Introduction
Asperger's Syndrome was identified by a number of different researchers in the early 20th century. In 1997 a number of these early definitions were brought together and identified as the same Syndrome on the Autism Spectrum. Common impairments are "social interaction, communication, imagination and behaviour" (Wing, 1997). People who don't understand Asperger's Syndrome (AS) assume that these issues with education and social rules indicate a level of intellectual impairment, when in truth many people with AS are quite brilliant.
The use of technology has been increasingly explored in an effort to help improve social skills. Researchers have also tested the use of technology to teach children with Asperger's Syndrome specific social skills, such as emotion recognition abilities. (Wozniak, 2013).
Some of these technology aides are:
- tablet based communication systems designed for people with little or no speech.
- the use of interactive devices to mimic language and assist with the formation of words and sentences
- toys that interact with communications technologies to assist in social development and interaction
- digital 'picture boards' designed to assist non-verbal children
- text to speech devices designed to assist the non-verbal
All of these aides are aimed at improving the communication between the individual with AS and those around them. They generally come in a range of different designs with different options available depending on the age group that particular product is aimed at.
Many parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been early adopters of technology that keeps their children productive and busy on their own.
(Harrington, 2012). Children with ASD are very possessive of 'their' technology and do not want to share it with anyone. This can be a major issue and the parent/caregiver will have to reinforce that they are not taking the technology away; they are only going to have fun with it together
. (Harrington, 2012).
Due to their high use of online technology, people with ASD are susceptible to cyber bullying which can occur at any time during the day or night. This 24/7 accessibility to the victim leaves victims feeling very vulnerable. Victims of cyber bullying fear having the technology by which they were targeted removed by their parents or other authority figures.
(Kowalski & Fedina, 2011) Due to the issues with social norms of children on the Autism Spectrum, use of the internet should be strictly monitored to ensure that they do not get into compromising situations.
A major benefit of the internet to adults with Asperger's Syndrome, is the evolution of online support groups. Fiona O'Leary describes the benefit of finding other people with the diagnosis through these online support groups. (O'Leary, 2014). Many organisations have developed online tools and hold webinars to provide support and training for families of children and adults diagnosed with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome.
Summary/Conclusion
Whilst Asperger's Syndrome is a relatively young disease as far as formal recognition goes, there are already quite a large number of technological aides for people with the syndrome, and room for more, specialized software to be developed that targets individuals and their families specifically.
There are undoubtedly some issues related to the use of technology that need to be considered when introducing it into an ASD environment, but this is no different to technology being introduced into any other environment. I consider that the introduction of technology into the lives of people with Asperger's Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders in general, is a good thing overall.