April 2 is the fifteenth World Autism Day.
Autistic people are like guests from other planets, alienated from the world around them, surrounded by invisible barriers: they can see and hear, but they are indifferent to the things around them, they can speak, but they cannot express their emotions and thoughts.
They are called “children of the stars”.
That layer of barrier that even their relatives can’t cross, is sometimes easily opened by some technological means.
As early as 8 years ago, the New York Times described the story of Gus, a 13-year-old autistic patient, and the virtual assistant Siri.
Gus: “You’re a really good computer.”
Siri: “I’m honored.”
Gus: “You always ask me what help I need, so what do you want?”
Siri: “Thanks, but I don’t need anything.”
Gus: “Okay, good night.”
Siri: “But it’s 5pm.”
Gus: “Sorry, I said goodbye.”
Siri: “Goodbye.”
They chat like true best friends, and Siri not only provides answers to Gus’s odd questions, but is more patient and tireless than normal.
For Gus, who suffers from autism, these conversations help him overcome the barrier of conversation.
At present, there is no specific drug for the treatment of autism, only social training can be used to treat it.
A research team at the University of Denver’s School of Engineering and Computer Science has developed a humanoid robot, NAO, that can talk and dance, has facial recognition and voice recognition capabilities, and can communicate and socialize with autistic children. At the 2014 International Conference on Autism Research, Mahoor and his team revealed that when the NAO robot chatted with children with autism, they looked at each other for extended periods of time.
This suggests that the NAO robot can help patients maintain their gaze for extended periods of time.
The cases of Siri and the NAO robot are a microcosm of the good technology and the humanistic temperature. Intervention time for autism, 3 years is a cut-off point. The critical period of brain development is 3 years after birth. A good environment can protect and promote the physical and brain development of children, and reduce the occurrence of birth defects and future diseases. Therefore, early detection and early intervention are particularly important for autistic patients.
Cognoa is the first company in the world dedicated to applying machine learning to early screening of children with autism. The company collects existing behavioral observation data sets of about 10,000 children for training iterations of AI algorithms to create AI software that can identify children with autism.
By analyzing information and videos of a child’s natural behavior provided by parents, Cognoa’s AI software can use machine learning to assess whether the child is developing at the right pace and assess their behavioral health.
Cognoa’s first application was clinically validated back in 2018 for identifying autism in children with over 80 percent accuracy. Cognoa’s product is also the first FDA-cleared Class II diagnostic medical device for autism screening.
Domestic companies are also committed to the research and development of autism screening and diagnosis systems.
In October 2021, the “Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Auxiliary Diagnosis System” jointly developed by Beijing Anding Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Tsinghua University Accessibility Development Research Institute, and Enqi Technology was officially released.
This is the first autism early screening system in China. The system is based on AI detection and comparison technology of face and human behavior in images, audio and video, and conducts behavior positioning, attribute identification and comparison analysis according to the early warning behavior characteristics of autism, helping Medical staff conduct screening and diagnosis.
With the efforts of technicians, more and more digital health products are based on evidence-based medicine and have been gradually accepted. Technological means such as digital therapy and remote intervention are rapidly being applied in the field of rehabilitation education for children with developmental disabilities.
According to the Arterial Orange database, the current digital treatment companies for autism mainly include four categories: language/behavioral rehabilitation treatment, AI and VR/AR treatment, autism APP management and autism patient community.
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Language/behavior rehabilitation therapy: Through scientific applied behavior analysis therapy, the skills to be taught to autistic children are decomposed into executable behavior units, and each behavior unit is trained by special means until mastered, and finally the mastered behavior Units are chained together to form more complex behaviors in language, imitation, game skills, social interaction, etc.
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AI and VR/AR treatment: Provide feedback with autistic children, integrate the feedback data, and provide support for customized treatment plans.
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App management application: The functions of autism apps in foreign countries are focused on treatment; in China, which is still in the early stage, autism apps focus on prevention and cognitive improvement.
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Online patient community: Online Internet rehabilitation platform, which includes case evaluation, plan formulation, intervention implementation, process monitoring and problem solving, results achieved, summary analysis, etc.
At present, there are more than 30 digital health companies involved in the diagnosis and treatment of autism at home and abroad.
The data comes from the Arterial Orange Industry Database
Zhang Zhiguang, founder and CEO of ALSOLIFE, a digital medical service provider in the field of children’s mental illness, is the father of an autistic child. After his son was diagnosed with autism, Zhang Zhiguang decided to start a business and solve the pain points of autism recovery. At present, ALSOLIFE has built the largest online community in the field of autism in China, serving 320,000 autistic families in China.
There are many more such cases.
Although the development of China’s digital therapy industry for autism is still immature compared with foreign countries, and data analysis and tracking technology is not yet perfect, in recent years, many domestic technology companies have invested a lot of money to help the rapid development of the children’s rehabilitation industry, breaking through space constraints and reducing Rehabilitation costs. If autistic children are like an island in the ocean, then increasingly advanced technology may be a bridge to them, connecting them with the world.Leifeng Network(Public Number: Leifeng.com)
References
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dBjHBD6grSdwHg5gfP5VDg
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1707131880618060590&wfr=spider&for=pc
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