"AUTISM and INTERNET" research

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Hello all. I am a 4th year medical student and am involved in a research project to further awareness and understanding regarding the Autism spectrum. You should all be quite interested in the research that I am conducting as it focuses directly on the benefits that the Internet provides for those who are dealing with Autism spectrum disorders, most specifically in its effects on socialization and communication.

I am writing to request assistance in this project from the very people that have helped create the wonderfully supportive online community that exists today. In signing up for the project all I ask is to fill out a simple questionnaire regarding the effects that the internet has had on you and/or your family in your experience of Autism spectrum disorders.

If you are interested please email me with your age and your diagnosis. No name is required. I am specifically looking into child and adolescent volunteers, with the cutoff at age 18 and below. However, if you engaged in internet use when you were 18 and under please feel free to participate.
Thank you for your time.

Justin Schleifer MS4 New Jersey Medical School

Last edited by AutismInternet on 09 May 2008, 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Do we absolutely need to procure an official diagnosis? Or is a letter from a psychologist okay?

Diagnosis is a plus, but all are welcome.

Please clarify: Are you only seeking volunteers who are below a certain age? If so, what is the cut-off age?

Your research sounds auspicious. Best of luck with it!

Well, I'm interested. :D I'm seventeen, so does that work? And I don't have an official diagnosis (because my mom didn't allow me to seek one as a child) but we're all certain, and I've been to many psychologists from all over Alaska. Are you going to post an eMail address, or shall I PM you?

I'm glad you asked. The cutoff is 18 years old and under for now. However, if you engaged in internet use while an adolescent (<18 ), you may also participate.

Last edited by AutismInternet on 09 May 2008, 6:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

you have to turn off smilies sometimes, otherwise it will mess up some of your posts :D
how do we contact you?

EDIT: woop, you're on top of it already :D

Please email me if you're interested. My email address is listed in my profile. I would post it here but they won't allow it at this time.

okey-dokey, thank you very much :D I shall make an attempt to do so as soon as I get home (eMail is blocked at my school) if my home internet is functioning. Have a good afternoon :D

Can I just add as an adult with a DX of AS, that I wish professionals would start doing some research related to adults. It gets pretty frustrating to see everything geared to, for and about kids. I have a deep desire for kids to get help that I could not get as a kid but....we are still here. No one cured me and I am having a lot of difficulty functioning. I think that excluding us from research, (not particularly yours, but in general), does a disservice to kids as you have no base line to measure "helpful programs" if you are measuring them against NT's. To exclude adults with AS, puts the natural progression and development of AS through a life span, out of context. These kids are going to grow up some day and it might be helpful if "experts" would stop isolating this neurological condition as if it existed in some vaccum of "age". To understand one elemint of AS without seeing it in full context over time can lead to some misleading data. In other words..."a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing", as we have already observed in many of the stereo-types about AS.

I would appreciate it if you would pass this message onto your peers in the field.

I agree. Life gets harder when you leave school, because school is so much more structured than "real life". But any research is better than none, I suppose.

You should talk to Alex. He made this site when he was 17. He gets a lot of emails, so he's more likely to respond if you explain exactly what you're doing. Like, what is the nature and goal of the project? Where will the findings be published?

I can't speak for him, of course, I just know that he gets a lot of random, semi-confusing emails from people requesting various things and he has to ignore a lot of them for lack of time.