Upstate Medical University’s Golisano Center for Special Needs is using a new diagnostic tool that could revolutionize the diagnosis and care of children with autism.

The tool, called EarliPointTM Evaluation, is authorized for use in children between 16 and 30 months of age to aid in the diagnosis and assessment of autism and it does so in a fraction of the time it takes to assess a child without using the device. EarliPoint measures children’s looking behavior to provide clinicians with objective measurements of each child’s strengths and vulnerabilities.

Two research studies published recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association and JAMA Network Open support the findings of the tool, which earned FDA approval in 2023,  to accurately diagnose autism.

Henry Roane, PhD, executive director of the Golisano Center for Special Needs, said Upstate was eager to add Earlipoint to its repertoire of innovative diagnostic tools. This new device can do in under 20 minutes what it takes a team of clinicians several hours to do in determining an autism diagnosis.

Roane said this tool will allow Golisano clinicians to identify children more quickly and at an earlier age, allowing for more children to get appointments and for those diagnosed to start interventions earlier, which he said is critical in autism care. Roane said to his knowledge, Upstate is the only center in Central New York using the device.

Earlipoint looks like an ipad and children watch a series of videos while the device measures eye tracking measurements of the user’s social visual engagement.

Wendy Miles, MS OTR/L, clinical leader at the Golisano center, said the device is user friendly and allows those administering the assessment to easily move through videos based on the child’s interest.

“The majority of the children we have worked with so far seem to be interested in at least some of the videos allowing for Earlipoint to gather data and provide diagnostic information,” Miles said. “It is fun to watch the reaction of the kids as well as the parents during the administration.  It certainly stirs the curiosity of parents and prompts questions.”

Golisano has been using the device since October and Miles said 10 children have been screened so far, with the administration of the device successful seven times. Of the seven, five of the children were determined to have autism and the outcomes of all seven successful administrations correlated with the diagnostic team’s expert clinical diagnosis.

Miles said demand for the device since has been light, since it is so new and aimed at a younger population, which is a small percentage of the patients seen at the center

“Earlipoint aids in the diagnosis of autism at a young age which helps parents and therapy providers to gain an understanding of the child’s needs and to help guide the intervention process thereby promoting successful outcomes,” she said. “We are in the infancy of using Earlipoint at Golisano Center Special Needs.  Our team is dedicated to using Earlipoint with children that meet the age criteria (of 16 to 30 months) and fine tuning our process to be successful with the vast majority of administrations.  We anticipate receiving referrals at a younger age for an autism assessment given this device.”

Some other centers around the country that Earlipoint are Marcus Autism Center/Emory University School of Medicine, the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Cincinnati Children’s, the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University, and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center in Arizona. 

Caption: A child undergoes an austism assessment using EarliPoint technology.