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/ZoeBlade Jan 30 '25

Here, try some of these tests as a rough guide. You can also browse autistic subreddits and see if they seem more like your kind of people -- there tends to be a bit of communication friction between many autistic and non-autistic people, so if you get along with us better, that itself can be a clue. Similarly, if you already have autistic friends, that's probably a sign.

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u/cbrworm Jan 30 '25

Great. Now I'm autistic.

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u/ZoeBlade Jan 30 '25

I'd recommend the various autistic subreddits if you'd like to know the particulars of what that means, plus my DMs are open if that helps. It can take some getting used to, but it's quite a journey of discovery for sure. "Wait, you mean most people don't struggle with that? All this time I just thought I wasn't trying hard enough..."