Research Team At University Of Strathclyde Discovered That iPad Games Can Identify Autism

Strathclyde University researchers in Glasgow, Scotland have identified an early sign of autism in children using game apps on iPad and smart phones. This research is a major breakthrough for early identification of autism as no hassle and costly tests by clinicians are required, according to Dr. Jonathan Delafield - Butt, one of the researchers.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become a growing problem nowadays and often takes health care providers a long time before the disorder can be identified. But now a breakthrough research on kids with ASD has been made by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland using iPad for the very first time to identify early signs of autism in children. The findings of the research were posted in the Scientific Reports.

Dr. Jonathan Delafield - Butt said: "Early detection is important as this can allow parents and children to gain access to a range of services support." When autism is identified early, challenges associated with it can be reduced.

For the research, the researchers used iPads that include movement sensors and touch screens to assess 37 kids with autism ages 3 - 6 years old and 45 kids ages 4 - 7 years old without autism. They asked the kids to play games on iPad in order to gather touchscreen and movement sensor data while the kids played. Then after collecting the data, they compared the two findings - findings from kids without autism and findings from kids with autism. Subsequently, researchers found out that children with autism used more force and strength on touchscreens compared to kids without autism.

According to a report in DisabilityScoop, Dr. Jonathan Delafield - Butt said that the main difference is the way kids with autism move their hands as they swipe, touch and motion with the iPad during the game. He also added that the findings of the research add new motivation to an increasing scientific knowledge that gesture is basically disrupted in autism, and might reinforce the disorder.