Increasing Access to Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddlers Through an Intervention to Promote Community Knowledge of EarliPoint
Project Description:
The proposed project will contribute to Goal 2, Objective A, and Goal 3, Objective A in the Nebraska Council's Five-Year State Plan Goals and Objectives. The purpose of the current proposal is to increase knowledge of EarliPoint, which is an FDA authorized device for assisting in diagnosing ASD in toddlers 16 to 30-months of age. Currently, ADC is considered an "earliadopter" of EarliPoint and is the only site in Nebraska where EarliPoint is being used clinically. EarliPoint is a new device and the first assessment for ASD that measures an objective biomarker for ASD (i.e., social visual engagement), rather than behavioral markers reported by caregivers or directly observed by clinicians. Social visual engagement is an objective biomarker that can help diagnose ASD and is what EarliPoint measures via eye tracking (Jones et al., 2023a, 2023b). Social visual engagement, or the way children attend to and learn from their social environment, is largely biologically driven (Constantino et al., 2017) and patterns of social visual engagement can be used to differentiate individuals with and without ASD with high degrees of accuracy (Jones et al., 2023a, 2023b). We will develop and present three different community facing presentations tailored for 1) medical providers, 2) early intervention/educational providers, and 3) families and parent resource coordinators. Presentations will describe the science behind EarliPoint, how to use EarliPoint, benefits and limitations of EarliPoint, why it is critically important to diagnose ASD in 16 to 30-month olds, and how EarliPoint can be incorporated into a brief assessment model. We will provide sixteen hybrid presentations (i.e., a combination of zoom and in-person available). We will assess participant knowledge of EarliPoint before and after the presentation, as well participant's acceptability of EarliPoint following the presentation. A web page will be created to house these presentations for the public, and information about the page will be disseminated via the MMI's social media accounts.
Keyword(s):
Mental/Behavioral Health – Autism, Clinical Care, Developmental Disabilities, Early Childhood – Developmental Health (including developmental screening), Early Childhood – General, Medical Home, Mental/Behavioral Health – General
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation, Continuing Education/Community Training, Demonstration Services
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
