Finding Autism through Voice
Have you seen this study? Supposedly it is possible to tell if a child has Autism just by their voice. While this is very interesting I don’t see what purpose it has. I think we could be spending money on Autism research in much better ways.
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/21/voice-analysis-may-help-id-autism-early/?hpt=T2
I understand that it can help diagnose earlier and get Early Intervention started right away, which you know I am a huge proponent of. But here’s my thought. Most people I know who have a child on the spectrum got early intervention before age 3, a perfect time to start. If a child shows enough symptoms that a parent would have them evaluated by a school or developmental pediatrician, then that’s enough. I don’t think having this technology will make a difference. The parents that are either ignoring the problems, I know plenty and I am not judging, just making the point, or the ones that honestly just don’t know, are not going to think, “hmmm, I am not going to get my child evaluated, but let’s try this voice thing randomly.” Are they going to do this test with all children? If not, what’s the point?
Just get your child evaluated by a professional if you have concerns. And if you haven’t picked up on the symptoms, your child doesn’t show symptoms, or you are blissfully ignoring that your child needs help (once again I am not judging – seriously – to each his own), then you probably won’t get either done anyway.
What are your thoughts? I guess I just don’t get it, but am very open to hearing other opinions.
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@abigator85@xanga – Those are some great points. After I posted this I received a lot of great comments that opened my eyes to the possibilities of it. Using it in places without qualified professionals is definitely a plus. My thoughts were more along the lines of people who aren’t having their kids tested anyway, for whatever their reasons are, wouldn’t use this either! Unless it was mandatory at all dr. visits.
Thanks for your helpful comments!!!
I think this type of study is really promising. The article about it is pretty clear that it’s not ready to be used for mass screening right now, but in the future it could be a good way to get screening really cheaply, especially in places where there are shortages of trained professionals to do evaluations. Ideally, everyone would have the access to professionals, time, and money to get a proper evaluation- but until that’s a reality, these easy screenings would be great.