Duke researchers create automated video analysis tools to identify children on the autism spectrum earlier
By Ken Kingery
Most schools across the United States provide simple vision tests to their studentsnot to prescribe glasses, but to identify potential problems and recommend a trip to the optometrist. Researchers are now on the cusp of providing the same kind of service for autism.
Researchers at Duke University have developed software that tracks and records infants activity during videotaped autism screening tests. Their results show that the program is as good at spotting behavioral markers of autism as experts giving the test themselves, and better than non-expert medical clinicians and students in training.
Snapshot from one of the video tracking tests in a clinical setting.
Were not trying to replace the experts, said Jordan Hashemi, a graduate student in computer and electrical engineering at Duke. Were trying to transfer the knowledge of the relatively few autism experts available into classrooms and homes across the country. We want to give people tools they dont currently have, because research has shown that early intervention can greatly impact the severity of the symptoms common in autism spectrum disorders.
The study focused on three behavioral tests that can help identify autism in very young children.
In one test, an infants attention is drawn to a toy being shaken on the left side and then redirected to a toy being shaken on the right side. Clinicians count how long it takes for the childs attention to shift in response to the changing stimulus. The second test passes a toy across the infants field of view and looks for any delay in the child tracking its motion. In the last test, a clinician rolls a ball to a child and looks for eye contact afterwarda sign of the childs engagement with their play partner.
In all of the tests, the person administering them isnt just controlling the stimulus, he or she is also counting how long it takes for the child to reactan imprecise science at best. The new program allows testers to forget about taking measurements while also providing more accuracy, recording reaction times down to tenths of a second.