The way you – and perhaps your child – grasp objects could reveal whether you have autism, a study suggests.
Scientists based the test on slight differences they observed in the way people with autism performed a physical task compared to people without autism.
The test, which takes just two minutes, involves analyzing finger movements while grasping an object, and is said to have an accuracy of 85 percent.
To create the test, people with and without autism were instructed to use their thumb and index finger – where tracking devices were placed – to grasp blocks of different sizes.
They were then instructed to lift each block and place it back in the same spot, before returning their hand to the starting position.
The researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze in detail the participants' finger movements during these grasping actions.
Analyzing the data, they found that participants without autism adjusted their grip size more accurately depending on the size of the object.
In contrast, individuals with autism took longer to complete the grasping movement compared to their counterparts without autism.
The study's lead author, Professor Erez Freud, a psychology expert at York University in Canada, said the test's accuracy was surprising.
“Our models were able to identify autism with about 85 percent accuracy, which suggests that this approach could provide simpler and more scalable tools for diagnosis,” he said.
In addition to challenges in communication and social interaction, people with autism often experience motor difficulties – problems with body movement such as hand-eye coordination – which appear in early childhood.
The researchers behind the new test, who published their findings in the journal Autism Research, said that observing these motor movements offers another and perhaps faster way to diagnose patients.
Professor Freud said: "Our findings add to the growing literature suggesting that fine motor patterns can provide valuable diagnostic cues - something that is not yet widely exploited in clinical practice." GazetaExpress reports.
The two groups in the study – those with autism and those without it – were matched for age and intelligence level.
Young adults were used instead of children to avoid any influence of delayed development on the study results, but the authors suggested that the test could also be used in children.
Currently, the diagnosis of autism in the NHS (National Health Service in the United Kingdom) varies depending on whether the patient is a child or an adult.
For children suspected of having this disorder, doctors can observe them directly and see how they interact and play with others.
Adult patients are asked to complete a questionnaire to assess possible symptoms of autism.
This might include questions like: “Do you notice small sounds that others don’t hear?” or “Do you have difficulty understanding people’s emotions from their faces?”
Doctors may also interview people who knew the patient in childhood to find out if they had symptoms earlier.
It is estimated that over 700,000 adults and children in the UK have been diagnosed with autism.
However, nearly 130,000 children under the age of 18 in England were still waiting for an assessment in December 2024, according to NHS data.
It is not yet known exactly what causes autism, but sometimes it is inherited in families.
People are born with it, although it may not be noticeable until childhood – or sometimes much later.
Typical signs of autism include communication difficulties, lack of emotional intelligence, high sensitivity to certain situations, and repetitive behaviors.
Autism exists on a broad spectrum – some people can live completely independently without additional assistance, while others may need constant assistance.
An "explosion" of autism cases has been reported in the United Kingdom in recent years.
Some experts attribute this increase to growing awareness of the disorder.
This has led to a "backlog" of cases, especially in women and girls, who were previously diagnosed less frequently.
Some experts have raised concerns about a kind of "Wild West" in autism assessment processes in England, suggesting there may even be overdiagnosis.
Last year, a study showed that adults referred for autism assessment at some centers had an 85 percent chance of being diagnosed with the disorder.
Meanwhile, in some other areas, this percentage was only 35 percent, according to researchers at University College London.
According to the World Health Organization, approximately one in 100 children in the world has autism.
Meanwhile, a 2021 Newcastle University study suggests that in the UK, around one in 57 children is autistic. Also in 2021, experts found that autism diagnoses in England had increased at an “exponential” rate of 787 percent in 20 years. /Express newspaper/
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