Influence of Internet Use on the Behavior of Autism

Abstract

In this highly advanced information era, technology has become an effective tool for supporting people with disabilities. We examined the effect of Internet use on two autism who habitually repeated the same conversation in order to clarify: 1. Validity of the hypothesis that the shared use of a computer was effective for changing the behavior of people with autism and 2. Effectiveness of viewing web pages for inducing new actions. As a result of the examination, we found that the shared use of a computer promoted their conversation. They were interested in browsing maps and in the web pages that contained many photographs showing local situations. The use of the computer induced their new behavior and they even proposed going out together and thought concretely about what they should do on their outing. The result indicated the effectiveness of the shared use of computers for autism. It was also acknowledged that the web pages constructed for easy visual and intuitive recognition could induce new action in autism sufferers.