Books and Monographs
Alper, M. (2023). Kids across the spectrums: Growing up autistic in the digital age. MIT Press. [Amazon] [MIT Press] [Free Digital Open Access Copy]
Alper, M. (2017). Giving voice: Mobile communication, disability, and inequality. MIT Press. [Amazon] [MIT Press] [Introduction]
Alper, M. (2014). Digital youth with disabilities. MIT Press. [Amazon] [MIT Press] [PDF]
Journal Articles (Peer Reviewed)
Alper, M., Pak, E., McGivney, E., & Rubinsztain, V. (in press). Parent and clinician perspectives on the ethics of extended reality technologies for neurodivergent children in the U.S. Journal of Children and Media.
Alper, M., Rodgers, R., Rauchberg, J., Simpson, E., & Harrison, K. (in press). “Actually an ED and not just a quirky aspect of autism”: TikTok as a forum and mediator of autistic food issues and eating disorders. New Media & Society. [Article]
Alper, M., Cheema, S. E., DeVitre, Z., & Ram, S. (2025). Digitally constructing marginalized neurodivergence: Understanding South Asian diasporic autism and ADHD communities on TikTok. Social Media + Society, 11(4). [Article]
Alper, M., Pak, E., Rubinsztain, V., & McGivney, E. (2025). “Someone who has ADHD or someone who has autism should make the rules”: A participatory study of neurodivergent child perspectives on the ethics of extended reality technologies. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 46, 100782. [PDF]
Alper, M., Rauchberg, J., Simpson, E., Guberman, J., & Feinberg, S. (2025). TikTok as algorithmically mediated biographical illumination: Autism, self-discovery, and platformed diagnosis on #autisktok. New Media & Society, 27(3), 1378–1396. [Abstract] [Pre-Print PDF]
Schmuecker, S., Hourcade, J. P., Alper, M., Fails, J. A., Kawas, S., & Yarosh, S. (2024). Democratizing the ethics of emerging technologies for children. ACM Interactions, 31(5), 32–37. [PDF]
Alper, M., Christiansen, E., Allen, A. A.., & Mello, S. (2023). Pediatric media guidance for parents of children on the autism spectrum: A thematic analysis. Health Communication, 38(8), 1572–1580. [Abstract]
Alper, M., Manganello, J., & Colvin, K. (2023). Parental mediation and problematic media use among U.S. children with disabilities and their non-disabled siblings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Children and Media, 17(2), 219–227 [Abstract]
Perovich, L. J., Alper, M., & Cleveland, C. (2022). “Self-Quaranteens” process COVID-19: Understanding information visualization language in memes. Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction, 6(1), 1–20. [Abstract]
Fox, J., Pearce, K. E., Massanari, A. L., Riles, J. M., Szulc, Ł., Ranjit, Y. S., Trevisan, F., Soriano, C. R. R., Vitak, J., Arora, P., Ahn, S. J., Alper, M., Gambino, A., Gonzalez, C., Lynch, T. L., Williamson, L. D., & Gonzales, A. L. (2021). Open science, closed doors? Countering marginalization through an agenda for ethical, inclusive research in communication. Journal of Communication, 71(5), 764–784. [Abstract]
Alper, M. (2021). U.S. parent perspectives of media guidance from pediatric autism professionals. Journal of Children and Media, 15(2), 165–182. [Abstract]
Alper, M. (2021). Critical media access studies: Deconstructing power, visibility, and marginality in mediated space. International Journal of Communication, 15, 840–861. [PDF]
Mello, S., Alper, M., & Allen, A. A. (2020). Physician mediation theory and pediatric media guidance in the digital age: A survey of autism medical and clinical professionals. Health Communication, 35(8), 955–965. [Abstract]
Alper, M. (2019). Portables, luggables, and transportables: Historicizing the imagined affordances of mobile computing. Mobile Media & Communication, 7(3), 322–340. [Abstract]
Alper, M. (2019). Future talk: Accounting for the technological and other future discourses in daily life. International Journal of Communication, 13, 715–735. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2018). Inclusive sensory ethnography: Studying new media and neurodiversity in everyday life. New Media & Society, 20(10), 3560–3579. [Abstract] [Pre-Print PDF]
Alper, M., & Goggin, G. (2017). Digital technology and rights in the lives of children with disabilities. New Media & Society, 19(5), 726–740. [PDF]
Götz, M., Holler, A., & Alper, M. (2016). Children’s preferences for TV show hosts: An international perspective on learning from television. Journal of Children and Media, 10(4), 497–507. [Abstract]
Jennings, N., & Alper, M. (2016). Young children’s positive and negative parasocial relationships with media characters. Communication Research Reports, 33(2), 96–102. [PDF]
Alper, M., Katz, V., & Clark, L. S. (2016). Researching children, intersectionality, and diversity in the digital age. Journal of Children and Media, 10(1), 107–114. [Abstract]
- Reprinted (2017), in D. Lemish, A. Jordan, & V. Rideout (Eds.), Children, adolescents, and media: The future of research and action (pp. 111–118). London: Routledge.
Alper, M. (2015). Augmentative, alternative, and assistive: Reimagining the history of mobile computing and disability. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 37(1), 93–96. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2014). “Can Our Kids Hack It With Computers?”: Constructing youth hackers in family computing magazines (1983-1987). International Journal of Communication, 8, 673–698. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2014). War on Instagram: Framing conflict photojournalism with mobile photography apps. New Media & Society, 16(8), 1233–1248. [Abstract] [Draft PDF]
Alper, M., & Herr-Stephenson, B. (2013). Transmedia play: Literacy across media. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 5(2), 366–369. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2013). Developmentally appropriate New Media Literacies: Supporting cultural competencies and social skills in early childhood education. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(2), 175–196. [Abstract] [Draft PDF]
Alper, M., Hourcade, J.P., & Gilutz, S. (2012). Adding reinforced corners: Designing technologies for children with disabilities. Interactions, 14(6), 72–75. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2012). Promoting emerging new media literacies among young children with blindness and visual impairment. Digital Culture and Education, 4(3). [PDF]
White Papers
Whittaker, M., (with Alper, M., Bennett, C. L., Hendren, S., Kaziunas, L., Mills, M., Morris, M. R., Rankin, J., Rogers, E., Salas, M., & Myers West, S.)* (2019). Disability, bias, and AI. AI Now. *co-authors listed alphabetically [PDF]
Herr-Stephenson, B., Alper, M., (with Reilly, E., & Jenkins, H.) (2013). T is for transmedia: Learning through transmedia play. USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. [PDF]
Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries
Alper, M. (in press). Mobile digital inequalities. In G. Goggin & L. Hjorth (Eds.), Routledge companion to mobile media (2nd ed). Routledge.
Alper, M., Alcorn, A. M., Harrison, K., Manganello, J., & Romeo, R. R. (2025). Digital media and neurodevelopmental differences. In D. Christakis & L. Hale (Eds.), Children and screens: A handbook on digital media and the development, health, and well-being of children and adolescents (pp. 55–60). Springer.
Alper, M. (2025). Disability at the intersections of communication ethics and media technologies. In A. Pinchevski, P. Buzzanell, & J. Hannan (Eds.), Handbook of communication ethics (2nd ed.) (International Communication Association Handbook Series) (pp. 364–375). Routledge.
Alper, M. (2024). Good technology is accessible, not just “good enough.” In E. Drage & K. McInerney (Eds.), The good robot: Why technology needs feminism (pp. 108–116). Bloomsbury.
Prendella, K., & Alper, M. (2023). Inequality and day-to-day encounters with media. In R. L. Brown, M. Maroto, & D. Pettinicchio (Eds.), Oxford handbook of the sociology of disability (pp. 197–212). Oxford University Press.
Manganello, J. A., Alper, M., & Kane, C. (2023). Media use and youth with disabilities. In B. Halpern-Felsher (Ed.), Encyclopedia of child and adolescent health, Vol. 3 (pp. 441–449). Elsevier.
Prendella, K., & Alper, M. (2022). Media and children with disabilities. In D. Lemish (Ed.), Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents, and media (2nd ed) (pp. 395–402). Routledge.
Jennings, N., Caplovitz, A. G., & Alper, M. (2022). Media use among children with chronic health conditions during the early days of the coronavirus crisis. In M. Götz & D. Lemish (Eds.), Children and media worldwide in a time of a pandemic (pp. 167–180). Peter Lang.
Alper, M., & Irons, M. (2020). Digital socializing in children on the autism spectrum. In L. Green, D. Holloway, L. Haddon, K. Stevenson, & T. Leaver (Eds.), Routledge companion to children and digital media (pp. 348–357). Routledge.
Alper, M. (2019). When face-to-face is screen-to-screen: Reconsidering mobile media as communication augmentations and alternatives. In K. Ellis, G. Goggin, B. Haller, & R. Curtis (Eds.), Routledge companion to disability and media (pp. 275–284). Routledge. [Pre-Print PDF]
Alper, M. (2017). Transmedia. In K. Peppler (Ed.), Sage encyclopedia of out-of-school learning (pp. 791–792). Sage.
Alper, M., & Haller, B. (2017). Social media use and mediated sociality among individuals with communication disabilities in the digital age. In K. Ellis, & M. Kent (Eds.), Disability and social media: Global perspectives (pp. 133–145). Routledge. [Pre-Print PDF]
Alper, M., Ellcessor, E., Ellis, K., & Goggin, G. (2015). Reimagining the good life with disability: Communication, new technology, and humane connections. In H. Wang (Ed.), Communication and “the good life” (International Communication Association Theme Book Series, Vol. 2) (pp. 197–212). Peter Lang. [PDF]
Alper, M. (2013). Children and convergence culture. In D. Lemish (Ed.), Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents and media (pp. 148–155). Routledge.
Conference Proceedings and Workshop Papers
Hourcade, J.P., Alper, M., Bonsignore, E., Clegg, T., Fails, J. A., Walsh, G., & Yarosh, S. (2025). Extended reality and children: Risks, opportunities, and ethics. IDC ‘25: Proceedings of the 24th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (pp. 1228–1230). Reykjavík, Iceland, June 23-26, 2025. ACM.
Pak, E., Alper, M., Rubinstzain, V., & McGivney. E. (2025). Risks, opportunities, and ethical considerations for XR use by neurodivergent youth. ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC), Workshop on Extended Reality and Children: Risks, Opportunities, and Ethics, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 23, 2025.
Rauchberg, J., Alper, M., Simpson, E., Guberman, J., & Feinberg, S. (2023). “Here to have fun and fight ableism”: #Autisktok user bios as neuroqueer microactivist platform affordances. Selected Papers of #AoIR2023: The 24th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (pp. 1–5). Philadelphia, PA, October 18-21, 2023. AoIR.
Hourcade, J.P., Alper, M., Bonsignore, E., Clegg, T., Fails, J. A., Walsh, G., Yarosh, S., & Yip, J. (2023). Participatory approaches to the ethics of emerging technologies for children. IDC ‘23: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (pp. 795–797). Evanston, IL, June 19-23, 2023. ACM.
Hourcade, J.P., Alper, M., Antle, A. N., Baykal, G. E., Bonsignore, E., Clegg, T., Currin, F. H., Dindler, C., Eriksson, E., Fails, J. A., Garzotto, F., Giannakos, M., Gonzalez, C. S., Iversen, O. S., Landoni, M., Medina, N. M., Quintana, C., Read, J., […] & Yip, J. (2023). Developing participatory methods to consider the ethics of emerging technologies for children. CHI EA ’23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Article No. 511, pp. 1–3). Hamburg, Germany, April 23-28, 2023. ACM.
Hourcade, J.P., Garzotto, F., Rozga, A., Tentori, M., Markopolous, P., Pares, N., Good, J., Pain, H., & Alper, M. (2014). Supporting children with complex communication needs. Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 119–122). Toronto, Canada, April 26–May 1, 2014. ACM.
Alper, M. (2013). Making space in the makerspace: Building a mixed-ability maker culture. ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC), Workshop on Evaluating Accessibility in Fabrication Tools for Children, New York, NY, June 24-27, 2013. [PDF]
Alper, M., Hourcade, J.P., & Gilutz, S. (2012). Interactive technologies for children with special needs. Proceedings of the International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC) (pp. 363–366). Bremen, Germany, June 12–15, 2012. ACM. [PDF]
Book Reviews
Alper, M. (2022). Book Review: Diminished Faculties: A Political Phenomenology of Impairment (J. Sterne). New Media & Society, 24(9), 2184–2186.
Alper, M. (2020). Book Review: Parenting for a Digital Future: How Hopes and Fears about Technology Shape Children’s Lives (S. Livingstone & A. Blum-Ross). International Journal of Communication, 14, 5004–5006.
Alper, M. (2016). Book Review: Making Computers Accessible: Disability Rights & Digital Technology (E. R. Petrick). Technology and Culture, 57(4), 1027–1028.
Alper, M. (2013). Book Review: The Parent App: Understanding Families in the Digital Age (L. S. Clark). Journal of Children and Media, 7(4), 525–529.
Alper, M. (2011). Book Review: Quest to Learn: Developing the School for Digital Kids (K. Salen et al.). Journal of Children and Media, 5(4), 467–471.
Letters to the Editor
Alper, M. (2020). Improving research on screen media, autism, and families of young children. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(12), 1223. [Abstract]
Journal Articles (Non-Peer Reviewed)
Götz, M., Mendel, C., Lemish, D., Jennings, N., Hains, R., Abdul, F., Alper, M. … Yee, A. Z. H.* (2020). Children, COVID-19 and the media: A study on the challenges children are facing in the 2020 coronavirus crisis. TelevIZIon, 33(1), 4–9. *co-authors listed alphabetically
Commentary
Alper, M. (2025, May 16). America’s children are ‘Ready To Learn’ with PBS KIDS. Will the Trump administration listen? Newsweek.
Alper, M. (2024, March 15). Prioritize autistic youth mental health without panicking over technology. Newsweek.
Alper, M. (2024, January 22). Driving interest-driven learning among autistic youth. Connected Learning Alliance.
Alper, M. (2024, January 9). Shattering stereotypes about autism and technology. The MIT Press Reader. (Invited Interview)
Alper, M. (2020, November 30). CAMmer in the Spotlight: Meryl Alper. Website of the International Communication Association (ICA) Children, Adolescents, and Media Division. (Invited Interview)
Alper, M. (2020, October 27). The silver lining of virtual school for some autistic students. Slate (Future Tense).
Alper, M. (2018, March 6). Can technology really ‘give voice’ to disabled people? Pacific Standard.
Alper, M. (2017, July 21). Talking like a “Princess”: What speaking machines say about human biases. Lady Science, no. 34.
Alper, M. (2017, June 13). Personal computing and personhood in design and disability. CASTAC (Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology & Computing) Blog: General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological Association. (Invited Commentary).
Alper, M., & Greene, D. (2017, June 7). Author Interview: Meryl Alper on “Giving Voice.” Culture Digitally. (Invited Interview)
Alper, M. (2017, January 3). Comments on “Overstimulated Consumers or Next-Generation Learners? Parent Tensions About Child Mobile Technology Use.” Annals of Family Medicine. (Invited Commentary)
Alper, M. (2016, September 21). What ABC’s new TV series Speechless can tell us about “voice.” VICE Motherboard.
Alper, M. (2016, April 21). No child’s brain is the same. Zócalo Public Square (Syndicated by Dallas Morning News). (Invited Commentary)
Meryl Alper 