| When I ride the bus I am struck with just how | | | | people who use technology while in group settings |
| different the riders look from how they might | | | | are often the very individuals who would have |
| have looked just ten years ago. | | | | avoided socializing anyway. Technology, they |
| Of course I am not the first to notice that people | | | | propose, just gives them a comfortable way to |
| are largely in their own bubbles - ears occupied by | | | | avoid it. |
| headphones, eyes occupied by screen. The chit | | | | But is it too comfortable? |
| chat, the shared human experience of bus-riding - | | | | The issue may not be black and white, however, |
| that awareness of being part of a group of | | | | at least for Aspies. Exposure Therapy, a form of |
| human beings engaging in the activity of travel via | | | | cognitive-behavioral therapy, is a well-researched |
| public transportation - has changed. | | | | avenue for facing and overcoming sources of |
| Critics call this dependence on electronics | | | | anxiety, such as simple phobias. The therapy |
| dangerous. Electronics usage, largely a solitary | | | | involves the creation of a program of steadily |
| activity (at least in the physical sense), prevents | | | | escalating steps or challenges, which work |
| people from connecting with others, and increases | | | | towards a final goal of reduced or eliminated |
| isolation, which can be damaging for people who | | | | anxiety responses. Reducing interactions with |
| already struggle with socializing. Penelope Trunk | | | | others to near zero may prevent Aspies from |
| writes in the March 19, 2006, Boston Globe,"The | | | | receiving the very therapy that might reduce |
| human moment is a quality of interaction you | | | | discomfort in social situations: real-time interactions |
| don't get from computers, or even the phone." | | | | with others, with their messy outcomes and |
| But defenders of technology assert that the | | | | unpredictable paths. |