Skip to main content

Towards a Novel Machine Learning and Hybrid Questionnaire Based Approach for Early Autism Detection

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Key Digital Trends in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (ICDLAIR 2022)

Abstract

An early detection of the autism spectrum disorder is an element in favor of a better management of the autistic child and allows to expect better results in terms of independence and acquisition of social skills. It is therefore crucial to identify autism as early as possible. Usually, traditional techniques like questionnaires are used for autism screening. These methods relies mainly on the expertise and empirical knowledge of psychiatrists and are known to exaggerate results, leading to a high false positive rate. In this paper we address this problem by proposing a novel screening method for autism based on combining machine learning and questionnaire hybridization techniques in order to improve the screening accuracy. After testing several machine learning models including SVM and random forest trees on a locally collected dataset, an accuracy of 97.5% has been achieved. These results are promising and incite to deepen and concretize this study as well as its generalization on other neurodevelopmental disorders.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lord, C., Risi, S., DiLavore, P.S., Shulman, C., Thurm, A., Pickles, A.: Autism from 2 to 9 years of age. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 63(6), 694–701 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Autor, Washington, DC, 5th edn. (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  3. The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: diagnostic criteria for research. World Health Organization (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Maenner, M.J., Shaw, K.A., Baio, J., et al.: Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years-autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, united states, 2016. MMWR Surveill. Summ. 69(4), 1 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Berument, S.K., Rutter, M., Lord, C., Pickles, A., Bailey, A.: Autism screening questionnaire: diagnostic validity. Br. J. Psychiatry 175(5), 444–451 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Carbone, P.S., et al.: Primary care autism screening and later autism diagnosis. Pediatrics 146(2) (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Marlow, M., Servili, C., Tomlinson, M.: A review of screening tools for the identification of autism spectrum disorders and developmental delay in infants and young children: recommendations for use in low-and middle-income countries. Autism Res. 12(2), 176–199 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Robins, D.L., Casagrande, K., Barton, M., Chen, C.M.A., Dumont-Mathieu, T., Fein, D.: Validation of the modified checklist for autism in toddlers, revised with follow-up (m-chat-r/f). Pediatrics 133(1), 37–45 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Magiati, I., Goh, D.A., Lim, S.J., Gan, D.Z.Q., Leong, J., Allison, C., Baron-Cohen, S., Rifkin-Graboi, A., Broekman, B.P., Saw, S.M., et al.: The psychometric properties of the quantitative-checklist for autism in toddlers (q-chat) as a measure of autistic traits in a community sample of singaporean infants and toddlers. Molecular Autism 6(1), 1–14 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bone, D., Bishop, S.L., Black, M.P., Goodwin, M.S., Lord, C., Narayanan, S.S.: Use of machine learning to improve autism screening and diagnostic instruments: effectiveness, efficiency, and multi-instrument fusion. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 57(8), 927–937 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wall, D.P., Kosmicki, J., Deluca, T., Harstad, E., Fusaro, V.A.: Use of machine learning to shorten observation-based screening and diagnosis of autism. Transl. Psychiatry 2(4), e100–e100 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Büyükoflaz, F.N., Öztürk, A.: Early autism diagnosis of children with machine learning algorithms. In: 2018 26th Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference (SIU), pp. 1–4. IEEE (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Shahamiri, S.R., Thabtah, F.: Autism ai: a new autism screening system based on artificial intelligence. Cogn. Comput. 12(4), 766–777 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Allison, C., Auyeung, B., Baron-Cohen, S.: Toward brief “red flags’’ for autism screening: the short autism spectrum quotient and the short quantitative checklist in 1,000 cases and 3,000 controls. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolescent Psychiatry 51(2), 202–212 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Allison, C., Williams, J., Scott, F., Stott, C., Bolton, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Brayne, C.: The childhood asperger syndrome test (cast) test-retest reliability in a high scoring sample. Autism 11(2), 173–185 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Dereu, M., Warreyn, P., Raymaekers, R., Meirsschaut, M., Pattyn, G., Schietecatte, I., Roeyers, H.: Screening for autism spectrum disorders in flemish day-care centres with the checklist for early signs of developmental disorders. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 40(10), 1247–1258 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Swinkels, S.H., Dietz, C., van Daalen, E., Kerkhof, I.H., van Engeland, H., Buitelaar, J.K.: Screening for autistic spectrum in children aged 14 to 15 months. i: the development of the early screening of autistic traits questionnaire (esat). J. Autism Developmental Disorders 36(6), 723–732 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Smith, N.J., Sheldrick, R.C., Perrin, E.C.: An abbreviated screening instrument for autism spectrum disorders. Infant Ment. Health J. 34(2), 149–155 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Allison, C., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Charman, T., Richler, J., Pasco, G., Brayne, C.: The q-chat (quantitative checklist for autism in toddlers): a normally distributed quantitative measure of autistic traits at 18–24 months of age: preliminary report. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 38(8), 1414–1425 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ghuman, J.K., Leone, S.L., Lecavalier, L., Landa, R.J.: The screen for social interaction (ssi): a screening measure for autism spectrum disorders in preschoolers. Res. Dev. Disabil. 32(6), 2519–2529 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Perera, H., Jeewandara, K.C., Seneviratne, S., Guruge, C.: Culturally adapted pictorial screening tool for autism spectrum disorder: a new approach. World J. Clin. Pediatrics 6(1), 45 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Turner-Brown, L.M., Baranek, G.T., Reznick, J.S., Watson, L.R., Crais, E.R.: The first year inventory: a longitudinal follow-up of 12-month-old to 3-year-old children. Autism 17(5), 527–540 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., Pal, D.K.: Likert scale: explored and explained. British J. Appl. Sci. Technol. 7(4), 396 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sid Ahmed Hadri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Hadri, S.A., Bouramoul, A. (2023). Towards a Novel Machine Learning and Hybrid Questionnaire Based Approach for Early Autism Detection. In: Troiano, L., Vaccaro, A., Kesswani, N., Díaz Rodriguez, I., Brigui, I., Pastor-Escuredo, D. (eds) Key Digital Trends in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. ICDLAIR 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 670. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30396-8_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics