Autoscreen: An innovative e-health solution for early identification of autism spectrum disorder

Project SummaryEarly accurate identification and treatment of young children with Autism Spectrum DisorderASDrepresents a pressing public health and clinical care challengeGiven mounting evidence that earlyaccurate diagnosis of ASD is possible and very young children who receive intervention can demonstrate substantial gains in functioningcurrent American Academy of Pediatrics practice guidelines endorse formal ASD screening atandmonths of ageIdeallythis recommended screening would translate into early diagnosis and treatment for most childrenUnfortunatelylarge numbers of children are still not screened for ASDwaits for specialized diagnostic assessment can be very longand the average age of diagnosis in the US remains betweentoyears of ageFurthergroups from traditionally underserved communities are even more likely to be diagnosed at later agesDelays in accurate diagnosis contribute to high levels of family stress and limit access to ASD behavioral intervention serviceswhich are increasingly recognized as very important to children s functioningThe current project tests a novel e health systemAutoscreenfor rapid screeningdiagnostic triagereferraland treatment engagement of young children within community pediatric settingswith an embedded focus on reaching underserved populationsThis tool fuses advanced computational strategies with expert knowledge and tools for ASD screening assessment in order to realize an e health application that not only provides support for enhanced screening across diverse communitiesbut also establishes a clear decision pathway for earlyaccurate diagnostic triage and meaningful engagement in early treatmentWe will integrateaour computational analyses of gold standard assessments conducted across a very large sample of toddlers with ASD and other developmental concerns withba novel interactive assessment designed to target core areas of earliest ASD vulnerabilityin order to create an e screening application that can guide early action within traditional community pediatric settingsWe will rigorously evaluate the feasibilityusabilitycompatibilityand potential utility of this tool in the current workThis evaluation will be conducted in order to ultimately create and test the efficacy of this innovative e health product in terms of identifying and linking children with ASD more rapidly to meaningful interventions at young agesWe believe the potential market for such a system is quite substantial with common use developmental screening instruments identifying roughlyof children in first year of lifeIn this capacityour tool will ultimately be designed as a practicalfeasibleand reimbursable health screening module for wide scale use in community pediatric settings Project NarrativeEarly accurate identification and treatment of young children with Autism Spectrum DisorderASDrepresents a pressing public health and clinical care challengeThe current project tests a novel e health systemAutoscreenfor rapid screeningdiagnostic triagereferraland treatment engagement of young children within community pediatric settingswith an embedded focus on reaching underserved populationsThis tool fuses advanced computational strategies with expert knowledge and tools for ASD screening assessment in order to realize an e health application that not only provides support for enhanced screening across diverse communitiesbut also establishes a clear decision pathway for earlyaccurate diagnostic triage and meaningful engagement in early treatment