The result is a set of telehealth tools described in a paper published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders that are designed to help clinicians diagnose autism remotely, especially for children who are older or have developed verbal communication skills.
Using video conferencing tools, clinicians guided parents through activities - such as calling a child's name or engaging in play - while observing how the child responded.
For older children, clinicians interacted directly with them through conversation and structured tasks.
The results were promising. One of the tools developed for children whose speech is limited to short phrases showed particularly high accuracy, while another designed for more verbally fluent children was effective in many cases but less consistent.
The study also found that parents were largely satisfied with telehealth assessments, suggesting the approach is both feasible and acceptable for families.
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