Digital Health Technologies Bring Change To The World Of Autism

People living with autism are sensitive to the social world and the environment in general. They could experience great difficulties in social situations, have anxieties, fears, phobias, or sensory sensitivities. On the other hand, they could be on good terms with technologies: social stories apps can navigate them in difficult situations, virtual and augmented reality can offer a safe space for them to exercise, and artificial intelligence helps in early detection.

Raymond Babbitt’s heritage and the chronicles of autism

“He’s artistic?” Charlie replies, “No, he’s autistic.” The nurse says, “I’m not familiar with that, what is the exact nature of the problem?” This is one of the most heart-rending lines of ignorance from Rain Man, the iconic Hollywood movie from 1988, which put autism on the radar of wide audiences. Until then, it was only concerned parents and specialized physicians who knew about conditions connected to autistic behaviors and attended to it. While the portrayal of Raymond Babbitt has not been superseded in popularity by any other movie about autism ever since, there are significantly more people catering to the special needs of individuals with autism. In recent years, awareness about the conditions has grown, for example, in 2007, the United Nations designated 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day, and the number of organizations and communities has multiplied.

Nevertheless, looking at the statistics, that’s reasonable, and looking at the difficulties autistic children, adults, or their families face, even too little. Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 160 children has an autism spectrum disorder, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children in the United States today. Autism spectrum disorders encompass a group of developmental disorders with chronic symptoms that appear in childhood, with no cure. Behavior, communication, sociability, interaction with others are affected, however with every person to a different degree. Some need significant support in their daily lives, while others can live quite independently. Sometimes it is accompanied by sensory sensitivities, seizures, sleep disorders, or mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and attention issues.

Could technology give a helping hand?

As you can see, autism is a very complex and difficult condition. Parents of autistic children are in a particularly tough position as – especially in the first period after the diagnosis – they might not understand the reactions of their children or the triggers to their behavior, not to speak about having to handle the reception of their kids in a wider social environment.

While individuals on the autism spectrum might have huge problems with people and social situations, digital technologies have the potential to become their helpers. This year, the United Nations organized a conference on World Autism Awareness Day on the role and potential of assistive technologies for making the lives of people with autism better. The organization said that for many people on the autism spectrum, access to affordable assistive technologies is a prerequisite to being able to exercise their basic human rights and participate fully in the life of their communities. Thus, we decided to collect as many best practices as we stumble upon so that we can also help spread the word about the beneficial impact of technologies.

Autism-friendly accommodations

Innovation doesn’t start at smartphones and digital devices, but rather looking at real-world needs and offering viable solutions. As people with autism can be hypersensitive to their environment, especially new ones, to sound, light, and movement, and become overwhelmed by noisy, cluttered or crowded spaces, putting an end to such conditions through technologies and design could significantly increase their quality of life. That’s what Sweetwater Spectrum, a $6.8m supported-housing project in Sonoma, California, aims to address.

The site, which opened its doors in 2013, includes four 4-bed homes for 16 young adults, a community center, therapy pools and an urban farm – all designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects according to autism-specific principles recommended by Arizona State University to promote a sense of calm.

The realm of smartphone apps

Experts dealing with autism believe that technology enables improved skills development, enhances motivation to learn and improves the concentration of children with autism. In the last couple of years, technology developers also realized the potential for smartphone-based solutions, and the universe of autism apps started to exponentially expand. So much so that the University of Edinburgh realized there’s a need for suggestions of what to look out for when judging the evidence base of a digital solution, and the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the UK also provides a useful guide for parents on the responsible use of technology for their children with autism. In addition, a handy online platform, BridgingApps consolidates nearly 100 apps to choose from.

And how could apps make a difference for children and adults with autism? One of their most useful features is that they offer a controlled and re-creatable environment for preparing for social situations. Through exercising simple life events and understanding what to expect in that particular situation and why, they can develop greater social awareness and stay safe. There’s a swarm of such apps, for instance, the social story app developed by TouchAutism provides a platform for parents, educators and caregivers to create personalized social stories and visual schedules to help them communicate with their children and prepare them for social situations.

In addition, apps could also become a contact point for further help. Solutions like the Brain in Hand app provides timely, personalized support to help people with autism remember activities, reduce anxiety, and feel supported. Another exquisite innovation, AngelSense, a GPS & voice-monitoring solution designed to help families keep track of children with special needs, and we should also not forget about scheduling solutions like Birdhouse for autism that offers caregivers the ability to keep track of behaviors, health, and daily living tasks.

Google Glass as a social compass

Beyond smartphone apps, researchers are experimenting with augmented reality solutions as well. For example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in autism patients significantly decreased after just a short-period interaction with Empowered Brain, a Google Glass-powered educational augmented reality tool, outcome of a clinical research trial published in JMIR Mental Health, showed. In spite of being in an initial phase, the study shows AR’s future promise in positively impacting the lives of people with autism.

For autism patients, paying attention to social happenings could be burdening. As a response, the team of Empowered Brain developed the Face2Face module to help direct attention. Cartoon characters will sit on people’s heads and arrows will guide the eyes to the point where the focus should be placed at a particular moment. In another game called Emotion Charades developed in partnership with Affectiva, an emotional artificial intelligence company, the users can identify the emotions of other persons. They can get scores for right answers, and guidance when it is necessary.

Stanford University published the results of a similar clinical trial to test the efficacy of Superpower Glass, machine learning based software designed for Google Glass that helps children with autism decipher social interactions using emoji and audio. The technology helps kids learn to understand whether a person is happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, disgusted, or neutral in real time. One of the authors of the study was Dennis Wall, co-founder of Cognoa, which has been developing solutions for persons with autism for years.

Immersive reality and video games against anxieties

Similarly to social stories apps, virtual reality and video games can help autistic individuals better imagine social situations and deal with their anxieties and phobias in more efficient ways. For example, Third Eye NeuroTech’s Blue Room immersive virtual reality (VR) technology developed by specialists at Newcastle University in the UK in tandem with the Durham-based tech firm allows the creation of a personalized 360-degree big-screen virtual environment around a specific fear or scenarios that might debilitate the person with autism in real life. Researchers found that when eight participants were given four 20-minute sessions, five of them reported improvements in relation to their phobia six months later.

In another study from the University of California, San Francisco published in PLOS One shows that, in a clinical setting, games that have been developed to function as a medical device may be beneficial to children with certain cognitive impairments. The game called Project Evo developed by Akili Interactive Labs is comprised of three tasks: perceptual discrimination, visuomotor tracking, and multitasking ability. Each task is performed simultaneously during the game, and Project Evo uses adaptive algorithms to assess differences in cognitive ability. Researchers have shown that children with Sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD improved with the help of the game. Now, Akili’s platform is used among others in a clinical trial in relation to this game and autism. In the future, both immersive reality and computer games could help children and adults with autism to improve their social skills and abilities.

With big data, A.I. and genetics for early detection and autism research

Digital tools have been found to be valuable in autism research and early detection, too. As experts are able to record speech, use transcription software and generate huge piles of data points, artificial intelligence algorithms can be used to find patterns and features in the datasets. Robert Schultz, director of the Center for Autism Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, has presented research that uses sensors to record facial movements, including head posture and eye movement, during a three-minute get-to-know-you conversation. This tool claims to be approximately 89 percent accurate at predicting autism.

In another example for the collaboration of big data and software for autism diagnostics, Maryland-based RightEye has developed a cloud-based eye-tracking technology system and software that aids physicians in quickly identifying early stages of autism in children 12 to 40 months old. The eye tracker is attached to the bottom of a large gaming screen, which reads eye movements so the software can interpret the reactions and generate an instant electronic report that is sent to the physician. The innovation enables doctors to diagnose autism as early as possible, which helps both physicians and parents support autistic children more successfully.

The joint efforts in genetics and big data for autism research are also worth considering. Autism Speaks announced in December 2014 that it will join with Google to form a groundbreaking genetics research program called MSSNG (pronounced MISSING). The name emphasizes how little scientists know about the causes of autism. MSSNG seeks to create a database of 10,000 genomes (the entire genetic code) of people with autism and Google said it will provide the technical resources to host the information in a virtual data “cloud”, while Google Genomics will create a unique interface where researchers around the world can access and analyze data for free.

Looking through the swarm of examples with augmented reality, virtual reality, apps, games or smart algorithms, it becomes visible that most of these technologies are still in the early phase of development or in research. The reason for that might be because the management of autism disorders is a ripe area for the use of digital health technologies, however, it might not be that lucrative for investors. They could say that children and adults with autism represent a niche market without significant growth potential.

However, that kind of attitude should never determine healthcare investment decisions, and we urge investors to support the development of technologies performing well in experimental cases. We also urge our followers to share technologies that could meaningfully support living with autism, as with publicity grows the chance for innovative solutions getting funded. We hope that the future will bring more and more technologies that could make the lives of people with autism disorders better and more enjoyable. We’ll do everything we can for that.

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