Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
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What is the main focus of this episode on screen time for autistic children?
Well, well, well, here we are, our very first live show after our announcement and our actual date of getting married. We're so excited to be here because now we come to you as a married couple.
That's right.
Yeah, that is right.
Some love, some love. So that'll be fun. So now we'll see if we start like arguing on air, like married couples, you know?
That's right. Actually, we are not going to talk about it this episode, but we don't really, we don't argue. We just like have disagreeing. We disagree on certain things and then we communicate effectively.
Yeah. And then I just send him to sleep outside. It's
easy. That's true. Yep. She gives me at least a pillow and a blanket.
Right. So anyway, speaking of dysregulation, let's get into our topic for this week, which is about screen time use. And this topic actually came after I got a couple of questions in a 24 hour period, both about screens. One was a therapist saying, what do you do when you have a session with a child and they don't want to transition into therapy because they're sitting there playing happily on their iPad?
Yeah.
And the other was someone who said that any time this kid gets dropped off at school that she works with, she goes into the school to see him. But she said he just stands by the window the whole day waiting for his mom to come back because he wants her phone. and same kind of like two sides of the same coin definitely both screen time related and this is something we really wanted to talk about because we know screen time can be very regulating for autistic kids specifically and adults we hear that constantly We also know what the research says about screen time, which is a little frightening. And we'll share that because we want to give you a full picture view of everything that we're sharing today.
But I think one thing that we don't talk about enough is how dysregulating it is for kids to transition away from screens. And I think that's probably the root of the problem, honestly, is that maybe kids end up on screens for really long periods of time because it's so hard to get them off of it. And then... them being able to move on to something else. And so we're going to be talking about that because we've got a lot of tips for you on how to transition away from screens. But we also want to talk about why screens are regulating for autistic kids. And a lot of the time screens serve a different function for autistic kids compared to neurotypical kids, which is a lot of neurotypical kids are just using screens for entertainment.
And that's a lot different of a reason than regulation.
Yeah, I agree with you on all of those points. I grew up as a gamer myself, so...
Oh, I thought you were going to say you grew up before there was TV.
I grew up before there was video games. Actually, it's funny because my life, and of course the kids in these generations too, but just how rapidly technology and games evolve... When I grew up, it was so much different, but it's still kind of the same concept, especially as me being an ADHD or, you know, at a very young age, my my brain really wanting that fast paced, quick connection and then getting that dopamine hit that always worked. But at the same time, it being one of those things where. uh my amygdala and my emotions um and being on it for a sustained amount of time and whatever was going on in the game creating some dysregulation so i'd be like literally experienced and lived
that yeah and i actually think your experience has helped so much with our kids you guys know if you haven't watched our show we have five boys ages one through ten and they love video games youtube all of the things and i feel like you are able to come to them Like you actually do a really good job of transitioning them off because you know what it's like to be that kid who's like trying to beat the level, you know?
Oh, totally. A lot of it comes down to perspective taking. Like, let me put myself in the child's shoes to look what's going on in the game and then kind of going from there.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main focus of this episode on screen time for autistic children?
0:07–4:52
2
Why do autistic kids find screens so regulating and comforting?
4:52–11:00
3
What does current research say about recommended screen‑time limits for young children?
11:00–15:03
4
How do dopamine, attention, and variable‑ratio reinforcement make screen use addictive?
15:03–19:04
5
Why are transitions away from screens especially dysregulating for autistic kids?
19:04–25:36
6
What neurodiversity‑affirming strategies help families ease screen‑time transitions?
25:36–28:32
7
How can parents use video‑length filters and routine cues to reduce screen‑time stress?
28:32–28:51
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
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Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)
Ep. 119 From Behavior Therapist to NeuroAffirming SLP: Lessons that Shifted My Practice