Autistic people less likely to succumb to bystander effect, York University father-son research duo finds

Schulich School of Business and Faculty of Health researchers say that while as many as 90 per cent of autistic people are unemployed or underemployed, their study points to the benefits of having neurodivergent people in the workplace

A well-established psychological theory states that most of us are less likely to intervene in a bad situation if other people are present, and this ‘bystander effect’ also applies to workplace settings. However, new research led by York University shows that autistic people are less likely to be affected by this social contagion than neurotypical people. They are less likely to stay silent in the face of gross misconduct or even just everyday mistakes, pointing to the positive aspects of autism and how organizations can benefit from hiring more neurodivergent people, findings reveal.

“Our study shows that to the extent that they would act if they saw something wrong, autistic employees were much more likely to intervene, regardless of the number of people present. And in situations where they would not intervene, they were more likely to identify the influence of others as the reason, whereas neurotypical employees were more reluctant to acknowledge this,” says lead author Lorne Hartman, an instructor with the Schulich School of Business.

Lorne and his son Braxton Hartman, a graduate student in the Faculty of Health at York who was a collaborator on the study, were inspired to look into this issue not only from their academic experience, but also because of personal experience — Braxton is autistic and has been a public advocate on the issue since he was 12 years old.

“One of the motivations here is that a lot of the current literature on autism comes from a deficit mindset. It’s saying these differences in autism are exclusively negatives. We want to reframe that and ask, ‘What are ways that some of these differences could be an advantage rather than just a negative?’” says Braxton, whose research also focuses on autism. “One of the core areas that people tend to consider a deficit in autism is social interaction. We wanted to examine whether this is a positive to the extent that autistic people are less influenced by others when it comes to dysfunctional or unethical situations.”

Lorne has a background in clinical psychology and his main area of research looks at unethical behaviour in organizations.

“But most importantly, in all of these cases, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of people who may not have been involved in the wrongdoing, but they should have been aware that it was going on,” he says, summarizing his earlier research. “So having people around who are willing to blow the whistle, so to speak, is very important for organizations.”

The study was published this week in the October issue of Autism Research and created with collaborators from the University of Toronto. The research participants — employed individuals, 33 autistic and 34 neurotypical — were asked to weigh in on hypothetical scenarios involving everything from inefficiencies to inequalities to quality concerns.

While the results are preliminary and more research is needed, the researchers say their work has important practical implications, especially considering that the rates of unemployment and underemployment for autistic people may be as high as 90 per cent, and even if they have higher education, that statistic only drops to 70 per cent.

“We’re looking at this from two angles. One is looking at helping organizations be more ethical and efficient, but also, helping people like myself – people on the spectrum – find gainful employment by helping to change the societal understanding of autism,” concludes Braxton.

Genetic risks of autism and ADHD may be related to more screen time in children.

"Limiting children's screen time linked to better cognition," reports BBC News.
“Limiting children’s screen time linked to better cognition,” reports BBC News.

A team led by Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan has investigated screen time in autistic and ADHD children. Screen time refers to a person’s time on a device with a screen, such as a smartphone, computer, television, or video game system. The researchers found that children with a genetic predisposition to autism were likelier to use screens for longer periods. Meanwhile, children with ADHD gradually increased their screen time as they grew older, even if their initial screen use time was short. They published their results in the journal Psychiatry Research

People are increasingly spending time looking at their digital devices’ screens. This is especially true for children with neurodevelopmental disorders who use screens for longer periods.  

Recognizing this issue, researchers from Nagoya University and Hamamatsu University examined 6.5 million polymorphisms in 437 children’s DNA to determine the genetic tendency to autism and ADHD. Next, they calculated a genetic risk index that considers the number and size of the effects of changes in genes associated with autism/ADHD. This is known as a “polygenic risk score”. The researchers then compared the amount of time spent using screen devices among a sample of children aged 18, 32, and 40 months.  

They found that children with a higher genetic susceptibility to autism used devices with screens longer (3 hours or 4+ hours a day) from early childhood. They also found that kids with a high genetic risk of ADHD gradually increased their screen time as they grew older.  

The lead researcher, Dr Nagahide Takahashi of Nagoya University, explained: “Overall, those with a genetic risk of autism were 1.5 times more likely to be in the group with about three hours of screen time per day, and 2.1 times more likely to be in the group with more than four hours of screen time.” 

“While long periods of screen time in childhood have been suggested to be a cause of autism/ADHD, the results of this study suggest that some people may have a genetic disposition to use screens because of autsm,” he said. “Screen time may be an early sign of autism , rather than a cause, as children with autismare often more attracted to objects than people. Physicians should know that it is not fair to conclude that prolonged screen time is a risk factor for the development of autism .”  

Takahashi also cautions against overexposing children with ADHD to device screens. “Our results suggest that children at risk of ADHD are at risk of having too much screen time, especially since gaming addiction is common. As screen time tends to be longer for children who are particularly susceptible to ADHD, parents and caregivers should be cautious about it and commit before it becomes a problem.” 

These results may also help parents devise better child-rearing strategies. “Parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders may feel guilty or be criticized by others for allowing their children screen time,” Takahashi said. “However, we would recommend offering help to caregivers including offering alternative behavioral management strategies.”  

Can we trust autism information on TikTok? Tell us what you think!

While social media can be a great resource for connecting with others, it can also quickly and easily spread misleading or inaccurate information in mass. Social media platforms, especially the popular TikTok app, have allowed information about autism to become more accessible. However, researchers and others in the autistic community have voiced concerns about the unfiltered nature of some of the content. Researchers from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute have examined the reach and accuracy of TikTok videos providing informational content about autism and found that most of the information provided does not align with current clinical knowledge.

Recently published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers examined engagement indicators – including views and “likes” – for the TikTok videos associated with the “Autism” hashtag. Two coders independently fact-checked content of the most viewed videos from the #Autism videos as of July 2022, with a focus on videos that provided information on autism as a condition, such as what causes it or how to identify it.  Videos were coded as either accurate, inaccurate or ‘overgeneralization’ based on the consistency of the information in the videos with current knowledge on autism. Videos sharing information about personal experience were not coded in this study.

“We chose to study TikTok because of its popularity – it surpassed 2 billion mobile downloads worldwide by 2020 and was ranked the most popular website of 2021,” said Giacomo Vivanti, PhD, an associate professor in the Autism Institute and co-author of the study.

In the study, videos associated with the #Autism accrued 11.5 billion views collectively. An examination of the top 133 videos providing informational content on autism, which totaled 198.7 million views and 25.2 million “likes,” showed that 27% of the videos were classified as accurate, while 41% were classified as inaccurate and 32% as overgeneralized. There were no significant differences in engagement between accurate and inaccurate/overgeneralized videos. Videos created by healthcare professionals were more likely to include accurate information.

“Given the reach of TikTok autism content, it’s important that stakeholders in autism community, including autistic individuals, family members, and clinicians interfacing with autism, are aware of the unfiltered nature of the information presented,” said Elisabeth Sheridan, PhD, director of Clinical Core, associate professor in the Autism Institute and co-author of the study.

The researchers found that similar to other social media channels, TikTok can bias understanding about autism in two ways. First, by providing blatant misinformation – for example, claiming that a certain product can “cure autism,” with the intent of selling the product. And secondly, by overgeneralizing an individual experience to the entire autism spectrum and not representing the entire spectrum of manifestations within the autistic population.

“Many autistic individuals and their families have expressed concerns related to harmful autism misinformation videos shared on TikTok (e.g., anti-vaccination myths),” said Sheridan. “Social media platforms also provide a space for individuals to shared lived experience and find community with others. Given the reach of these videos, we hope future studies will continue to explore the affect social media has for autistic individuals and their families.”

Because the research team concluded most of the information provided on TikTok appears to be misaligned with current clinical knowledge, it is important for health care providers and other professionals to be aware of the autism-related content being shared on TikTok so that they can better engage with the large community of TikTok users.

“It is important to monitor and fight misinformation that can damage those on the autism spectrum and their families. But it is also important for the scientific community to gain perspective on how autism and how current approaches to autism are perceived and experienced by the large community of TikTok users,” said Vivanti. “This would help us address the gaps that lead people to search for answers on TikTok in the first place.”

Police handcuff crying 9-year-old autistic boy at school, then arrest and CHARGE him after teachers call the police to handle ‘fight with bullies’. We are outraged what about you?




Arrest autism

Arrest autism

 




Police handcuff crying 9-year-old autistic boy at school, then arrest and CHARGE him after teachers call the police to handle ‘fight with bullies’. Please watch and share. I’m outraged what about you?