Autism Express - a cloud based framework for autism screening, confirmation and intervention

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that limits social, behavioral and communication skills of a child. Since early intervention can improve child's condition, early screening and diagnosis are necessary. Different tools were developed for screening, diagnosing and monitoring intervention. However, no tools have integrated all these steps and in developing countries, these discrete tools are not used due to lack of resources and expertise. Autism Express is an integrated cloud based framework that can perform screening, track diagnosis outcome, provide online parent counseling and monitor intervention progress automatically for 0–17 years old children. It includes a smart device based mobile application for autism screening. Then based on the outcome, the Virtual and Actual assessment processes confirm autism. For positive cases, it automatically activates parent counseling, connects resources and tracks intervention status for effective management. It is expected that the proposed system will bring positive changes in autism diagnosis, intervention and management processes especially in a resource limited setting and also raise awareness about it.