Named a simple way to diagnose autism in children

Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be diagnosed at any age, symptoms are usually

appear in the first two years of a child’s life.But the sooner the disease is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin and appropriate care can be accessed. Testing toddlers' visual responses to geometric images is a reliable biomarker for early detection of ASD, a new study has found.

The scientists will expand on a previous study whereexamined the disproportionate amount of time that young children with ASD spent viewing geometric images when given the opportunity.

The experts used a sample of 1,863 babies,whose average age was about two years. After an in-depth diagnostic assessment, she was divided into groups: children with ASD, children with ASD features, children with global developmental delay, children with language delay and children with normal development.

The kids were shown a one-minute video withgeometric images on one side of the screen and images of children on the other. Using eye-tracking technology, the researchers measured the time toddlers spent fixating on geometric images.

The data showed that toddlers with ASD spent more time looking at geometric images than toddlers from other test groups who preferred social, non-geometric images.

Additional evidence suggests thatpreference for geometric images remained stable for 12 months after the initial eye-tracking session. Analysis using bioinformatics confirmed the statistical reliability of the collected data.

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