WHY WORLD, WHY?! A Complaint Regarding Autism and Screens

Jack playing a beloved screen at the children’s museum.

Here we are at a darling, hands on, stimulating, creative children’s museum. And there is Jack, mesmerized in front of a screen. Ahhh, autism and screens! Why, oh why do they include a video game amongst the hands-on exhibits? Don’t they know that this is screen is a magnet; that my son will choose to do this and only this until I pry him away and drag him to play at the exhibits? That it is almost certain to create a tantrum exhibition? That he will keep sneaking back to it? Sure, it’s an impressive educational math game, but when my son needs actual tactile interaction and sensory stimulation with the real world in a place that otherwise readily provides it…it was just frustrating.

Autism and Screens

The huge topic of screens and my love/hate relationship with them is a discussion for another day. On this particular museum day I was leaving the house in an attempt to escape the world of screens in exchange for a genuine sensory adventure. And we DID have a wonderful experience; Jack loving the screen time he did get and then venturing out for fun with the exhibits.

One up-side to a computer game ‘magnet’: if I did lose track of Jack in the chaos of taking my 5 kids on an outing, I always knew I could find him in front of the screen.

Luckily, Jack DID get into the exhibits too.