John Gordon denkt in Special needs and mobile phones: Why we’re starting young darüber nach, kognitiv gestörten Kindern lieber früher als später Mobiltelefone an die Hand zu geben:
Since cognitive disorders such as ADHD and autism may limit abilities to use a phone effectively or correctly, one approach would be to delay or defer use. Of course even a child with strong executive functions can lose a phone, so there are strong economic reasons to delay use. We’ve chosen instead to move the use date forward, to the earliest time that a cognitively disabled child is likely to be able to follow basic phone rules. I was mildly surprised by this. I thought we’d favor delay, but when we thought things through the reasons for moving sooner became quite strong.
The last is a big reason. I’ve owned an iPhone for a year now. The opportunities to deliver cognitive aids, training materials, and support systems through these mobile- computers-that-you-can-by-the-way-talk-on is immense. Just as computers opened (fitfully and erratically) new opportunities for blind persons, so too may these technologies allow the cognitively disabled to take on new life opportunities and employment. We want to explore these options and leverage what’s available starting now. Some time in the next 1-3 years the child phone will be an iPhone-equivalent.