Barring smartphones from schools – as proposed by the UN – could leave autistic pupils feeling lost and overwhelmed, warns Carrie Myshkin
I didn’t grow up with a smartphone at school. I’m 36. I had to make do with portable CD players and books. Nowadays, my phone is a vital part of my life. As an autistic person, it helps me play music and meditate, and generally shut out some of the overwhelmingness of the outside world.
That could have helped me so much, had it been available to me when I was at school. I can read and listen to books on my phone, both of which would, again, have been massively helpful to me at school.