Abstract
Autism is a developmental disorder evident from infancy. Yet, its clinical identification requires expert diagnostic training. New evidence indicates disruption to motor timing and integration may underpin the disorder, providing a potential new computational marker for its early identification. In this study, we employed smart tablet computers with touch-sensitive screens and embedded inertial movement sensors to record the movement kinematics and gesture forces made by 37 children 3–6 years old with autism and 45 age- and gender-matched children developing typically. Machine learning analysis of the children’s motor patterns identified autism with up to 93% accuracy. Analysis revealed these patterns consisted of greater forces at contact and with a different distribution of forces within a gesture, and gesture kinematics were faster and larger, with more distal use of space. These data support the notion disruption to movement is core feature of autism, and demonstrate autism can be computationally assessed by fun, smart device gameplay.
Highlights
Autism is a developmental disorder evident from infancy
Motor patterns related to autism can be identified by machine learning from iPad gameplay in children between three and six years old
This motor signature appears to be predominantly derived from differences in pressure going into the device as well as differences in gesture kinematics and form
Summary
Autism is a developmental disorder evident from infancy. Yet, its clinical identification requires expert diagnostic training. Early diagnosis and intervention appears to offer the best chance for significant health improvement and economic gain, diagnosis of autism remains complex and often difficult to obtain It currently relies on specialist medical expertise with diagnostic instrumentation that depends on interpretative coding of child observations, parent interviews, and manual testing. Motor control underpins social engagement, emotional expression, and cognitive development[12,13,14,15,16,17], and children with ASD exhibit a clear deficit in movement observable from birth[18] and evident throughout life[19,20,21,22,23,24,25] This motor perspective on autism is beginning to gain some significant clinical and research interest[11,26,27]
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