Can viewer proximity be a behavioural marker for Autism Spectrum Disorder?
This addresses autism screening challenges by offering a potential mobile-based marker for children, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing mobile assessment attempts.
The paper tackles the problem of autism screening by analyzing whether viewer proximity to a display screen during a sensory sensitivity test can serve as a behavioral marker for Autism Spectrum Disorder in children aged 2-7 years, reporting it as a first use with promising potential for home settings.
Screening for any of the Autism Spectrum Disorders is a complicated process often involving a hybrid of behavioural observations and questionnaire based tests. Typically carried out in a controlled setting, this process requires trained clinicians or psychiatrists for such assessments. Riding on the wave of technical advancement in mobile platforms, several attempts have been made at incorporating such assessments on mobile and tablet devices. In this paper we analyse videos generated using one such screening test. This paper reports the first use of the efficacy of using the observer's distance from the display screen while administering a sensory sensitivity test as a behavioural marker for autism for children aged 2-7 years The potential for using a test such as this in casual home settings is promising.