computers

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how old were you when you started using computers?

i started when i was around 12, and immediately became completely absorbed.

a friend who is also on the spectrum started when he was 5. he was hopelessly addicted too.

i'm wondering if those of us without serious sensory issues have unintentionally caused our own autism by starting so early with computers and not getting enough social interactions.

Got a my first box, a VIC 20 around 1983, so around 10.

As for sensory issues, mine seem to get worse with age. One of the reasons why i prefer to be alone in my apartment.

My family got our first computer when I was around 10 I think, but I didn't become seriously absorbed in them until I was 14 and discovered the internet.

I definitely had signs of an ASD before then, so I doubt computers caused it for me.

another aspie friend just told me he was 3 when he first got interested in computers and 5 when he learned how. he got in a fight over computers in preschool.

i'm suspecting we may see a pattern here...

I didn't get my first computer until I was 33. I got my first Webtv when I was 23. I never even saw a computer until I was in third grade.

From third grade to 23 I had very little access to computers. Usually my classroom at school had one for everyone to share. I got to take two computer classes in sixth grade. I was probably only on the internet a few times before I was 23. I didn't have a computer of my own until 33 because I couldn't afford one.

First computer at age of 4.
First console at age of 6.

I don't think they are any cause for anything for me.

I've been in the company of computers my whole life, sadly I don't remember when this house used Windows 95
I've only used them a lot in the past 5-7 years or so though.

But, I doubt this is a potential cause or enhancer for autism or anything like that.

9 years old, it had red alert on it

I got my first computer when I was 12 so that I could play Command and Conquer. I have admittedly become much more asocial since. I'm not sure if there's some sort of correlation or not.

interesting posts guys, keep 'em coming!

for those that didn't use computers/internet/consoles at an early age.. did you pick up a super consuming special interest at an early age which served to avoid social interactions?

from my research it really seems like hebbian learning in the brain -- seeking to understand social interactions repeatedly - is what causes our emotional development to get frozen at a certain age. effectively the mirror neurons don't get properly activated -- and maybe we have the tendency for them to be harder to activate. so we end up in a special interest of some kind, either internet, computers, consoles or something else, to avoid dealing with social interactions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebbian_theory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron

4 I think.

I was born too early (1983) to have a computer growing up. I remember being ten years old and going over to some other kid's house to play Doom, and that was the coolest thing ever. Even without having an internet connection, just being able to draw in Paint and play crappy DOS games was amazing.

I got my first laptop when I was 12(?)