Last week I was in Texas working with a family. We went out for lunch on Thursday so I could observe the parents and their children in a ‘natural' environment. I brought my trusty note pad and watched carefully. Jimmy, the nine year old boy with Asperger's syndrome, sat quietly in the booth, rarely looking up from his Nintendo DS. He was playing Mario Kart on the hand-held device... and though he played it everyday, he was more interested in the game than looking at and talking with his family. His parents had given up competing with the DS. Instead, they talked sporadically to each other and their four year-old daughter. Jimmy made eye contact about once every two minutes and barely spoke.

This scene plays out in countless households each day. Kids on the autistic spectrum get caught up in video games, DVDs, and computers. It allows them to leave the world behind for hours at a time in a socially acceptable way. In the days before the PSP, kids flapped their hands, lined up cars, and did other stims that allowed them to live in an exclusive bubble. But people often bothered them during these stims. As technology advanced, many autistic children and adults learned to watch TV, operate computers, and play video games. Other people rarely disturb them as they do these activities because the children look age appropriate in their play and it is easy to tell ourselves ‘C'mon, every kid loves video games.'