  With most recent estimates giving an incidence rate of 1 in 68 children in
the United States, the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a growing public
health crisis. Many of these children struggle to make eye contact, recognize
facial expressions, and engage in social interactions. Today the standard for
treatment of the core autism-related deficits focuses on a form of behavior
training known as Applied Behavioral Analysis. To address perceived deficits in
expression recognition, ABA approaches routinely involve the use of prompts
such as flash cards for repetitive emotion recognition training via
memorization. These techniques must be administered by trained practitioners
and often at clinical centers that are far outnumbered by and out of reach from
the many children and families in need of attention. Waitlists for access are
up to 18 months long, and this wait may lead to children regressing down a path
of isolation that worsens their long-term prognosis. There is an urgent need to
innovate new methods of care delivery that can appropriately empower caregivers
of children at risk or with a diagnosis of autism, and that capitalize on
mobile tools and wearable devices for use outside of clinical settings.
