To wonder why screens aren’t investigated as a cause of childhood behaviour issues?

[Peony1897]

We now know that screens, and in particular tablets, have really horrific effects on young children and their emotional/social development - in particular speech, regulating anger, sensory issues and how they interact with their peers.

So why is it whenever we see a thread where a small child has some or all of the above issues, and the OP clearly mentions tablet use or ‘all they are interested in is screens’, the answer is nearly always an autism assessment rather than removal of screens?

Genuinely curious as to why such a clear risk factor is never picked up on.

Weird thing is I didn't realise how prone DS was to running off until we filled in the DLA form. We had help filling it in and she asked if he ran off at all and we were 'no he doesn't do that... oh except for' and ended up with quite a long list of situations and circumstances where you have to watch him like a hawk because he'll just take off and be gone in the blink of an eye. It's just our normal, and DS is an only child so we have no comparison.

You really need to read the room and stop commenting on what you have absolutely zero experience of.

Parents don’t just diagnose their DC with ND. There are rigorous and lengthy diagnosis processes we have needed to go through. It’s not like they are handing out diagnosis’s like sweets.

Step down and go and find yourself a thread where you have at least a tiny understanding of what you are talking about.

If all these badly behaved children are genuinely doing it because they are neuro diverse and can't help it then why is there so much more of this type of behaviour than there used to be? That would appear to point back to screens actually being the culprit, and not a solution.

This is a discussion board where everyone is welcome to discuss. You can disagree with me or you can decide not to engage, but you don't get to dictate who is allowed to contribute to the conversation.

Can’t you just disprove her point rather than personal insults?

What point? That ND children are just naughty?

More that some children who are just naughty are being labelled ND. Do you genuinely not think this is a possibility?

Because if it's not, then we are back to the question of what has caused this sharp increase in neuro diversity.

No, because as I have repeatedly said, I have been through the ASD and ADHD diagnosis process and it is not that easy. It is long, arduous and not every child who goes down that route receives a diagnosis.

Unless you have been through the process and have a an ND child you have absolutely no authority to comment on the matter.

I have 2 children who have been brought up with the same amount of screen time. One is ND, the other is NT.

Is there a sharp increase though, or is there better diagnosis, particularly of girls? The fact that there's an increase in adult diagnosis suggests this is a factor in any apparent increase.

If there is an increase the causes are likely to be varied. I posted in a different thread about a possible link between pre-eclampsia and a raised risk of autism, and the fact that pre-eclampsia rates have increased, so that's one possible factor but there will be many more.

I'm not talking about your kids though. I'm making an observation about the behaviour of kids in general.

Many of the kids who are labelled ND by their parents are not diagnosed. So how do we know they're not just naughty?

I have already acknowledged that many ND children are not in fact naughty. So I don't find "he's ND" a particularly convincing explanation for poor behaviour.

That given screens can invoke symptoms similar to those found in autism and ADHD, and given the rise in both, this avenue needs exploration?

What makes you think that parents are just labelling their children as ND without a diagnosis?

I mean, one issue is lumping different forms of neuro diversity in together. The same principles don't necessarily apply to autism and ADHD for example.

I have been diagnosed with ADHD (although I am somewhat sceptical about my diagnosis) and I find my own screen use problematic. I definitely find it addictive and it has a negative effect on my sleep and my cognitive functioning. I had very little access to screens until I was in my late teens, and I was in my mid twenties before I had any kind of smartphone or tablet. I think the consequences for me would have been really quite severe if I had had access to a smartphone or tablet while my brain was still developing.

With autism I think the contributing factors are likely to be different.

And it will, if the parents believe the DC is ND they should explore a diagnosis.
Believe me, if they are not ND, they will not receive a diagnosis.

Well quite a few of them say as much on Mumsnet for a start!

Co-ocurring diagnoses are common though, DS is autistic, the OT assessment led to us being advised that we may want to request assessment for DCD (dyspraxia).

How do you know they don’t have a diagnosis? Because they say “undiagnosed”?
Well there you go then you know not to listen to those particular individuals.
But for the rest of saying we have a child with autism, maybe you should listen to us?

I have no way of knowing who is telling the truth and who isn't, do I?

Since I know that some of the people posting on Mumsnet aren't to be taken seriously, it makes it harder to take people seriously in real life.

To give a specific example, I recently had to take my two very small children away from a children's playground because a much older boy was interfering with the play equipment. (Literally removing springs from a communal trampoline.) His mum made absolutely no attempt to stop him from doing it, didn't so much as tell him to stop, let alone physically intervene or take him away from the playground. She just looked at us and said, "he's autistic" and carried on having a chat with her friend. That's the kind of parent whose explanation I don't take seriously, I'm afraid.

I mean, this feels a bit unfair if there is a 4 year wait for assessment. A neurodivergent person us neurodivergent whether they have a diagnosis or not.

Like I said upthread, there are a lot of undiagnosed neurodivergent people walking around.

Unfortunately though, this means that there are parents who don't know for sure whether their children are ND or not but assume that they are because it's a more convenient explanation for their child's behaviour than "our parenting sucks".

That’s lazy parenting no matter which way you look at it.

I wouldn’t tolerate that behaviour in my DC and would have moved him away.

It can still be explained by ND, but that is no excuse to allow it to continue. That’s a different argument.

But autism doesn’t necessarily mean bad behaviour anyway!? My DD has her diagnosis now and for years all she was the shy timid girl in the classroom who rarely spoke. She did not cause any bother for anyone!

unfortunately the squeakiest wheels get the school oil…

Also diagnosis won’t be given on parents report of behaviour alone anyway. The ADOS is considered the gold standard for diagnosis. And even before that you have the developmental history, the information from school and so on.

Well, yes, this is the thing.

If I saw a child behaving like that and the parent explained that the child was ND but was clearly making a real effort to deal with the behaviour, I would be much more inclined to believe them.

But the explanation that the child is ND, whilst showing absolutely no concern about the behaviour, suggests that this is just lazy parenting.

Of course, as you say, it could be both. But given the lazy parenting, who can tell? With different parents that child might be perfectly capable of behaving himself and nobody would be labelling him ND.

I was always very clear about saying suspected autism or that he was on the waiting list for assessment - though it got to the point where after months of 'we can't diagnose and couldn't possibly say', even the school were saying, off the record, that he very obviously was. Nobody was surprised when he was diagnosed, the focus was just on getting the diagnosis in time for him to get an appropriate school place at secondary.

On the actual assessment - DS was diagnosed in one session with the paediatrician, but the school put a lot of work into providing all the info needed before the appointment, and had applied pressure to get DS bumped up the waiting list. Everything that would perhaps usually happen after the first appointment had already been done. I've seen most of the paperwork as it was also attached to his IDP, it did not make for cheerful reading and there were reams of it - reports and information from social services, OT, CAMHS, the police, various LA services, as well as from the school and their associated services such as the engagement team etc. Then there was our information which covered pregnancy, birth and his early years.

Well there we go. Glad we agree.

Nothing to do with screen time though.