Autism is a spectrum of developmental disabilities impacting social skills, language processing, cognition and other functions. The UofL tool has been shown to be 98.5% accurate in diagnosing kids as young as two, which could give doctors more time to intervene with potentially life-changing therapy. Their results were published in the journal .

“Therapy could be the difference between an individual needing full-time care and being independent, holding a job and living a fulfilled life,” said Ayman El-Baz, a co-inventor and professor and chair in the . He developed the technology with Gregory Barnes and Manuel Casanova of the UofL .

shows therapy can have the most impact if done in early childhood, when the brain is more elastic. However, currently, and even fewer are diagnosed by age eight. The problem, the researchers say, is one of supply and demand — there are too many patients and too few specialists to conduct the interviews and examinations needed for diagnosis.

“As a result, there’s an urgent need for a new, objective technology that can help us diagnose kids early,” said Barnes, a professor of neurology and executive director of the . “We think our tool can help fill that need, while providing more objectivity over the current interview method.”

With the UofL technology, AI can make the initial diagnosis, which researchers think could reduce specialist workload by as much as 30%. The specialist would meet later with the patient to confirm the diagnosis and talk about next steps.

The UofL technology works by using AI to analyze magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for differences and abnormal connections that may indicate autism. Tested against scans of 226 children between the ages of 24 and 48 months, the technology was able to identify the 120-some children with autism with near perfect accuracy.

By looking at the physical structures of the brain rather than using interviews, researchers believe they can make diagnoses more objective and target the specific parts of the brain that may benefit most from therapy.

“The idea is that by drawing from both medicine and engineering, we can come up with a better solution that improves lives,” said Mohamed Khudri, a undergraduate student and author on the paper.

The diagnostic technology and intellectual property received support through . That includes the office’s suite of innovation programs, aimed at developing research-backed inventions for market, including the prestigious national Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program through the National Science Foundation. UofL is one of only a handful of universities nationwide to have each of these programs — and it’s the only one to have them all.

Rowlett is pursuing her doctoral degree in special education through the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development and says it is the only path she could have imagined pursuing.

“After I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I went right into teaching and taught in a self-contained classroom for eight years,” Rowlett said. “I switched to special education because I have a son who was diagnosed with autism, so it became my life. I wanted to help other moms like me.”

Initially inspired to improve the curriculum and instruction for students in her own classroom, Rowlett returned to UofL to receive her master’s degree in special education with a focus in autism studies.

“I pursued that degree just to make myself a better classroom teacher because I felt like there was more I could be doing for my students,” she said.

Rowlett’s focus narrowed as her own child progressed through the traditional school system.

“My son attempted college but was not successful on his first try. He is working now, and it took time to find a job that was supportive of him,” Rowlett said. “And it was hard watching him feel like he was failing. A lot of times, I had to remind him, ‘The world is not ready for people like you.’ So, I’m back in school to help prepare the world to be ready for people like him.”

In her seventh year of teaching, Rowlett began to consider the opportunity of returning to pursue her doctoral degree.

“I ran into one of my son’s teachers, and she said, ‘Well, now that your son has graduated, what are you going to do for yourself?’ Moms don’t really think like that,” she said. “Like, what? For myself?”

But the seed had been planted. So, when she learned of a grant through the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development’s Department of Special ����ֱ��, Early Childhood, and Prevention Science called Project P.U.R.P.L.E, she knew she had found an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

Project P.U.R.P.L.E. (Preparing Urban and Rural Personnel as Leaders in ����ֱ��) is a cooperative partnership between the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky that provides full tuition and other benefits for students pursuing doctoral degrees in education.

Rowlett has also been recognized as an a program housed within the . This program provides mentorship, peer support and professional development to education doctoral students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Through her studies, Rowlett has narrowed her focus to transition planning and the creation of engaging and supportive environments for students with autism. The impact of her education has begun to extend through both her personal and professional lives.

“My son’s employers often draw off my experiences and ask for my professional advice. I just had a phone call from my cousin, who is also a special educator and wanted me to come talk to his neighbor who has a son on the autism spectrum who needs help with transition services,” she said.

Rowlett’s eyes are on the future and the many ways she sees herself making an impact in education.

“My dream is to help create policies and procedures that streamline the transition process for students and their families,” she said. “It’s never going to be perfect because the world is ever changing, but I really want to streamline these processes so that parents aren’t frustrated and left in the dark, and so that these individuals with unique needs can be successful.”

“” combines informative online modules with a virtual roundtable discussion. The roundtable discussion is scheduled for March 16, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Any faculty or staff member may sign up .

Featured in the training are Heidi Cooley-Cook, assistant director, and Mike Miller, family field training coordinator, of the , and Colleen Martin, director of UofL’s .

“We currently have 40 students who are receiving support from the DRC,” Cooley-Cook said. She added that a total of about 333 students enrolled in fall 2020 identify as having ASD — a number that is expected to continue to grow.��

KATC is a university-based program with a legislative mandate to enhance outcomes for Kentuckians with ASD. It is a statewide resource for families and educators. The DRC provides support for UofL students with documented disabilities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 88 traditional college-age individuals in the United States identify as having ASD. But the CDC also estimates that by 2022, that number will increase to 1 in 59. The CDC defines ASD as “a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.”

While coping with the transition from high school to college can be challenging for many incoming students, for those with ASD, these challenges may be amplified. The modules combined with a Feb. 10 roundtable discussion explored various aspects of this issue, including students’ difficulty making friends and working on group projects.

Junior Nathaniel Newcomer, a student with ASD who is majoring in health and human performance, said group projects can be vague for someone on the spectrum. “Be specific about what is required to work with a team,” he suggested.��

Cooley-Cook said students with ASD may become unsettled when there are changes in their routines or may have trouble with loud noises or other sensory experiences, such as experiencing a sound as a taste. Professors and staff who recognize these signs are more prepared help students remain calm when they are upset.

Miller and Cooley-Cook emphasized that UofL is providing students with ASD much more than just a degree: These students learn life skills from professors and fellow students who become their role models.

Miller works one-on-one with 10 ASD students each academic year. This year, his group includes students in engineering, business, biology and exercise science.

He takes a photograph of every student he works with as a freshman, and then another of them as a senior. When he asks the student which version they like better, they always pick the senior photo, he said. Every student he has worked with has found employment after graduation, Miller said.

Miller said he’s worked with the J.B. Speed School of Engineering to ensure that classes are videotaped (even before COVID-19). That way, students who need help taking notes can refer back to lectures. This also helps the entire student body, because the recording is available to every student in the class who may need it, he said.

Speed mechanical engineering senior Ben Mitchell, who participated in the roundtable, has worked with Miller for four years and is maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He plans to go into the Master’s of Engineering Program at Speed after he graduates.

“Mike has always been available to listen to my successes and my struggles ever since I first met him, and I know he’s so proud of how far I’ve come from when I first started out here,” Mitchell said.

In addition to the KATC and the DRC, “Reframing Autism” is sponsored by the Dean of Students office and the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning.

In a study, researchers Drs. Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi and Karla Conn Welch paired a human student with a humanoid robot —��a little orange-and-white artificially intelligent robot named NAO — in a mock classroom. The two took turns reading words that were presented on a computer screen by a virtual character simulating a human teacher.

The robot seemed to help the five participating students adapt to group learning contexts, which the researchers said��. As a result, the kids learned more words — 100% of the ones taught to them, and 94% of the ones exclusively taught to NAO.

“And that was significant as a part of the research,” said Welch, a professor of engineering. “The children did seem to interact and engage and pay attention to the robot, as well as the computer teacher.”��

Saadatzi said that, especially , actively participating in class can sometimes seem overwhelming and there’s the fear of embarrassment or judgement. But the NAO was friendly — kids would interact with him almost celebrating correct answers and saying “hello” and “goodbye” before and after class.��

“The robot played the role of a peer for the student,” he said. “The student got to learn new academic skills, but also had the opportunity to practice some of the social skills required for multi-student contexts without the negative feedback and teasing of their peers.”

That gave the students a chance to practice their social skills — things like building friendships, paying attention when someone’s speaking, turn taking, tolerating intermittent attention by the teacher, joint attention and so on. Roland Bibb said those interactions have been a big help to his son Jaryn, a seventh grader who participated in the study.

“I noticed improvement towards the end, and it’s all pretty much carried over through school,” he said. “I definitely think it opened him up more; opened him up more to communicate.”

Saadatzi is also working on other tools that could help kids with autism in or outside the classroom. One invention, which he tested in the study, is a set of smart eyeglasses that could track and wirelessly collect physiological data in real time — electrodermal activity, cardiac rhythm, skin temperature and blood volume changes, etc. That information can be used to understand their emotional state. He further developed that idea in for translational research.

For the researchers, part of the goal of this work is to show the value technology — like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and robotics — can have in helping young students with and without disability learn and succeed.��

“We would like to see these more and more in school settings, and more and more in home settings,” Welch said. “The cost is certainly a factor right now, but that’s what we want to show with the research — that this has some, not just value, but an educational piece or an interaction piece so that people can see how useful these are.”��

Watch a video on the on the research below.

Lanikai’s mother says the time the Dubuques spent with her daughter has resulted in a little girl able to socialize and lead a relatively normal life. Check out her story below:��

Cody also is a young man on the autism spectrum, and he wants people to know it. His one-man magic show, “Cody Clark: A Different Way of Thinking,” emphasizes what he calls real-life magical moments alongside his sleight-of-hand feats.

During April, Autism Awareness Month, Cody exemplifies the hope people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have to realize their dreams.

Diagnosed at 15 months, Cody and his parents were warned about all he could not do as he grew older. Doctors told his parents it could be likely that he would never have the social skills or mental capacity to succeed as an adult.

Today, however, he performs across the country as his professional magic career continues to grow. Cody speaks with enthusiasm and confidence about how his obsession with magic developed when he was in elementary school and helped lead to his success as a college student and adult with a thriving vocation as a professional performer. It is a message that was especially appreciated when he performed at the summer camp held by the University of Louisville Autism Center (ULAC) last year.

Along with their value as entertainment, his magic routines help strengthen his motor skills, social skills and goal-setting skills. He shares his personal story in his act to help audience members gain a sense of how autism causes him and others on the autism spectrum to think differently.��

“I want to create connections with my audience and represent autistic people in art,” he said.

Cody also cites the support services and resources he had access to. As a client of the University of Louisville Autism Center at Kosair Charities, Cody participated in services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral intervention and social skills training.

Led by Gregory Barnes, MD, the ULAC was established in 2010 to provide evaluation, intervention, training and research to individuals with ASD and their families. Clinical services at ULAC, under the direction of Scott Tomchek, PhD,�� provided support to 2,400 individuals and their families in 2016. The Kentucky Autism Training Center (KATC), the training component of ULAC established in 1996 and directed by Larry Taylor, benefits from state-mandated support that helps provide outreach and training for educators, school leaders and families throughout Kentucky.

To help others as he was helped, Cody recently volunteered to create a training video for a new community-wide initiative that offers a certification process for local businesses that want to be recognized as autism-friendly. The video is a part of the (AFBI), a collaborative effort among FEAT of Louisville, Meaningful Day Services and ULAC including KATC.

This 10-minute training video, featuring Cody along with other volunteers, offers portrayals of the different social interactions that can be difficult for young people on the autism spectrum to navigate. Business owners and their employees can view the video to increase their awareness of families with kids and teens on the spectrum and use strategies for communicating and interacting more effectively.��

These strategies have been developed based on the research that has been conducted in ASD during the past two decades, research that Barnes said has provided the autism community with additional insight.

“We now understand that autism is a neurobiologic disorder that is diagnosed clinically; people with ASD have significant challenges with social communication skills and repetitive, restricted range of activities and interests,” Barnes said. “While children with ASD generally have these features in common, no two individuals on the autism spectrum are exactly alike.”

Families with a loved one on the spectrum know this, and use a common expression: “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” since the spectrum’s impact on behaviors, cognitive abilities and activities of daily living can vary from one affected individual to another.��

More research needed

As much as diagnosis and treatment of ASD has advanced, there is still much to be done. More research is needed to unlock the mysteries surrounding how autism develops. Improvements in providing all children with appropriate screening, diagnosis and treatment are still required. Providers need more evidence-based medical treatments and behavioral interventions to care for their patients.

Still, the expectation today is that children with autism spectrum disorders will make progress, especially with intensive early intervention. For some children, that rate of progress may be dramatic; with other children, it is slower. About half of children with autism have cognitive impairments and about one-third of children have seizures; they also are more likely to have sleep and digestive system problems.����

There are research-supported practices that are effective in teaching children with autism, including the use of visual supports, video modeling, functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention, social skills training and augmentative communication systems.�� Some children affected by autism have behavioral problems related to anxiety, irritability or attention-deficit symptoms, which may require medication or more specialized behavioral therapies.

With the progress he has made in his own life, Cody Clark continues to focus on creating the career of his dreams. He believes that people living on the autism spectrum can apply a single-minded pursuit of their passions to have a fulfilling, rewarding life.�� As he phrases it, “Our obsessions can lead to success.”

Rebecca Stutsman contributed to this story.

UofL is doing its part to help those families through a creative partnership — the Autism Friendly Business Initiative.

The , announced in February, includes the University of Louisville Autism Center (ULAC), a part of the School of Medicine, and the Kentucky Autism Training Center (KATC), a component of the ULAC and part of the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development.

These centers are joined by Meaningful Day Services and FEAT of Louisville, which has oversight for the program.

The centerpiece of the initiative is a where families can look for autism-friendly businesses.

“What we found was that families would go to a therapy appointment and then go home,” said Heidi Cooley-Cook, family field training coordinator for KATC. “They weren’t going to the movies or the grocery and, as almost any therapist will tell you, it’s important for individuals to be engaged in their community.”

Businesses can earn an AFBI designation by having at least 80 percent of their employees watch a film and answer questions about how to recognize and respond to the signs of autism. This is level 1 of the AFBI program and it is available now. Soon, two more levels will be introduced. Those levels will require businesses to make environmental changes (level 2) and adopt hiring and training strategies to support people with autism (level 3).

UofL worked closely with its partners to create the training video. In fact, UofL alumnus Cody Clark, who is on the autism spectrum and has dual degrees in theater and marketing, was prominently featured in the final production.

Molly Dubuque, a ULAC behavior analyst, said the idea for the AFBI came about in 2015 when Deborah Morton, executive director for FEAT, put together teams to look at support systems for those with autism.

Dubuque said it was during those meetings that they began to realize that “participation and access to the community” was just as important as treatment.

“Citizenship involves enjoying parks, museums, getting haircuts, going grocery shopping—all of the things that enrich one’s life,” Dubuque said. “It quickly became clear that the best we could do to support families was to open the community to them.”

Nearly everyone who was part of the previously launched program contributed to the AFBI project. That meant numerous meetings to keep the project moving, writing a script, recording and directing the video, designing the AFBI brand and getting input from local businesses and leaders.

“This has been a powerful collaboration,” said Dr. Gregory Barnes, who heads the UofL Autism Center. “It takes a village to build something like this program and we are thrilled to be part of such a worthy initiative.”

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