THE TICKING TIME BOMB: How Social Media Impacts a Neurodiverse Society

By Havanah Salcedo for Smartphone Free Childhood Gibraltar

I live in a rapidly changing world. As an autistic soon-to-be young adult trying to navigate life with my Tourette’s syndrome, I know firsthand the reality of a society built for neurotypicals. My brain processes the world differently, intensely, and literally, and it’s often very overwhelming. I live in a world that, until recently, had very little space for me.

I also have a phone. My friends have phones. My parents have phones. Most of the people around me have phones. You, reading this, probably have a phone, too. Phones have taken over our lives through the last few decades, advancing faster than we can keep up, from digital communication to education, to the internet, to Google, to social media. We carry little mini-computers with us everywhere we go, ready to give us all the information we need. For me, it promised answers, community, and the maps I needed to navigate a world that wasn’t built for me.

And for a while, it delivered. I remember the relief of finding communities online where people discussed masking, stimming, sensory overloads, and executive dysfunction as if they weren’t something to be ashamed of; spaces that openly and anonymously talked about topics I was too scared to even admit I relate to. My phone was my support system, my library of all the answers to the failed social interactions, the misdirections, and the misunderstandings I faced every day. It was a translator for the world around me. Through my phone, I was able to find people to help me, and more recently, I have been able to help others.

But, this promise of the answer to every question at our fingertips quickly became a double sided blade, one which I cut myself on many, many times. The internet is driven by algorithms that prioritise attention over validity, reliability, and truth. They prioritise content that creates outrage, uses shock value, and, more often than not, creates sources of emotional and psychological harm. You can say that you don’t fall for it, but think about it, which are you more likely to click on? “A Comprehensive View of Tourette’s Syndrome, What It Is and Why We Should Talk About It”, or “TICKING TIME BOMB: Why Experts Fear Uncontrolled Rage Behind Tourette’s Syndrome."

Exactly.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “You can’t trust everything you see on the internet.” If you have kids, you’ve probably said it to them. And why do we say it? Because the internet is a breeding ground for misinformation. When it comes to neurodivergence, our experiences are trivialised and flattened into content designed purely for engagement. I see it every day: complex, life-altering, disabling conditions like OCD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and autism are boiled down into aesthetic ‘quirks’ or viral checklists of relatable traits. “Everyone’s a little bit autistic.” “I like my pencils organised, I’m so OCD.” “I wish I had Tourette’s Syndrome; then I could go around swearing all the time.” These are real things I’ve heard in my daily life as someone who struggles with some of these listed, and these are harmful stereotypes that cause a lot more damage than you think.

Worse still is the misinformation that creates and perpetuates stigma around neurodiversity. Not only does it prevent us from getting the support we need, it puts targets on our backs, singling us out from normality, and making us more vulnerable to bullying and cyber-bullying. For someone who processes the world differently, who may already struggle with social skills, boundaries, or literal interpretations, to be subjected to this constant stream of online abuse from the very space that promised community can put them at a significant risk for mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. In fact, a study done in 2021 by Holfeld and Mishna (Journal of Developmental Disabilities) found that 73.9% of participants with ASD had experienced cyber-bullying, making them over twice as likely to suffer severe mental health issues and/or exhibit suicidal behaviours.

I, myself, am seventeen and have suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome for about nine years now. Due to this, I’ve experienced significant internet harassment and cyber-bullying because of the misinformation spread about my disorder. People would tell me things like I was a freak, call me crazy, or tell me that I should get exorcised. Some people even went as far as saying ‘If I were you, I would kill myself.’

The devices we purchased in order to gain connection and build community have become instruments of destruction. They push us back into that exhausting cycle of masking and burnout. They force us to hide the identities we fought so hard to find. And the irony of the solution is laughable. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘cut it off at the source’? Well, that’s what we have to do. We can’t simply discard our phones: they have great importance in our connection, safety, and education, we just have to use them right.

It’s difficult to control what you see online; however, you have all the control in the world to decide what you want to do with it. You have the power to decide to what degree you believe what you see online, and whether you allow the perpetuation of misinformation to continue. Check your sources, stay away from harmful content, and listen to the voices that matter. You don’t have to stay stuck in a state of ‘passive awareness’ when you can actively change things. Listen to authentic voices telling their own stories, not observers speaking on their behalf. Report content that perpetuates stereotypes and stigma. Commit to learning about what these people really go through, because I can guarantee you, the person you’re making jokes about for their strange interests or eccentric behaviour is much more interesting than you think.

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