Establishing objective measures for identifying children with Autism Spectrum Disorders using eye-tracking technology in the UK and India (360G-Wellcome-204706_Z_16_Z)

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) contribute significantly to total years lived with disability globally. Most people with ASD in low-income countries are belatedly or never diagnosed, mainly due to the paucity of mental health specialists - hence critical years for treatment are missed. Objective measures for ASD detection are needed. Multiple cognitive markers of ASD have been identified using eye-tracking technology; testing these markers in combination holds promise for effective identification of children with ASD. This proposal aims to establish objective measures for identifying children with ASD using eye-tracking technology in high and low-income settings. Stage 1 will analyse existing eye-tracking data from the British Autism Study of Infant Siblings, to establish a combination of eye-tracking tasks that has the highest probability of identifying children with an ASD diagnosis. Stage 2 will be a case control pilot study to determine whether the same combination of markers identifies children with an ASD diagnosis in India. The feasibility and acceptability of these eye-tracking tasks will also be assessed in an Indian context. Establishing effective, acceptable and feasible methods for objectively identifying children with ASD will improve detection in these settings and translate into a greater number of children benefiting from early interventions worldwide.