I have recently heard about the upcoming movie "The Social Network". This movie is about the social utility Facebook and its attraction to the outside world. The question I often ask myself is. Are social networks a means of allowing people on the Autism Spectrum to communicate with each other and the world around them? When looking at the IT (Information Technology) Industry there tends to be a lot of people on the Autism Spectrum employed in it.
I believe there are 2 groups of people with both groups comprising of the computer users and the need for social contact face to face persons. If you were to obtain statistics to see the use of a computer and the means of the social utility, perhaps you would find a higher figure in the Autism Population compared to the Neuro Typical Population.
Is Facebook therefore a social utility invented by Aspies? I think Aspies find using a computer far less anxiety provoking. The computer can be used at home, an email can be sent or participation in a global Autism Forum such as "Wrong Planet" is a means for people on the Autism Spectrum to communicate. I find personally that communicating on a computer is far less anxiety provoking. You can talk to a person without meeting them face to face and have to worry about getting to the destination or being on time. When you looking at the status updates of Aspies on Facebook, you would be amazed at what you find. The Facebook Status range from very literal interpretations of the world and events around them, or sometimes even analogies in areas of confusion. Sometimes Facebook status can be interesting and sometimes they can also be sad or the person may feel down.
The computer has opened the world up to people with Asperger Syndrome as they are able to communicate to the outside world but they also need to be aware of dangers and predators. Skype can allow for global contact amongst Aspies as well as Facebook. On my own Facebook, I have a lot of Aspie friends who I talk to or keep up to date with what they are doing and it is interesting that amongst the adults on the Autism Spectrum, Facebook seems to encounter a higher usage. More Aspies are on Facebook than the NT population. It would be good to obtain figures but from personal experience, Aspie use of Facebook is higher. Perhaps also using a computer does away with the difficulties of non verbal language and the need to understand body language. How many Aspies actually use emoticons and more importantly are the emoticons being used effectively?
One of the difficulties I encounter with meeting a person Face to Face is the anxiety and social blindness you experience. I find clocks annoying because I often when anxious get confused between an hour and 1 minute on a clock face. If I have to be at a location at an exact time, I find it extremely difficult to be there on time as I usually look at my watch face to know how I can be somewhere at the exact time. As you can imagine the world of clocks is confusing. When a person says "I will be back in 5 minutes" and it is more like 20 minutes, why do they say "5 minutes" when they actually were away for 20 etc? There are a lot of gray areas in communication skills but I think Aspies struggle to see them more so than NT's. NT's seem to know how to understand them better whereas the Aspie becomes confused and can be very literal. An interesting observation to perhaps ponder is the possibility of more jewelers having Asperger Syndrome or even clock or watch makers? A need for time and having an interest in clocks may be another area to find Aspies as well as Train Spotters.
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