{"id":1244,"date":"2021-04-30T18:28:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T16:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dyslexiasa.org\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:42:26","slug":"are-smart-phones-dumbing-us-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dyslexiasa.org\/?p=1244","title":{"rendered":"Are smart phones dumbing us down?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are smart phones dumbing us down?<\/h2>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Do you rely on your smartphone to instantly pull up a phone number or other piece of information?\u00a0 I know I do.\u00a0 So do our kids, even if they\u2019re just using their parents\u2019 phones. \u00a0Personally, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do without my iPhone, but I had to take a second look at using mine not too long ago.\u00a0 The pivotal moment?<\/p>\n

I can see it clearly in my mind.\u00a0 I had forgotten my phone at home and was using a landline at work to call one of my kids.\u00a0 The problem?\u00a0 I\u2019d completely forgotten the phone number.\u00a0 Embarrassed, I vowed to memorize important numbers and never totally rely on a phone for important information.<\/p>\n

Smartphones are an invaluable tool, but they\u2019ve made us lazy, and as a result, our visual and auditory memory skills are becoming weak.<\/p>\n

I urge all of you to take a second look at how your children are using iPads, iPhones, and other technology.\u00a0 I know I\u2019ve given Morgan an iPad more than once when I had a phone call to make or needed her to be busy and safe.\u00a0 I\u2019m just careful to balance it with real-world learning.\u00a0 Like playing board games, singing songs, marching, painting, swimming, or just taking a walk.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for us to crawl inside our young children\u2019s minds and see what\u2019s going on, and the good news is that we don\u2019t have to.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to limit screen time and focus on other activities that strengthen visual and auditory memory skills.<\/p>\n

Here are a few things you can easily do:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Play the memory game with a deck of cards or buy a concentration game.<\/li>\n
  2. Play Simon Says or Red Light, Green Light.\u00a0 If your child is too old for this, just revise it so it can be adapted to older kids.\u00a0 For instance, you can play the same game only use rock stars or movie stars in place of Simon or the lights.<\/li>\n
  3. Turn off all media and read old-fashioned books.<\/li>\n
  4. Tell ghost stories in a tent.\u00a0 Make up the stories as you go.<\/li>\n
  5. Get a bag and go for a nature walk.\u00a0 When you get home, try to remember all the items you put inside the bag.<\/li>\n
  6. Get a joke book and read a joke to your child.\u00a0 Have him\/her tell the joke back to you and discuss the punch line.<\/li>\n
  7. Draw a simple picture on a piece of paper and hold it up to your child for about fifteen seconds.\u00a0 Take it away and have him\/her draw it from memory.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are so many fun things to do that don\u2019t involve screen time.\u00a0 See if you can come up with some games on your own!<\/p>\n

    To your child\u2019s success,<\/p>\n

    Lisa<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Do you rely on your smartphone to instantly pull up a phone number or other piece of information? I know I do. So do our kids, even if they\u2019re just using their parents\u2019 phones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dyscalculia","category-dysgraphia","category-dyslexia"],"yoast_head":"\nAre smart phones dumbing us down? - Red Apple Dyslexia Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dyslexiasa.org\/?p=1244\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are smart phones dumbing us down? - Red Apple Dyslexia Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you rely on your smartphone to instantly pull up a phone number or other piece of information? 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