Reading the Research: Diagnosis by Video Game

Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.

Today's article is perhaps a look into what future diagnostic options might include.  

When I was given my autism diagnosis, it was after literal hours of testing.  I did something like nine tests, many of which were apparently just to map out my capabilities.  It was, suffice it to say, exhausting.  Funnily enough, they did an attention span and reflex test right at the end, which... we'll just say I didn't score well and leave it at that.  

The point is, the testing was an ordeal.  It was 4+ hours, left me exhausted, and by the end, probably wasn't giving me fair results.  Also, it was expensive, but I was privileged enough to be on my parents' (very good) insurance at the time, so the cost didn't matter so much.    

Y'know what's way cheaper than hours of a PhD holder's time?  Video games.  Presumably designed by PhDs.  

This particular iteration is just an extremely simple platformer, which I suppose at least reduces your chances of interference from a visual processing disability (such as mine) interfering.  You pilot a raccoon as it jumps over holes in the terrain.  The size of the holes varies, as does the terrain and the speed of the raccoon.

I suppose this particular diagnosis (ADHD, which is often co-diagnosed with autism and shares many of the same traits) might be low-hanging fruit.  ADHD is primarily a difference in attention behaviors, which could theoretically be measured with a timer and anything you need to pay attention to.  

Still, I lowkey love the idea.  While I don't see it 100% replacing a battery of diagnosis tests, it could replace the screening phase, which is sometimes the first visit to a professional... or an online test of dubious credibility.  And it could do it remotely, in less than 10 minutes, on nearly any computer or smart phone.

Something of note here is that the sample size for their experiment was quite low.  Likely, it was what's called a "sample of convenience," meaning it was whoever happened to be around and already connected with the organization.  32 children, all but three of which were male, and all of which were on medication, doesn't seem terribly representative.  There was also no control group.

I mention the lack of control group for a very specific reason.  I actually really wonder how a neurotypical control group would fare on this test.  You see, with the advent of the Internet, attention spans in the general population have decreased rather significantly.  So I really wonder how people in general would have scored...

Regardless, it's a cool idea, if a very simple one.  

(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)