Keeping Children Safe Online: Understanding the Concerns of Carers of Children with Autism

Just, Mike; Berg, Tessa

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-67687-6_3

Cited by 8 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Conceptually, the anonymity of SNS can provide a comfortable environment for autistic teenagers to connect with others, make friends, and thus improve their social-emotional well-being [12,20,89]. However, research suggests that these users are more vulnerable to privacy and safety threats on SNS (e.g., cyberbullying, sexual harassment) than the general population [39,48], despite the fact that most members of this population use these platforms less frequently than their typically developing peers [68,70].…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some research suggests that autistic teenagers may be especially vulnerable to certain threats on SNS. For instance, studies show that autistic people are disproportionately involved in cyberbullying [20,48,50,88,130]. Kowalski and Fedina [50] investigated the prevalence of cyberbullying among autistic youth.…”

Section: Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, little is known about autistic teenagers' privacy attitudes on SNS. According to caregivers and professionals, autistic people are often naive to privacy and safety threats both online and in real life, mainly due to their intellectual disabilities [48,72].…”

Section: Privacy Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Autistic youth, especially those with intellectual disabilities, are often heavily guarded from online privacy and safety risks by their caregivers [21,48]. Meanwhile, researchers investigating Internet use by people with intellectual disabilities advocate for providing these users more opportunities to engage in positive risk-taking online [22,127].…”

Section: Previous Experience With Privacy Violationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some parents of autistic teenagers may use active mediation strategies, research suggests that they usually employ restrictive mediation strategies to defend their child from online privacy risks. Just and Berg [48] investigated caregivers' concerns and mediation strategies for keeping autistic children safe online. The caregivers were extremely anxious about their autistic children interacting with online predators; posting personal photos of their family, friends, and themselves on SNS; being exposed to explicit adult content; and engaging in inappropriate behaviours (e.g., creating accounts and using caregivers' credit card without permission) on the Internet.…”

Section: Previous Experience With Privacy Violationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Privacy Attitudes and Behaviours of Autistic and Non-Autistic Teenagers on Social Networking Sites

Rocheleau¹

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Researchers postulate that autistic teenagers are more vulnerable to privacy threats on social networking sites (SNS) than the general population. However, there are no studies comparing these users' privacy concerns and protective strategies online with those reported by non-autistic teenagers. Furthermore, researchers have yet to identify possible explanations for autistic teenagers' exceptional risk of online harms. To address these research gaps, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 autistic and 16 non-autistic teenagers assessing their privacy attitudes and behaviours on SNS, and factors affecting their privacy. We used videos demonstrating relevant SNS scenarios as prompts to engage participants in conversation. Our thematic analyses demonstrated that autistic participants were more averse to taking risks on SNS than non-autistic participants. Yet, several personal, social, contextual, and SNS design factors made autistic participants exceptionally vulnerable to cyberbullying and social exclusion online. We provide recommendations for making SNS safer and more inclusive for autistic teenagers.

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