Technology As Babysitters

Growing up I was always surrounded by special technology that I used as entertainment. When I was little these consisted of forms such as TV, educational computer games, a LeapPad, a Leapfrog (hand-held), a Super Nintendo, a PlayStation 2 and a Game Boy Color. I do have very fond memories of watching/playing these whenever I was allowed to which was for a short period of time so I didn’t go too long on them and still had other forms of entertainment such as toys and books.

Once we moved into a new area, I couldn’t really go outside too much at first because of all the construction going on so thus I had to spend more time indoors with my brother and that is when our interest in TV and video games became much greater. During this time it started turning into a problem as that’s all we really wanted to do most of the time as opposed to going outside to do more energetic activities such as sports or bicycles. 

Later years also saw me wanting to go on the family computer and my Nintendo DS more even when I already used up my designated technology time of one hour. Then in Christmas of 2011, I finally got my own iPod that I could use to go on the internet and watch videos after I got fed up with my brother repeatedly coming in the computer room when I was using it to stand right next to me to see what I was on there along with making annoying comments. But then the iPod led to another problem of me sneaking on to it whenever I wanted even when I used up my hour and staying in my room for hours, much to the annoyance of my parents.

Plus what else wasn’t good about the iPod situation was its small size that made my parents warn me not to stare at it for too long to avoid straining my eyes. Then after discussing it with my mom, I got an iPad for Christmas in 2015 that had a much bigger screen. But unfortunately led to another problem of me spending too much time on that when I wasn’t supposed to.

After two years in 2017 I learned that my mom got me my own personal phone to contact my family in case I needed them for anything. This also came in handy for its intended purpose but I then learned that I could also go on the internet with having a documents option to make personal notes. Unfortunately I also started abusing my phone for spending too much time on the internet during work. 

But excessive time on it never really became an issue elsewhere until we moved and were constantly making trips to look for house parts that required all of us to go on long rides were I got bored after a while then started going on my phone to help take my mind off of things going on. I also would do this with my phone on the school bus rides to and from school as well.  

The issue of overusing technology still persists to this day for me and has caused me to experience some side effects. These have ranged from a diminished attention span which leaves me unable to function properly when helping out at home and even work, trouble sleeping from the constant bright glare my eyes have been exposed to, feeling moody, emotionally disconnected from what I care about and ruining my ability to socialize with my family. 

But after listening to my parents about my technology abuse, I’ve learned to try being more careful with it such when I’m on my phone using it mostly for listening music or just doing quick checks on my social media accounts before proceeding with whatever I’m doing at the moment. Plus I also have plenty of books to turn to whenever I feel like I’ve used too much technology.

In general parents of autistic children and other children in general should really watch out for how long they spend being on their technology. Having a certain time limit can be helpful and other substitutes such as books, sports and other extracurricular activities to avoid special technology being abused. 

A picture of my iPad I've had since Christmas 2015. Handheld devices have been a major addiction for me these past few years.

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