I got my kid on Gcompris when she was 2.5 year old, and noticed a lot of rough edges UX wise. Small things on how feedback was given to a kid, or the lack of separation between games depending on how suitable they were for different ages.
Still, I choose Gcompris any day over apps design around maximizing endorphin rewards and data collection. I just wish there were more quality FOSS games for toddlers.
"Digital Autism" is not supported by current research to be a real thing. Autistic children are more likely to be attracted to technology as a substitute for social interactions though.
I do hope this had been understood as an IMHO,as usual with there sort of comments.
Interesting conclusion though:
"
The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis, including a notable indication for publication bias as well as small and sometimes nonsignificant effect sizes, and the limitations just described suggest that the issue of screen time and ASD is far from being resolved. In fact, the slight superiority (although not statistically significant) of the clinical diagnosis variable over the ASD symptom variable we observed in the meta-regression brings forth the basic obstacle in this field, which relates to the directionality of the association, as discussed at the start of this work. Alongside the displacement hypothesis focused on the potential negative outcomes associated with screens, a large portion of the literature is dedicated to the opposite direction—that is, to the characteristics that draw children with ASD to engage in screen activities.16-18 As concluded in a previous literature review on this topic, children with ASD seem to “show increased interest in screen viewing… [which] begins at a very young age.”18(p308) It is also reasonable to assume that parents of children with clinically diagnosed ASD adopt a relatively permissive position regarding their children’s screen use. It is possible, then, that the observed (bidirectional) association of the current meta-analysis reflects this tendency of children with diagnosed ASD, at least to a certain extent, thus requiring us to continue searching for other explanations for the increasing global rates of ASD. Excessive screen time may indeed come at the expense of positive real-life activities and close familial relationships that could increase ASD risk. However, further research is needed to support this concern, as the increase in ASD prevalence may be attributable to a range of medical, environmental, and societal factors.
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This "Excessive screen time may indeed come at the expense of positive real-life activities and close familial relationships that could increase ASD risk. " still supports my original comment.
Thank you for providing this by the way,but it's still a debatable topic,with no real conclusion other than it needs more research.
I think it's likely that the type of content children are exposed to matters more than the medium. Children who are exposed early to digital technology will have an advantage in adapting to our increasingly digital society over those who are prevented from accessing digital media until they are much older.
GCompris is an educational program; it's not equivalent to watching Spongebob (no offence to Spongebob).
I agree. I was grew up playing lots of games like Incredible Machine, Sim City, Zoo Tycoon, Age of Empires 2, etc. They were technical and challenging mentally. Taught me a lot about money management, logistics, testing theories, and solving puzzles.
I also watched a lot of Nat Geo, Discovery and History Channel, (Before it enshitified) read lots of science encyclopedias and books, used the Encarta CD-ROM encyclopedia often.
My siblings and our friends also played outside a lot. Built forts, played paintball, explored the woods, that kind of stuff.