Early detection of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is essential to give them rapid access to interventions, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is funding this work, emphasize in a press release.
Typically, ASD screening is conducted when the child is 18 to 24 months old using questionnaires filled out by parents. However, the results are not very good. More precise and objective tools are needed to improve screening and reduce delays in access to diagnosis and interventions, recall Sam Perochon and his colleagues at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Among new tools in development, eye tracking appears to be promising, but this approach alone cannot ensure screening because ASD is heterogeneous and includes multiple behavioral characteristics. By quantifying these values it seems possible to better capture the complex and variable presentation of autism.
The researchers propose to carry out digital phenotyping of children and have developed a SenseToKnow mobile application available on tablets.
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