Keeping One Step Ahead of Our Computer Savvy Children

Many children with high functioning autism are harder to keep up with, as they get older. I spend an enormous amount of time having to check up on many of the computer groups Marisa joins. For example, just last night I inadvertently joined one of her health and fitness related groups in order to see what she was learning from being a member. What I ended up learning by joining the group, was that there was 100% chance that everyone in my e-mail contact list was going to end up being subjected to joining too! And not just that, but there is also the chance that if one clicks on an advertiser on the website, there's the chance that they will be billed by entering their mobile phone number. I ended up having to send out a follow-up e-mail apologizing to my entire e-mail contact list explaining to all involved that the e-mail I sent out asking them to join was an error. How embarrassing that was!

Next, I have to make sure that Marisa understands that even though the health related website is supposed to be free to it's users, there's the chance that clicking on some of the website advertisers could result in fees being added to her cell phone number. This is something I will have to go over with her when she comes home from school today. Marisa still has not learned that nothing in this life is free, especially when the word "FREE" is flashing in front of you. I have come to realize that any time Marisa has accrued fees, the best way to make her aware of this danger is to have her pay for it out of her own money. That is the warning she will get today, and hopefully it will be a reminder for the next time she joins some "FREE" group.

However, there's also something good to come out of this. Marisa is learning once again, how to be cautious in the tricky world of cyberspace. On a more positive note, she may be keeping in closer touch with some of her friends by sharing something that she feels may be helpful to others. Odd but true, Marisa, my daughter with autism, actually has a lot more friends than I do. She is always looking for ways to reach out to her peers. It's funny, but as a result of joining Marisa's group, some of my friends actually contacted me to get together. I now have new plans on my calendar as a result of Marisa's reaching out. How ironic is that?