Isolation and Use of Social Media by Autistic Individuals During Covid-19 Lockdown: Perceptions of Caregivers

This study explores the extent to which social media manages to meet the relational needs of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during Italy’s first COVID-19 lockdown (March – May, 2020). To this end 22 caregivers of people with ASD completed a questionnaire investigating the living conditions of the affected people during this time, their use of social media/communication tools, their anxiety levels, their perception of the usefulness of social media, and the types of cognitive and/or relational dysfunction. The results show that social media did not prove useful, even in situations of obvious need such as those experienced during the lockdown. Caregivers, however, viewed social media in a positive light only for those individuals with ASD who had used them already prior to the lockdown. Further studies are therefore needed to better design social media for the needs of people with ASD.