r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jan 30 '25

Neuroscience A low-cost tool accurately distinguishes neurotypical children from children with autism just by watching them copy the dance moves of an on-screen avatar for a minute. It can even tell autism from ADHD, conditions that commonly overlap.

https://newatlas.com/adhd-autism/autism-motion-detection-diagnosis/
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u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science Jan 30 '25

Does it work for adults? I was never tested as a child (back in the 1960s) but have long suspected..

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u/thanatossassin Jan 30 '25

I don't believe so. I feel like adults aren't as compelled to imitate dances they see on a screen as children are.

Self diagnosis is difficult for adults, since it requires another's perspective to identify atypical behaviors. If you yourself are comfortable fidgeting with your shirt a certain way, how would you know that's an atypical behavior unless someone told you? And even then, that's just one behavior (diagnosis requires multiple behaviors), and you could counter with them being the atypical ones because that is your perspective, but that also pairs with difficulty of receiving criticism, which is another ASD behavior.

Again, very complicated. Best to arrange an appointment with your doctor to see a specialist.

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u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science Jan 30 '25

I did an online 50 question test earlier where the test literature said that a score of 32+ was achieved by about 80% of autistic people and about 2% of others. I scored 36. My fear with such tests is that (for me at least) there's always a tendency to put the answer you think they want, rather than an accurate response. Particularly when the accurate response is 'Meh - I don't know' and that's not one of the options.

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u/thanatossassin Jan 30 '25

Very true. Hoping you can get a proper diagnosis one day. I'm trying to navigate a discussion with my brother, whom I believe is clearly on the spectrum and has a very hard time discussing it without taking it as criticism and becoming argumentative.