Harnessing the power of machine learning for earlier autism diagnosis

When Grayson Kollins was two and a half years old--just shortly after the birth of his younger sister--his parents noticed that he had all but stopped uttering the sentences and phrases that up until then he had been using to communicate. In addition, his daycare provider mentioned that Grayson had begun repeating phrases over and over, and lacked interest in playing with other children. Grayson's father Scott Kollins, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the School of Medicine at Duke, was well aware of the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the ability to socially interact and communicate with others. Although it usually manifests early in life, it is a lifelong condition and can have profound effects on learning, employment, and personal relationships. Prompted by these early symptoms, Grayson's parents subsequently had him assessed, and he received a clinical diagnosis of ASD.