Autism and tv

[ellnina]

Hi was wondering about those with asd children, whether they limit screen time or not? My almost 2 year old son presents some signs and we are waiting for testing but in laws are convinced I 'caused' his speech delay by letting him watch too much tv. I now only use tv to feed him as he won't eat without it but was wanting others options please and thanks.

Ds is 5.5, he got a diagnosis at 4 but we knew from about 2.5 he was autistic.

We don't limit screen time. Mainly because I think it has been one of his main learning resources. He was pretty much non verbal at 2.5 and watching films encouraged him to talk. He also used to (and still does a bit) act out scenes from his favourite films. This helped us to find ways to interact with him, when he was very withdrawn. We also find it useful having the ipad to help him with transitions, which are still a problem for him.

Now he's in school we use videos to support his learning. So if they are doing a particular book, we try and find a video of it. This helps him get to know the book enough that we can then read it to him.

I never imagined before I had kids that I would let them have this much screen time but for ds I really feel it has been really helpful in so many ways as he is such a visual learner.

Do what works for you.

When ds was that age he wasn’t interested in tv. That would have meant staying still.

But he is 9 now and has had periods of being obsessed with various programs (I could tell you every episode of horrible histories at one point) and now very much relies on his iPad to get through life.

His current tv obsession politics live!

Unless it is causing issues I wouldn’t worry

Thanks for your replies. My son also doesn't respond, as in he won't look when we call his name and won't follow orders (come here, get that book, etc), did your children also do this? We have started speech therapy to get him to interact more but does it get better/easier with time?
Thank you

@Sirzy is your son asd? Tv such as YouTube nursery rhymes really calm my son so I have it ready most times on my phone for him to watch but would that be not helping with his non interactiveness?

We now know he is autistic and has adhd.

If he had been interested in tv when younger I wouldn’t have stopped him but he was just so on the go he didn’t stop for anything! At times I wished tv would help him calm a bit.

My ds was developing 'normally' until he was about 2, then over a couple of months he lost all his language and communication skills (stopped pointing, responding to his name etc).

Things are a lot easier now, he responds very well to visuals, he's using makaton and his speech is coming along really well, although he is still nowhere near his peers yet. He really started making progress at around 4, he suddenly seemed to have a development leap.

He does OT, which has really helps with his sensory processing disorder and when he was younger intensive interaction helped.

@livpotter thanks. Good to hear about the developmental leap from your son too 😊
Things are just tough with in laws wanting to throw all blame on me for my sons delays. It's hard enough coming to terms with everything as it is.
Thanks for your replies

Take no notice of the inlaws and any other people who want to spout ridiculous opinions. It's hard, but you know you are right, stick to that.

If a child is autistic, they were born with it, do give PIL information about autism and quietly inform them their opinion does not counter the medical professionals who will be involved in the diagnostic procedure.

Hi @ellnina , I have a son , nearly 2 also who sounds very similar to yours in regards to the tv watching! We are awaiting appointments as he is showing signs of asd also (mainly a severe speech and language delay) was just wondering if you got any answers ?

@kellbelle92 hi our son officially got diagnosed just before he turned 2. He still doesn't speak to us to communicate but can say a-z, count to 100, song songs and nursery rhymes, recognise shapes, colours and objects, so he has come a long way but still needs to learn to communicate verbally which we are working on with a speech and occupational therapist. We have also started a gluten and dairy free diet which is said to help with speech and cognitive delays.

@kellbelle92 what other signs and symptoms is your son showing?

@ellnina thanks for replying , that’s lovely to hear your sons been making such progress 😊
My sons almost 22 months , has never said a word! Very limited understanding, flaps hands and jumps up and down when excited, started spinning himself around too , a little fussy with foods too ,no pointing and no appropriate play with toys. He has to have a hearing test first which is on December before my gp will refer but I am almost certain he will be diagnosed.
Did you see any improvement in regards to speech when you limited the screen time ?

@kellbelle92 yes, I think limiting the tv did help. What does he enjoy watching? I normally try to put on educational things so at least he's learning something (maybe)
My son still doesn't respond to his name most of the time or understand what we are saying to him, and also doesn't play with toys appropriately such as dolls but if you look up cause and effect games, those are helpful for kids with autism. Hope this helps

@ellnina he likes to watch nursery rhymes on YouTube , there all animated and really bright colours So I think that’s why he likes it so much ! He won’t even entertain things like pepper pig or paw patrol lol oh he likes some of the wiggles songs though!
He has started to respond to his name a lot more now which has made his eye contact so much better. And thanks for that ,had a quick look there seems to be some great stuff on the cause and effect games !

Hi all,
I am a new member and live in the US. I have been reading through mumsnet for months now but finally just decided to make an account and actually talk to others. I have a 2.2 year old boy who have lots of delays and the only thing he is interested in is watching up YouTube nursery rhymes and phonics and numbers. He has no words, no pointing, no gestures, no copying. But still he gets his needs and wants met by taking and leading me by hand and looking at the object he wants. He is my only child and my first born. He has been getting speech therapy and occupational therapy once a week but no help. The time I spend with him instead and helped him improve. He has amazing eye contact with and loves to cuddle and emotionally very connected with me. I feel like the TV is going to secluded him even more because he has no interaction with adults or peers (I have a big family and lots of kids and I take him places to expose him to different environments). But I long to hear his voice, especially when my nieces and nephews born only months apart from my son are speaking in full sentences and enjoy playing with everyone around them and their parents have it so easy. I spend so much time teaching my little boy things and to no avail. His expressive and receptive speech is nothing. In laws don't help with any of this because they just don't understand. My son either wants the TV or just wants to rock on his recliner ALL day and it breaks my heart. I really hope after hearing and listening to you all I can take some releif in knowing that I am not alone and that it will get easier and my boy will talk and lead a good life.

I could of wrote your post myself! Exactly the same as my son down to a T. Only will watch cocomelon on YouTube and little baby bum. Yeah it’s learning songs but he’s obviously not learning anything from it right now. Has your son had a diagnosis? My sons nearly 2 and no where near one yet. He doesn’t say anything even like a word, no understanding, no pointing, no clapping. My plan is to increase his nursery hours.

Hey @kellbelle92 how come your son hasn’t had a diagnosis yet? Our paediatrician almost immediately said our son has autism as he made no eye contact during the appointment and was pretty much ‘in his own world’
He is 2 years and 7 months old now and will repeat words said to him and recognise and say items names but is still yet to say mama or communicate by talking to us.

You know what @ellnina I find myself
Wondering the same thing! We are yet to even see a pediatrician. they are mucking about doing hearing tests on him when I know he can hear just fine! Next week he is being sedated and having a brainstorm response test. Hopefully when he passes that they will take me more seriously!

My DS has ADHD and some social communication problems. He is allowed limited time only on tablet and weekend only computer games (laptop) as otherwise he's asking constantly to go on it, and gets aggressive when his time is up. He's become much calmer about it now he knows he gets a certain time and no more.
TV is after the DC are ready for school in the morning, if we are home in time after activities a short while before tea, then after tea DD gets about 20 mins and then DS an hour while she goes to bed.
If one of us watches with them in the evenings we try to introduce new programmes - DS now introduces new ideas in the style of Maddie which is hilarious.
DS does Doodle Maths and English which have both given him a huge boost (and he likes them). So he has to do that before tablet or TV time.

My DS is 6 and we don't limit screen time. Screen time is how he calms down. We don't want to limit his ability to de stress.