Screening Tools for Autism Risk Using Technology (START)

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Autism Spectrum Disorders emerge early and persist throughout life, contributing significantly to global years lived with disability. Typically, an autism diagnosis depends on clinical assessments by highly trained professionals. This high resource demand poses a challenge in resource-limited areas where skilled personnel are scarce and awareness of neurodevelopmental disorder symptoms is low. We have developed and tested a novel app, START, that can be administered by non-specialists to assess several domains of the autistic phenotype (social, sensory, motor functioning) through direct observation and parent report.

 

Process employed:

  • Participatory approach to iteratively develop the START tool through formative work with children and families from the community
  • Quantitative work to evaluate the feasibility and validity of the START tool
  • Qualitative work to evaluate the acceptability of the START tool to children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders and their families

 

Outputs:

  • A digital application that has the potential to be used as a screening tool for Autism Spectrum Disorders in preschool children
  • The START app is designed with features like games for young children, and includes different tasks to assess eye gaze using webcam-based eye tracking, motor parameters, social preference and sensory seeking behaviors along with questionnaires and video recording of parent-child interactions.
  • Data collected on 120 children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders

More from Child Development

LOCATION

Delhi, New Delhi

PROJECT DURATION

April 2017- April 2019

PROJECT GOAL

  • To develop a tablet-based tool comprising games and eye-tracking.
  • To assess START app’s ability to identify preschool children at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • To administer the app on 120 children (40 each with typical development, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disability).

KEY IMPACT

We have demonstrated the potential and proof of principle for a tablet-based app for assessing autistic children that can be administered by non-specialist health workers with minimal training. The eventual goal for this platform is its incorporation into a routine health surveillance system to help identify children with- or at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.

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batches of participants

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participants oriented

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participants completed the course

TEAM

Prof Bhismadev Chakrabarti (University of Reading)

Project Principal Investigator

Dr. Gauri Divan

Sangath Principal Investigator

Dr Jayashree Dasgupta

Project Director

For further details please write to us at gauri.divan@sangath.in

FUNDERS

PARTNERS

RELEVANT LINKS

RESOURCES

Indu Dubey, Simon Brett, Liliana Ruta, Rahul Bishain, Sharat Chandran, Supriya Bhavnani, Matthew K. Belmonte, Georgia Lockwood Estrin, Mark Johnson, Teodora Gliga, Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Plos One,

2022

PRESS MENTIONS

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SSM-Mental Health,

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2022

Kendra S. Knudsen MA, Kimberly D. Becker PhD, Karen Guan PhD, Resham Gellatly PhD, Vikram H. Patel MD, Kanika Malik PhD, Maya M. Boustani PhD, Sonal Mathur PhD, Bruce F. Chorpita PhD

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