title: Sensing Technologies for Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Intervention.
abstract: This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in sensing technologies that are relevant for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screening and therapy. This disorder is characterized by difficulties in social communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. It is diagnosed during the first three years of life. Early and intensive interventions have been shown to improve the developmental trajectory of the affected children. The earlier the diagnosis, the sooner the intervention therapy can begin, thus, making early diagnosis an important research goal. Technological innovations have tremendous potential to assist with early diagnosis and improve intervention programs. The need for careful and methodological evaluation of such emerging technologies becomes important in order to assist not only the therapists and clinicians in their selection of suitable tools, but to also guide the developers of the technologies in improving hardware and software. In this paper, we survey the literatures on sensing technologies for ASD and we categorize them into eye trackers, movement trackers, electrodermal activity monitors, tactile sensors, vocal prosody and speech detectors, and sleep quality assessment devices. We assess their effectiveness and study their limitations. We also examine the challenges faced by this growing field that need to be addressed before these technologies can perform up to their theoretical potential.
authors.affiliation: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar. john.cabibihan@qu.edu.qa.
authors.forename: John-John
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cabibihan
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA. hifzajaved1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hifza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Javed
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Neurology, Cleveland Clinic, and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. ALDOSAM@ccf.org.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aldosari
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Pediatric Institute, Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. FRAZIET2@ccf.org.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.affiliation: Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. hoelbashir@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Haitham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elbashir
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012984:Software; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; electrodermal activity monitors; eye trackers; movement trackers; prosody and speech detectors; sleep quality assessment; social robotics; tactile sensing