Does television/the modern world cause autism?

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If people are spending increasing amounts of time in front of television and computers, how can they be expected to develop socially? Is it possible all of society is becoming less social and those who are less socially adept are crossing into what we call autism? I'm just curious about what people think about this theory. Before people had cable television, the internet, and video games they spent a great deal of time sitting around and talking without all of the noise and distractions. All of this practice would mean that even people who were not born socially adept would develop enough social skills to get by. Could it be that being able to socialize and relate to others is a skill just like any other and people in modern countries are simply not getting nearly enough practice? People 100 years ago were so much more articulate and better at expressing themselves than we are today. Even look at movie dialogues and books written. They were much more drawn out, descriptive, wordy, etc... Is it possible that television could confuse the young mind as well making it difficult to understand what to do when a real person speaks to you rather than sitting back passively and watching others interact on TV?

I am not saying that TV and computers are the only causes, but simply making a massive contribution to the epidemic. The increasing numbers of autism really coincide with the first generation that grew up with cable television in America.

No, television, computers, and the internet do not cause autism.

It's kind of funny you mention "before cable, the internet, and video games" as when I was growing up in the 70s I didn't have any of these things and I spent as much time as possible off by myself reading books. Obviously, one person isn't a statistic, but I'm certainly not the only person of my generation on this forum, or older, who grew up before these things were commonplace, or during the time they became commonplace.

There is no evidence that the occurrence of autism in the population is increasing. What has happened is that more people are being diagnosed because the number of people considered autistic has expanded.

I also would not assume that people 100 years ago were so much more articulate and better at self-expression than we are today. Not that there are not always people who are more articulate and better at expression than others of their generation, but if you look at the most articulate writers of the period and compare them to an entire generation today, you're going to come to a false conclusion - that people were better with language then than they are now. It is simply likely that you're working with a very selective sampling.

I thought that TV was a benefit to my social development.

I find it nearly impossible to learn anything about socialization and communication during actual human interactions, but watching others interact on TV slowed it down and made it clear for me, so I don't think that I would have been as socially "adept" as I am today without watching TV during my childhood. I am pretty sure that I learned most or all of my facial expressions from "Looney Tunes", which explains why my facial expressions are childlike and cartoonish.

It's my theory that TV causes ADD/ADHD, not autism.
The fast paced media based culture of ours breeds very low attention spans.

However, television does not cause ADHD either. It, like autism, is a lifelong developmental neurobiological disorder that is likely inherited genetically.

And there's not a correlation with ADHD there. What they found is a temporary spike in ADHD-like thinking.

No. I need to add this to my list of questions that don't need to be asked.

IIRC, there is a genetic component to Asperger's, so no. Also, I grew up without a lot of TV and no cable until late youth.

The internet has helped me socialise if anything. I'd be so alone without it I may have already become properly depressed. And of course it doesn't cause autism, today's technology didn't even exist about 20 years ago, yet autism has been around a lot longer. It's a categorically nonsense argument that technology can somehow cause autism.

People with ADHD are much more likely to watch TV because it's just needs to be turned on. It's an executive dysfunction disorder so anything that takes a lot of effort will be avoided.

That part of ADHD really really sucks and I've probably given myself brain damage by trying to give myself a better memory, more motivation and even to help me be more social.

People are still socialising. They do it online. Forums and chartrooms have turned into the playground where cliques exist and the those too weird get bullied. My 18 year old niece has friends over almost everyday and they all communicate just as well. Teenage slang hasn't really changed since the 70's or even before that. The people in my house are really social and I guess they are helping with my social development.
If it weren't for some TV shows I wouldn't understand peoples emotions as much or the importance of team work. My brother when he was 5 would watch 9th grade science shows.

I met most of my friends online. I met my other friends through that friend and I'm used to long distance relationships and talking to them online most of the time helps. In fact those that read my blogs have grown to understand me more and my friend will go to great lengths to make me comfortable.

Also my favourite singer/ friend is on my Facebook friendslist and we get to talk a few times. I know more about him than any other fan because we relate a lot; socialist, photographer, hardcore music lover, film buffs and well his brother is into science fiction.

People cannot become autistic or get ADHD by TV, video games, the internet or from junk food. The brain develops differently and that will never change. There might be a few ASD/ADHD traits developed but these can be easily overcome. The NT brain is very plastic.
I mean I like to think most of the women around me have ADHD but they still manage their lives better than me without medication and little lists and long breaks after big tasks.

Do people still watch TV? Because I barely do. As soon as I got cable it's like I've lost interest in it. I still watch it because I love sci-fi, movies and documentaries but I really don't need to be watching it all day. I've even got a Nintendo I play for one hour a week, only on one day. I use the internet to talk to the community I share diagnoses with and the rest is research or 10 minutes on Facebook.

I thought Autism was something people are born with.

I don't watch nearly as much telivison as several nts i know, because i find most cartoons and soaps irrelevent. Unless its a documentery, or a highly well written show of interest, i wont watch. I couldnt care less if imaginary people end up dating or not.

I hardly watch any TV at all. I only watch The Olympics, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and rare documentaries and shows that are of interest. I don't watch TV for the sake of watching TV.