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Machine Learning in Autism, Explained

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Thank you to Dennis Wall from Stanford University for explaining what Machine Learning is, how it’s related to Artificial Intelligence (today’s four buzz words) and how these new technologies are helping families get a diagnosis. He talks about the overall goals of these techniques, highlighting Cognoa’s CanvasDx to provide remote diagnoses to potentially reduce the waiting lists for families.

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Learn about your infant’s development from your own home

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Are you the parent of an infant? Are you wondering how you can get assessments on your child without having to struggle with your pediatrician’s time at a well- baby checkup? Are you interested in how your baby is thinking or communicating but your doctor says “it’s too early to tell?” A new study based out of Duke University is using remote computer based assessments to understand the very earliest markers of language and cognition to better predict later social development. The twist? It’s all done remotely. You can participate in research, get a gift card, and learn about your baby’s development all without leaving the house. This has been a struggle for many families and this may open the door for more video-based, but thorough, assessments.

Children Helping Science

sites.duke.edu/risebattery

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Can we solve the pandemic problems around diagnosis and intervention?

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This week’s #ASFpodcast highlights a few articles from the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders this week which examined the tolerability and efficacy of online diagnostic procedures and interventions, from the perspective of both parents and clinicians. They seem to work about the same, although there were some caveats. For many reasons, online and telehealth options are here to stay, and more needs to be done to improve their accuracy, acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness. These early studies are promising though, and lead the way to even more improvements to help make them a viable option for families in the future.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05435-z

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05576-1

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05554-7

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05580-5https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-022-05607-x

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Hybrid is Most Helpful

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This year’s first podcast dedicated to COVID issues explores both caregiver and clinician satisfaction with telehealth. New studies explore this satisfaction with assessment as well as psychiatric interventions. Also, as a follow up to the INSAR presentations on resiliency in mental health, a new study from Canada explains what may be at the core of this resiliency. Finally – why are some autistic people still not getting vaccinated?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9126276/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35579789/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35575840/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9088649/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9023320/

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The 2021 Day of Learning Quickie

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If you missed this year’s Day of Learning, the videos will be up soon. But if you are a podcast listener, you can listen a 20 minute recap on this week’s podcast. The topics included the effects of the pandemic on family functioning and clinician diagnosis and assessments, lessons learned through the pandemic, the role of the social justice movement in autism, personalized medicine, an explanation of SUDEP, short for sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, and new information on CBD or cannabidiol. It’s not a substitute for watching it live and being able to ask questions of the speakers, but it touches on the main themes.

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How is ASD diagnosis happening right now?

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Early on in the pandemic, clinicians struggled with how to turn in-person evaluations into Telehealth evaluations. One year later: what have they done? How have they modified? How do parents feel about these changes? Should they stay or should they go? This topic will be featured on our ASF Day of Learning on April 22nd as well. Also COVID related, new data on the effects of maternal immune infection on autism outcomes in children – with a bright light at the end of the story. At least a bright light at some maternal infections. Listen to the opening song and keep on “staying away”.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33730320/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33720503/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00762-9

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Potential of therapy cats, training for parents, and help for families of diverse backgrounds

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What do cats, the Developmental Check-In and parent training all have in common? They all have the documented potential to help children gain emotional skills, social skills, and receive earlier intervention. A small study shows the potential of a well-tempered cat in easing symptoms of autism. Parent training has been shown time and time again to improve functioning across different domains and a new screening tool based on visual scenarios has been validated in Hispanic populations. Thank you for listening this week!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33290937/

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=33303635

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33287762/

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A deeper dive into racial disparities in ASD diagnosis

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The racial and ethnic disparities in the diagnosis of ASD has always been unacceptable, but it’s been hard to figure out. This week, researchers published their findings from a close look at 500 African American families with ASD to understand what the barriers were to a timely diagnosis. The results are not surprising, but they are also alarming. Some of these families may benefit from telehealth in the future. Telehealth is not perfect, but it turning out to be helpful. For example, it may be beneficial in treating insomnia in people with ASD. Delivering cognitive behavioral therapy online resulted in improvements in sleep in adolescents with ASD. It isn’t a panacea, but it seems to be more helpful than people gave it credit for before the pandemic.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32839243/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32838539/

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Managing autism practice from a distance: it’s called ECHO

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Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) pairs specialist centers with community providers to help them manage cases and empower them with knowledge to help their patients locally. It is done over the computer, which is especially relevant today. The goal is to help clinicians and physicians manage patients when local expertise is not available. Micah Mazurek of University of Virginia recently published a randomized study about the efficacy of this program, and is a special guest on the podcast to explain what it is and how it can be used to help doctors help each other and their families.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2762007