S爸說：
警惕！英國心理學(xué)家和前文學(xué)家在牛津大學(xué)表示：相比前幾代人，如今，無處不在的智能科技使很多孩子處于'自閉癥'的邊緣。
原文：Devices Make Kids 'Borderline Autistic'
Iain McGilchrist 博士認為，花大量時間在智能手機和平板設(shè)備上，已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致小到5歲的兒童對他人情緒的感知力減弱，而且變得沒有同情心。McGilchrist 博士對《電訊報》說，他開始發(fā)現(xiàn)，老師們甚至需要向?qū)W生解釋面部表情所傳遞的情緒信息。
“越來越多的孩子們發(fā)現(xiàn)和情感溝通是一件困難的事情，這似乎是自閉癥的特征，'他說。'他們把大量的時間用在智能設(shè)備和虛擬現(xiàn)實中。在那里，他們不必面對現(xiàn)實生活。'McGilchrist 博士告訴《電訊報》。
在澳大利亞，對于幾歲是孩子使用智能手機最適合的年齡，和他們應(yīng)該每天該花多少的時間在電子設(shè)備上的問題爭論一直在持續(xù)著。根據(jù)澳洲電信今年公布的調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)顯示：超過三分之二 (68%) 3到 17歲的澳洲孩子有自己的智能手機。他們每周平均花 21 小時 48分鐘在手機上。Justin Coulson 博士建議：12，13歲是給孩子手機最低年齡。'一個只能用來通話的和發(fā)送短信的手機再合適不過了，聰明的父母去給他們的孩子配置這樣的手機。'他說。
這正是Laura Marchese所做的，這個維多利亞州三個孩子的母親，給她10 歲的兒子帶了個“不那么智能的”手機去學(xué)校。'我不希望他用指尖去探索這個世界。當手機在口袋里時，他會一直去用它。' 她對《周日先鋒報》說。
由于一直沒有研究直接表明自閉癥和智能設(shè)備之間的關(guān)系，McGilchrist博士的發(fā)表的具有爭議性的觀點，在很大程度上是基于非官方的證據(jù)。盡管如此，他仍認為，父母把兒童留在電視或平板電腦前的同時去做別的事情是一個'令人擔憂'的趨勢。
自閉癥研究會表示，雖然'遺傳'被認為是自閉的其中一個因素，但對自閉癥成因的研究是不完整的。同樣的，智能設(shè)備的使用對兒童心理發(fā)展的研究也是不完整的，但初步研究已經(jīng)證實，它會影響到兒童發(fā)展。
McGilchrist 博士并不是第一個把智能科技與自閉癥之間聯(lián)系起來的醫(yī)療專業(yè)人士。著名英國神經(jīng)學(xué)家Lady Susan Greenfield 曾在2011年，因為把自閉癥和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的使用聯(lián)系起來而備受指責。醫(yī)療專業(yè)人士稱之為'不合邏輯的垃圾'而自閉癥人士稱為'沒用的投機'。
McGilchrist 博士的論點也可能招來同樣的批評。一篇由默多克兒童研究所的高級研究員珍妮·庫珀發(fā)表在《對話》的文章強調(diào)：科技設(shè)備可以對兒童有很多潛在積極方面的影響。雖然她也承認關(guān)于智能設(shè)備的一些負面消息，但她認為交互式設(shè)備'也有很多好處'。她寫道：“也許給父母最好的建議就是隨時檢查的孩子們使用的應(yīng)用程序，并從小就告訴他們，這些程序是 '限量使用' 的，就像甜食和糖果一樣'。
A UK psychiatrist and former literary scholar at Oxford University has claimed the ubiquity of technology is making young children borderline“autistic”, compared to previous generations.
Dr Iain McGilchrist believes the significant time many young kids are spending with smartphones and tablet devices has resulted in children as young as five struggling to read others’emotions and being less empathetic.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Dr McGilchrist said he had a growing awareness of teachers needing to explain to their students how to make sense of human faces.
Kids are “increasingly finding it difficult to communicate at an emotional level in what appears to be features of autism,” he said. “Children spend more time engaging with machines and with virtual reality than they used to in the past where they don’t have to face the consequences of real life,” he told The Telegraph.
In Australia, the debate has raged over the appropriate age to give children smartphones and how much time they should spend using them each day.
Research released by Telstra this year showed that more than two thirds (68 per cent) of Aussie children aged three to 17 own a smartphone and spend an average of 21 hours and 48 minutes per week on the devices. Sydney-based family researcher and father of six Dr Justin Coulson recommends a minimum age of 12 or 13 for children to be given a phone. “And then make it a dumb one. Smart parents give their kids dumb phones,” he said.
That’s exactly what Victorian woman and mother of three, Laura Marchese did. She bought a “dumb”phone for her 10-year-old son to carry when he walks home from school.
“I don’t want him to havethe world at his fingertips; a phone is in your pocket and he’s more likely toget it out and use it all the time,” she told the Herald Sun last month.
As for the controversial comments made by Dr McGilchrist there has been no research to establish such alink and his statements are based largely on anecdotal evidence.
Despite this, he viewsthe trend of children being left in front of a TV or tablet screen while parents spend time multi-tasking to be a “worrying” one.
According to the Autism Society, the condition is thought to have a “genetic basis” but researchon the causation factors of autism is incomplete. So too is research into the effects of technology use on the mental development of children, but initialstudies have confirmed it affects childhood development.
Dr McGilchrist is not thefirst medical professional to make the unsubstantiated link between technology and the autism spectrum. Prominent UK Neuroscientist Lady Susan Greenfield was heavily criticised for alleging a link between autism andinternet usage back in 2011. Medical professionals labelled it “illogicalgarbage” while autism campaigners called the claim “unhelpful speculation.”
Dr McGilchrist’s commentscould draw similar criticisms. An article published in The Conversation today by Janine M. Cooper, a senior research fellow at the Murdoch Childrens ResearchInstitute, stressed the potential positives tech devices can have for children.While admitting there is often horror stories, she believes interactive devices“also have many benefits.”
“Perhaps the best advicefor parents is to monitor the content of the apps their kids access and tellthem from a young age that they’re for ‘sometimes use’, just like sweets andlollies,” she wrote.
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