START

The START project aim was to develop a mobile modular open-source platform for early detection of autism risk by non-specialist health-workers in low resource settings. Results from the field study in India using the app are available here. Results from some of the individual components of START are available here and here. The code for this app is available here for free.

The initial phase of the project was supported by the Medical Research Council UK Global Challenge Research Fund, and focused on India.  The START platform uses a combination of parent report and direct child assessment to detect autism risk in children aged 2-5 years. The tablet based assessment includes several small tests, questionnaires, and observations, briefly described here.

START is now part of the STREAM platform, which assesses different domains of neurodevelopment in children between the ages of 0 and 6 years in India and Malawi.