An app to recognize autistic children developed

New Delhi A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and AIIMS has developed an app that aims to bridge gaps in autism screening for millions of families in low and middle income countries.

The low-cost app called START (Screening Tools for Autism Risk using Technology) can be used by community healthcare workers to quickly and inexpensively identify children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders in India, said the researchers, which also include those from universities of London and Reading in the UK.

Researchers from India, the UK and US tested the app with 131 two- to seven-year-olds living in low-resource neighbourhoods of Delhi. The tests were carried out at the homes of the children, by non-specialist healthcare workers, educated to high school level, using the START app.

Through a series of simple games, questions, images and activities on a tablet computer - such as popping bubbles and looking at patterns and images - the app measured the social preference, sensory interests and motor skills of the children.

The results, published in the journal Autism, showed that the app was 86 per cent accurate in identifying children with any neurodevelopmental disorders, and 78 per cent accurate in specifically identifying autism. This performance is significantly higher than standard screening assessments for neurodevelopmental disorders used by non-specialists.