The Role of Cellular Phone Usage by Parents in the Increase in ASD Occurrence A Hypothetical Framework

Over the last few decades there has been a significant worldwide increase in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the causes of which are unknown. The biggest environmental change over this decade has been the massive introduction of cellphones. Eye contact is fundamental for infants' development, and parent-infant eye contact is impaired when parents are pre occupied by cellphones. We speculate that children with a pre-existing vulnerability to autism may be adversely affected by this pattern of parental behavior.

Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 7, 2018 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Michael Davidovitch, Maayan Shrem, Nitzan Golovaty, Nurit Assaf, Gideon Koren Source Type: research