Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is neurological disorder found majorly among the children, however it has no age or gender restriction. ASD is not a disease & doesn’t have any cure. This work is a case study which highlights the contribution of digital technologies such as ICT, IoT, Robotics and others in shaping the lives of autistic patients.

1. ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN
AUTISM: A CASE STUDY
Presented By:
Dr. Umme Salma M
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
1
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

2. AGENDA
 Introduction
 Types
 Characteristics
 Treatment
 Role of Digital Technology
Digital Media
Digital Devices
Digital Software
Digital Research
 Conclusion
2
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

3. INTRODUCTION
 Autism as a Syndrome: multiple disease entities
 Autism is a developmental syndrome:
 Common deficit: theory of mind
 1943- Kanner
 80% of cases began as “Infantile Autism”
 1% of general public under the Autism Spectrum
 Most often tend to be males
3
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

4. TYPES OF AUTISM
The three major types under ASD are:
 Autism
 Asperger’s Syndrome and
 Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
 Rett Syndrome
 Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
4
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

5. 5
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

6. AUTISM STATISTICS WORLDWIDE
6
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

7. AUTISM STATISTICS WORLDWIDE
7
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

8. 8
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

9. 9

10. PIONEERS IN THE STUDY OF AUTISM
10
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

11. 11
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

12. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA
 Severe abnormality of reciprocal social relatedness
 Severe abnormality of communication development
 Restricted, repetitive behavior, patterns of behavior,
interests, imagination
 Early onset (before 3-5 years)
12
 Is child’s eye-to-eye contact normal?
 Is he/she comforted by proximity/body contact?
 Does he/she often smile or laugh unexpectedly?
 Does he/she prefer to be left alone?
SCREENING MODEL FOR
INFANTILE AUTISM
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

13. SYSTEMATIC FEATURE EXAMINATION
 Not respond to their name by 12 months
 Not point at objects to show interest (point at an airplaneflying
over) by 14 months
 Not play "pretend"games (pretend to "feed" a doll)by 18 months
 Avoid eye contact and want to be alone
 Have troubleunderstandingother people's feelings or talking about
their own feelings
 Have delayed speech and language skills
 Repeat words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
 Give unrelatedanswers to questions
 Get upset by minor changes
 Have obsessive interests
 Flap their hands, rock their body, or spin in circles
 Have unusual reactionsto the way things sound, smell, taste, look,
or feel 13
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

14. FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR AUTISM
 Unfavorable pre, peri,
post-natal factors
 Cellular and
structural changes in
Limbic System
(amygdala,
cerebellum, and
hippocampus)
 L-hemi neural
substrates fail to
develop (loss lang.,
consciousness, motor
planning
 Locus Coerulus:
Mediates input from
senses
underdeveloped
 Low mercury levels
 Parental Health
 Genetics
14
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

15. PREFERRED AUTISM TREATMENT
 Behavioral modification and communication approaches
 Dietary and biomedical approaches
 Complementary approaches
15
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

16. BEHAVIORAL & COMMUNICATION
THERAPY
 Applied Behavior Analysis
 Rewarded behavior
 TEACCH
 Understand the world
 PECS
 Pic exchange
 Social Stories
 Theory of Mind
 Sensory Integration
16
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

17. BIOMEDICAL TREATMENTS
 Medications
 SerotoninRe-uptakeInhibitors
 Anti-PsychoticMedications
Risperidone
 Vitamins and Minerals
 Dietary Interventions
17
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

18. COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES
 Improving Communication Skills
 Music Therapy
 Speech Development
 Art Therapy
 Non-verbal, Symbolic Expression
 Animal Therapy
 Physical and Emotional Benefits
18
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

19. ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
 Role of Digital Media: (T.V, Webinars, Podcasts, Tele-chat, etc.)
 Role of Digital Devices: (Wearable devices)
 Role of Digital Softwares: (Games, Computer Aided Learning and other
Softwares)
 Role of Research: (IoT, Robotics and Machine Learning and AI)
19
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

20. CONTRIBUTION OF DIGITAL
MEDIA
 Role of Digital Media: (T.V, Webinars, Podcasts, Tele-chat, etc.)
 TV Shows : ‘Autism Show’, ‘The Good Doctor’, ‘Tumhari Antra’
 podcasts : ‘Atypical’
 Webinars: ‘Guardianship’
 Chatshow: ‘Autism Society’
20
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

21. CONTRIBUTION OF DIGITAL
DEVICES
 Role of Digital Media: (Wearable Devices, IoT sensors, Smart watches)
 Google launched a product for ASD children and called it as ‘Superpower
Glass’ (SG).
 wearable chest belt was designed which was used to record ECG
 ‘Theora Connect’ which is an autism bracelet designed for ASD patients.
21
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

22. CONTRIBUTION OF DIGITAL
SOFTWARES
 Role of Digital Softwares: (Games, Computer Aided Learning and other
Softwares)
 A game controller called ‘Digital Squeezeball’ was designed to manage
anxiety in ASD patients.
 Computer Aided Learning (CAL)
 Sony PlayStation introduced Eye-Toy; a platform developed using low-cost
video capture Virtual Reality (VR).
 Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), Wii, DiamondTouch Table and Kinect were
developed to help train the autistic people to improve their balancing,
communication and motor skills.
22
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

23. CONTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH
 Role of Digital Research: (IoT, Robotics and Machine Learning and Artificial
Intelligence (ML&AI)
 IOT: ‘Theora Connect’, ‘Digital Squeeze Ball’
 ROBOTICS: Masarow D.W & etal developed KASPAR is a child-sized robot that
was developed to use bodily movements and facial expressions and gestures
to interact with the children
 Robins, B & et al compared performance of A small humanoid doll & a
‘Theatrical Robot’ with autistic kids
 ML & AI: Role of AI in learning SNP features by Ghafouri F& etal.
 The over‐pruning hypothesis of autism by Thomas and et al
23
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

24. 24

25. 25
Results obtained by various techniques for binary
classification of Autistic data.

26. CONCLUSION
 Autism is a spectrum Disorder
 Prevailingall over the world
 Autistics lack an essential element of consciousness-Theory
of Mind
 Digital Technology has found to be a boon to the Autistic
Patients
 Digital Sensors monitor physical and bio-chemical changes
in autistic patients.
 Digital Softwares assist in communication and learning
 Digital media spreads awareness
 Digital research unveils new findings related to Autism that
helps in addressingthe problems from different
perspectives and finding new solution
26
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

27. REFERENCES
 Autism Society of America. <http:// www.autism-society.org>.
 Autism Webinars: https://www.autismsociety-
nc.org/asncwebinar/guardianship/
 Autism Show: http://autismshow.org/
 Digital Autism Apps: https://learningworksforkids.com/apps/choiceworks/
 Springer Autism Journal: ] https://www.springer.com/journal/10803
 Wiley Autism Journal: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19393806
 https://theoracare.com/wearable-device-for-autism-patients/
 Defining socially assistive robotics. In 9th International Conference on
Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. ICORR 2005. (pp. 465-468). IEEE.
 Massaro, D. W., & Bosseler, A. (2006). Read my lips: The importance of the
face in a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary learning by children with
autism. Autism, 10(5), 495-510.
 Massaro, D. W., & Bosseler, A. (2006). Read my lips: The importance of the
face in a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary learning by children with
autism. Autism, 10(5), 495-510.
27
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

28. REFERENCES CON.
 Robins, B., Dautenhahn, K., & Dickerson, P
. (2009, February). From isolation to
communication: a case study evaluation of robot assisted play for children with
autism with a minimally expressive humanoid robot. In Advances in Computer-
Human Interactions, 2009. ACHI'09. Second International Conferences on (pp. 205-
211). IEEE.
 Chen, W. (2012). Multitouch tabletop technology for people with autism spectrum
disorder: A review of the literature. Procedia Computer Science, 14, 198-207.
 Wass, S. V., & Porayska-Pomsta, K. (2014). The uses of cognitive training
technologies in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 18(8), 851-871.
 Thomas, M. S., Davis, R., Karmiloff‐Smith,A., Knowland, V. C., & Charman, T.
(2016). The over‐pruning hypothesis of autism. Developmental Science, 19(2), 284-
305.
 Ghafouri-Fard, S., Taheri, M., Omrani, M. D., Daaee, A., Mohammad-Rahimi, H., &
Kazazi, H. (2019). Application of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the diagnosis of
autism spectrum disorders: a preliminary study with artificial neural
networks. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, 68(4), 515-521.
 Rand, D., Kizony, R., & Weiss, P
. T. L. (2008). The Sony PlayStation II EyeToy: low-
cost virtual reality for use in rehabilitation. Journal of neurologic physical therapy,
32(4), 155-163.
28
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.

29. 29
International Conference on Advances in Business, Commerce & Information Technology Organized by theDepartment of
Computer Applications, Management & Commerce on 30th July, 2020.