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/spotolux Jan 30 '25

I'm curious about this too. I'm 55 and have always been extremely shy and socially awkward. I have 3 children, 2 have ASD diagnosis and 2 ADHD diagnosis. A few years ago after a coworker began treatment for ADHD I was assessed and diagnosed with ADHD. Then last year my father in his 70s went to be assessed for ADHD and ended up being diagnosed with ASD.

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u/ZoeBlade Jan 30 '25

There's a very good chance you're also autistic, yes. As you've no doubt gathered, it runs in families. It's never too late to look into. I only figured it out myself a few years ago, in my forties, and just wearing noise-cancelling headphones has helped me a lot. These are also accommodations you're not depriving anyone else of, what with buying them yourself, and that you don't even need to verify you're autistic to try out -- if it improves your quality of life, that's a good thing, regardless of why.

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u/retrosenescent Feb 01 '25

I love that you show up any time autism is talked about. I love reading your thoughts and perspective

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u/ZoeBlade Feb 02 '25

Thanks! I just want other people to learn, as my partner and I did, not to be so hard on ourselves. We spent so long thinking "Other people can push through and do these things, why can't we?" and the answer turned out to be that they weren't struggling in the first place, and didn't have anything to push through. It's pretty surprising to learn in your forties that you were born disabled, and just never realised all this time, though it explains a lot.