Dees Postma (UT) and Sander Begeer (VU) from the Smart Societies coalition will investigate how people with autism move and interact physically with others. The aim is to discover so-called motoric markers of autism, which could enrich diagnostics for autism. And that is needed because autism is now more often diagnosed in men than in women. However, the question is whether there are also more men than women with autism. In fact, research has shown that autism can present itself differently in women and men and that women are better able to mask their social problems. This often stands in the way of an accurate diagnosis and hence effective treatment.
Enrich diagnostics and add more female perspective
In current autism diagnostics, specific movement patterns and interaction with others do not yet play a role, according to Postma. And yet they can both potentially be important features of autism. In what way, for instance, do people with and without autism walk differently? And how do both groups react in social interaction and in sport and game situations?
‘It is particularly women who manage to disguise their autistic features in tests. We expect this to become a lot more difficult in movement patterns and physical interaction. With this, you enrich diagnostics and also add more female perspective. That is a good thing because the man as a model is still too often the measure of things within medical science,’ says Postma.
Create a setting that can elicit specific behaviour
According to Postma, the first step in the research is an extensive literature review. ‘We will map out what is already known about movement patterns and interaction and their predictive values when it comes to conditions such as autism. Are these indeed different from those in people without autism, and what should we look for specifically?’ The next step is to create a setting that can elicit that specific behaviour. For instance, by having people with and people without autism perform a walking task. ‘This allows you to register the different patterns. One step further, we also want to create settings where interaction with others is triggered. For example, when someone addresses you, steps up to you or throws you a ball. An important condition for all settings is that they are safe and do not cause stress.’
Shape human-machine interactions
In designing the settings, Postma and Begeer will incorporate the experiences of interactive diagnostic environments that have been used mainly for physical injuries. For example, to evaluate whether someone with a knee injury can return to sport. If such an environment also works for autism, Postma says it could also work in the future for other so-called neurodivergent disorders. ‘With all this, we are able to further develop our thinking when it comes to interactive technologies and how to shape human-machine interactions. In our research, we will collaborate, among others, with Specials Olympics Netherlands, the sports organisation for people with intellectual disabilities. They are very keen to participate in this to further enhance the enjoyment of sport for all their people,’ says Postma.
Enrich, deepen and merge at multiple levels
Postma describes the collaboration within the coalition between the VU and the UT as a happy marriage. ‘We not only complement each other's knowledge and expertise in technical and domain-specific fields, but also enrich, deepen and merge at multiple levels. And that will undoubtedly lead to a rich diagnostic environment for autism.’ Postma and Begeer's research is part of the new NWA-ORC-funded project SCANNER. That aims to deepen the understanding of sex differences in autism by investigating genetic, neurophysiological and behavioural factors. The project will start at the end of this year and will run for six years.
