Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder via Assistive Tools

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a challenging developmental condition that involves restricted and/or repetitive behaviors and persistent challenges in social interaction and speech and nonverbal communication. There is not a standard medical test used to diagnose ASD; therefore, diagnosis is made by looking at the child's developmental history and behavior. In recent years, due to the increase in diagnosed cases of ASD, researchers proposed software-based tools to aid in and expedite the diagnosis. Considering the fact that most of these tools rely on the use of classifiers, in study, random forest, decision tree, k-nearest neighbors, and zero rule algorithms are used as classifiers, and their performances are compared using well-known performance metrics. As proven in the study, random forest algorithm can provide higher accuracy than the others in the classification of ASD and can be integrated into a computer- or humanoid-robot-based system for automated prescreening and diagnosis of ASD in preschool children groups.