does not mean they it is caused by the "too much computer time"
I think the it's just that they are getting diagnosed now due to greater AS awareness which is partly due to the internet.
I think that AS people are more likely to use the internet to compensate for their lack of friend IRL.

Here's another example: When I was a pre-teen, I created imaginary friends and would engage in hours of fantasy "pretend play" where I was the heroine to compensate for my lack of friends in real life and my parents accused my pretend play as the CAUSE of me not having friends rather than the result of it. They even forbid me from "playing with my imaginary friends" thinking that my behavior would improve in real life if I stopped. Instead of making me behave better, they took away from one of the few pleasures I had. Can you see how ridiculous that was? IMO, it's very similar to the theory that the internet is causing more cases of AS.

One of the first things taught to in an social science 101 class is that Correlation does not equal causation.
Yet, these "professionals" act like these studies are the holy grail when it comes to finding solutions to social problems.

I remember college in the early 80's when computer science when it was in it's infancy. No means of communication then, mostly learning computer languages to program. There was a sign in the computer lab that said "Don't forget people, you are human".

Times have changed and computers now are used more for information and communication. However one point well taken, is in how people on the autism spectrum learn social skills as compared to those that have it as more of a natural skill.

I was exposed to thousands of real live humans in my childhood through work experience, and was able to learn those skills through conscious observation and trial and error experience. The opportunities for face to face verbal communication and general interaction is not nearly what it used to be.

When a skill must be learned, practice makes perfect. It may not be that ASD's are acquired from technology, but possibly that there is less opportunity for adaptation in face to face verbal interaction.

And as far as attention span goes, the brain is a malleable tool influenced by the environment. It stands to reason that if it is constantly stimulated by complex stimuli, that we may lose some of our tolerance to patience for the next instant gratification, that we might otherwise have, if the brain had not adjusted to the constant stimuli and instant gratification.

The experiment with the monkey grabbing the lever for the sugar pill or cocaine is relevant here, but hard to see if one has been grabbing the lever most of their life. Not to say that anyone is to blame here, it's an adjustment to a culture that has changed a great deal over the last fifty years.

People have changed alot over the years; regardless of ASD's, technology is a factor, and it is much easier to see if you lived before the major changes in the 80's and 90's. The only people that are immune are those that don't use it; many of those are the folks in their 70's and 80's that never saw a use in it.

And finally, in many ways information technology has been a benefit to some of those that have an introverted nature, in finding alternate means of communication, that they might not have access to otherwise. Somekind of communication is much better than no communication.

Um, what do they mean, my generation is introverted and hates being around other people? I can see the low attention span, and I'll agree that TV is probably a big part of it, but they're incredibly social, talking to each other at every chance or texting when distance or teachers won't allow it. I also think that cell phones are just an extension of traditional socialization; text addicts are very extroverted and love talking irl, but can't stand being out of touch with their friends, even for a moment.

My personal low opinion of my generation aside, this is typical luddite alarmism, from the same crowd who brought us "TV melt your brain/hurts vision!" and "Don't let your kids on the internet, there are predators there!".

As you state, people are addicted to it; regardless of if people think it is going to have a long term negative impact, not likely people will stop doing it when it becomes an addiction and is now an integral part of our culture.

That may say it best.

Not that there isn't something to this. Someone so "plugged in" that they never interact with other people may develop AS tendencies. Someone who virtually never goes out and lives life while growing up may develop AS tendencies.

However, as "plugged in" as I am....I despise the cell phone/smart phone. I love them, but I hate talking to people and see no value in texting people. I do all I do online on forums because it's the only social life I have, but to be fair, I grew up before we had computers and an "Internet."

It is key that if you have a kid, AS or NT, it is important to get them out and doing various things and having opportunities to interact with others. At least then you will see if they legitimately have AS or not and if they don't they have opportunities to develop needed social skills.

Attention is in the eye of the beholder. People always thought I had a short attention span. The TRUTH? They did things too slowly and/or I was STILL devoting attention ELSEWHERE!