The Impact of Cultural Relevance and Content Localization on the Utility of YouTube Videos for Autism Support in Pakistan: Perspective of Teachers and Parents

Abstract

Lack of access to formal autism services in Pakistan has seen the use of online resources like YouTube as an informal source of relevant information pertaining to parenting and teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the existing autism content mostly made in the West poses a question of its cultural scale and practicality in regards to the contexts of Pakistan, including language, societal, education. The paper explores cultural relevance and content localization concerning usage of YouTube video on developing the understanding and application of autism supportive strategies between teachers and parents in Pakistan. A quantitative, survey-based research design was used, and 100 parents and teachers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, who could rely on YouTube to provide information on autism, were interviewed. The survey calculated perceptions of accessibility to the language, culture presence, and how watched content was translated to actual action at home and classroom level. The results show that there was strong relationship between localized content in terms of culture and language and strategy implementation where the participants reported considerable improvement in understanding, confidence and application to videos resembling their local languages, family structure as well as educational realities. On the contrary, Western-based content was generally viewed as challenging to use as it did not fit contextually and had resource constraints. Though it was known that YouTube was an increasing confidence platform, it would only work effectively depending on cultural congruency. The research finding is that localization goes beyond translation and is essential in the digital translation of awareness in any meaningful action. These findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive, Pakistan-specific Autism Multimedia message in order to empower digital health communication and enhance care practices in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).