Access to and use of Internet by adolescents who have a physical disability: a comparative study.
Physically disabled teens surf the same sites and times as peers—parents just warn more.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lathouwers et al. (2009) asked 54 teens with physical disabilities and 54 typical teens about their Internet use.
They used a short survey to see who had home access, what sites they visited, and how long they stayed online.
Parents also answered questions about rules and warnings they gave their kids.
What they found
Both groups had the same amount of Internet access and did the same online activities.
The big difference: parents of disabled teens gave more warnings and set stricter rules.
The teens themselves did not report feeling more watched or limited.
How this fits with other research
So et al. (2019) followed teens with ASD and ADHD for two years. They found that most kids naturally cut back heavy Internet use over time, just like Karen’s typical and disabled teens.
Bozoglan et al. (2022) looked at autistic kids and saw that harsh parenting and high stress predicted Internet addiction better than simple screen time. Karen’s finding fits here: more rules do not always mean less use, just more parent worry.
Pan (2014) showed large motor gaps between autistic and typical teens. Karen’s null result reminds us that not every disability changes every teen skill—sometimes the gap is only in parent perception.
Why it matters
If you work with physically disabled clients, treat Internet skills as age-typical unless data say otherwise. Focus parent training on balanced safety talks instead of extra bans that may not be needed.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine access to and use of Internet by 97 physically disabled adolescents. Four main objectives were to: (1) explore frequency and nature of Internet use and the role of care givers, (2) compare these results with non-disabled adolescents, (3) explore associations between access to and use of Internet and adolescents variables, and (4) examine differences between care givers in the guidance of adolescents concerning their Internet use. Outcomes on a questionnaire were compared to those from a control group consisting of 1566 non-disabled adolescents. No differences in access to Internet between physically disabled and non-disabled adolescents were found. In addition, the most common online activities were similar for both groups. Physically disabled adolescents were more often warned by their parents about the risks of Internet and more often had rules at home than their non-disabled peers. Among the group of physically disabled adolescents, gender and environmental setting were found to be related to online activities. In addition, age was found to be related to the amount of rules at home. No associations were found between IQ and the access to and use of Internet. Finally, parents of physically disabled more often warn adolescents and more often check their use of Internet than care staff.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2009 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2008.09.003