Saleem Abdulfattah Aldajani, Majd Alabandi,
Dhahran Ahliyya School, Dammam, Eastern, SAUDI ARABIA
Children around the world are currently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) at late ages, solely based on behaviors subsequently exhibited. 82% of autistic children are diagnosed after age three, when G zero phased neurons have ceased development. Therefore, research dictates the necessity of early intervention for the treatment of ASDs. The purpose of this data study research is to develop an early diagnosis method that initiates a strategy for intervention, with the novelty of linking biomarkers, the underlying precursors of any disease, to behaviors, which are currently used in autism diagnosis. Throughout data collection from 35 autistic patients, blood venipuncture, neurophysiological imaging, and behavioral evaluation, figures studied selected biomarkers, based on roles in neurotransmission, and selected behaviors, based on frequency of occurrence. Data analysis revealed correlations between abnormalities in biomarkers and behaviors through examining a stem-scatter plot. Further analysis exhibited a significant overall correlation percentage of 80.92%. Next, abnormality frequencies of biomarkers and behaviors were programmed to produce weighted sums. Ranges of biomarker and behavioral sums displayed no significant difference with a p-value of 0.953, which proves the similarity between both ranges and the efficiency of biomarker diagnosis in comparison to behavioral diagnostic methods. For the justification of both the biomarker approach in autism diagnosis and the biomarker grouping for targeted interventions, neurotransmitters were linked to correlated biomarkers and behaviors through institutional analysis. Thus, the direct application of this research signifies a procedural system that diagnoses autism before age three and implements targeted interventions for autism treatment and prevention. Awards won at the 2012 ISEF Fourth Award of $500 - Medicine and Health Sciences - Presented by Intel