An Objective Test for Autism?

SPOKANE, Wash. — If you showed up at an emergency room with a heart attack, you’d expect to receive some diagnostic tests like pulse, blood pressure and an EKG. You’d be surprised if medical professionals based their assessment only on how you looked, or how they perceived your behavior that day. Yet, that is exactly how autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed. Dr. Georgina Lynch, an assistant professor at Washington State University in Spokane, Wash., says autism is assessed with too limited a set of tools, focusing only on sociability and behavior markers that can often be perceived subjectively by healthcare providers. She started Appiture Biotechnologies to bring a new objective autism test to the healthcare market. Researchers have long hoped that a genetic marker or blood test would offer an objective clue to diagnosing autism. Instead, Dr. Lynch’s approach is based on what she finds to be a unique reaction to light in the pupils of people on the autism spectrum. “When we think of autism as just a behavioral or mental health disorder, that's the first mistake,” she said. “We need to think about it as a biological condition.” Read more and see a video of the test at geekwire.com/healthtech. This week's episode was reported, hosted and produced for GeekWire by Meredith Hogan, an independent multimedia journalist who produces documentary podcasts, video, films and interactive features. She worked previously for NBCNews.com and has a BS in Journalism from Northwestern University. Follow her @mer_hogan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.