How Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome (AS) Experience the Internet as a Communication Medium

This paper explores the use of the Internet by adolescents with Asperger in Tehran. Utilizing a grounded theory, the research is conceptualized from semi-structured interviews with 13 adolescent participants with Asperger, with ages ranged between 12-14 (younger adolescents) and 15-18 (older adolescents). The findings revealed that younger adolescents used the Internet for entertainment and looking up information but not for communication, while older adolescents used the Internet for communication purposes as well. As the adolescents got older, they simultaneously used the online and the offline environment for communication but because of lack of social skills for communicating with offline friends, they were more active on the virtual space and less active on the offline environment. As a result this lack of offline communication might increase their lack of social skills because they did not have enough contact in real life.