Virtual Autism

Late one night, a parent typed a question about their own toddler into a search box. Among the answers was a phrase they had never met: "virtual autism." The phrase is not a diagnosis, and this book never presents it as one.

Virtual Autism is the book that parent went looking for and could not find. It rests on one of the most consistent findings in the science of early language: babies learn to talk by taking turns with a person who answers them. A screen cannot take a turn.

It begins with one family: a parent's search at one in the morning, a television that went into hiding and the evaluation that parent wishes they had never tried to cancel. Then it turns to the evidence, from Japan, Australia, Canada, France, the United States and beyond: what the largest studies found about screens and the youngest children, where those studies fall short, and what health authorities around the world now advise, with a country-by-country guide to more than forty countries and territories.

Inside:

• Why babies learn to talk from people, and so little from screens

• What the research really says about screens and autism-like signs, without the scare and without the spin

• A home plan for turning the screens off and the conversation back on, written for tired parents

• Four simple commitments families, child-care programs and pediatricians can keep together

• How to ask for help, and why you should keep the evaluation even in a good week

• Letters you can copy, a thirty-day plan and guidance from around the world

This is not a book against screens. It is a book about the hours a young child spends with people, and how to give her more of them.

It names no one in its story, promises no miracle and blames no parent. With four charts and full notes and references (the print editions also include an index).

This book is not medical advice. If you are worried about a child, talk with the child's doctor.