ERI: Toward Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children Using Wearable Technology

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder affecting communication, learning ability, and behavioral response. The critical window of intervention in ASD is often missed due to the significant delay between the emergence of symptoms in early childhood and formal diagnosis. This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) project seeks to bridge this gap by leveraging non-invasive wearables to collect physiological and environmental data during early childhood, aiming to identify physiological biomarkers and early indications of ASD.

By examining relationships between stimuli (light, sound) and children's physiological and behavioral responses, the proposed research aims to develop a sensing system and robust machine-learning algorithm for early ASD detection. This could pave the way for earlier diagnosis and intervention, potentially improving the quality of life for children with ASD.

This ERI project aims to develop a novel wearable sensing and analysis system for identifying early markers of autism spectrum disorder in young children and toddlers. The wearable sensor is minimally invasive and will monitor environmental conditions, such as lighting and sounds, and physiological and behavioral signals. The goal is to understand the interplay between environmental stimuli and a child’s response, for example changes in the frequency of repetitive motions, heart rate, and reaction and response time to environmental stimuli.

Leveraging these multimodal biological and environmental signals and reliable machine learning algorithms, diagnostic markers of ASD in young children will be identified. The outcomes of this research can confirm findings suggesting that repetitive movement is one of the important biomarkers and at the same time investigate other behavioral and physiological biomarkers to increase sensitivity and specificity of ASD detection earlier in children’s development.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.