Keywords
algorithmic childhood
preschool education
digital wellbeing
early childhood psychology
screen dependency
preschool neurodevelopment
How to Cite
Abstract
The rapid digitisation of early childhood environments has transformed screens from supplementary educational tools into dominant developmental stimuli during the most neuroplastic years of human life. Increasing clinical, educational, and behavioural observations suggest that excessive, passive, and socially disconnected screen exposure may contribute to autism-like developmental presentations among preschool children, including delayed speech, reduced social reciprocity, poor eye contact, attentional fragmentation, emotional dysregulation, and sensory dependency. Frequently described in emerging discourse as “digital autism” or “virtual autism,” this phenomenon is not recognized as a formal neurodevelopmental diagnosis; however, it raises significant developmental, psychological, educational, and ethical concerns.
This white paper critically examines digital autism through interdisciplinary perspectives integrating developmental neuroscience, psychology, special education, preschool pedagogy, and digital wellbeing research. The paper argues that the principal developmental risk lies not in technology itself, but in the displacement of human interaction, symbolic play, sensory exploration, attachment-based communication, and emotionally reciprocal learning experiences during early childhood. Drawing on contemporary literature from 2020–2026, the paper introduces the Balanced Digital Childhood Framework (BDCF), a multi-dimensional intervention model integrating controlled exposure, play-based learning, parent mediation, teacher preparedness, developmental screening, and ethical EdTech governance. The paper concludes that preschool digital ecosystems require urgent recalibration toward human-centered developmental protection frameworks capable of safeguarding early childhood cognition, emotional regulation, language development, and social wellbeing within increasingly algorithmic childhood environments.
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