Watching tv when growing up and autism

There is some contentious stuff out there about high levels of tv watching increasing the chances of a child becoming autistic. What if however children with autism/autism traits are more likely anyway to watch tv. I don't know if that is true, I'm just throwing it out there for debate.
Possibly more time stuck in front of the box would mean less time engaged in imaginative play.
I was a toddler in the late 50s/early 60s and apparently watched a lot of television. Nowadays a toddler watching lots of tv or videos would not be that unusual, but I'm not sure it was the case back in the late 50s/early 60s .

Parents
  • I think it's just that - contentious.  To be honest, I think it's another nonsense.  I spent a lot of time watching TV as a kid in the '60s - though probably not as much time as kids now spend engaged with gadgets.  I was always engaging in imaginative play, though.  In fact, I'd say the programmes I was watching - as well as children's stuff like Batman, adult stuff like The Prisoner, The Avengers, Z Cars, etc - all served to feed my imagination.  They still do... even though I haven't had a TV for about 14 years!  But now I have the internet!

  • Apparently the only TV that I would sit still and watch as a very young child was 'Rainbow' and I became agitated whenever the camera moved away from 'Bungle', trying to peer around the side of the screen to see him off-screen. 

    I don't recall watching much TV until I was at least 10 or 12 and I think that was more to do with not enjoying playing with other children by then. 

    My earliest memory of TV was suddenly being captivated by a News item where I thought the presenter had said that Gorillas were armed and firing at the local people, the story gripped my imagination for days and days until I was telling my mother all about it excitedly and she explained about Guerrillas. It was such a disapointment   :(   

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  • Apparently the only TV that I would sit still and watch as a very young child was 'Rainbow' and I became agitated whenever the camera moved away from 'Bungle', trying to peer around the side of the screen to see him off-screen. 

    I don't recall watching much TV until I was at least 10 or 12 and I think that was more to do with not enjoying playing with other children by then. 

    My earliest memory of TV was suddenly being captivated by a News item where I thought the presenter had said that Gorillas were armed and firing at the local people, the story gripped my imagination for days and days until I was telling my mother all about it excitedly and she explained about Guerrillas. It was such a disapointment   :(   

Children
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