Abstract
Many autistic children are active online users. Research suggests that they are subject to distress and poor wellbeing following online safety threats. However, it is unclear if autistic children are more likely to experience online safety risks compared with non-autistic children. We conducted a parental online safety survey. Two groups of parents (autistic children, n=63; non-autistic children, n= 41) completed questionnaires about their child's online safety behaviours, wellbeing, and their own parental self-efficacy (PSE). Our results highlight that autistic children experience significantly more online safety risks than non-autistic children and poorer wellbeing than autistic children who did not experience online safety risks. Parents of autistic children reported carrying out significantly less risk management and reported poorer PSE than parents of non-autistic children. Having an autistic child and parental online safety knowledge were significant predictors of PSE. These results will help inform the co-design of interventions to protect autistic children online.
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