Pocket-sized gadget for detecting autism in children
LENA is a technology that analyzes speech patterns of young children to detect autism.
What is LENA? LENA is the only technology that automatically collects and analyzes information about a child’s natural language environment and development. The LENA feedback reports help parents improve a child’s cumulative language experience and accelerate that child’s language and cognitive development, and preparedness for school.Pocket-sized gadget for detecting autism in childrenWho is LENA for? Parents and caregivers of children ages 0 to 4.
Why is it important? Several hundred research studies over the last 50 years document the importance of talking to and interacting with your baby, especially during the first three years. Groundbreaking research by two renowned university researchers, Drs. Betty Hart, Ph.D., and Todd Risley, Ph.D., revealed that the quantity of talk a child experienced between birth and age 3 directly correlated with the child’s IQ and vocabulary size. The LENA Foundation was founded based on the key elements of this study and our own normative study shows that saying 17,000 words per day, which is equal to the 85th percentile, will greatly enhance your child’s potential.
Who developed it? A team of world-class scientists, including experts in linguistics, speech recognition technology, computer engineering, speech analysis, statistics, speech language pathology, language research and developmental pediatrics. Recognizing that achievement gaps already exist at kindergarten entry, LENA was developed to give parents useful information to help ensure they are providing the richest language environment possible to their children during the critical years between birth and age 4, before they enter school.
How does it work? Parents follow a simple three-step process, 2-3 times a month:
1. In the morning, slip the LENA Digital Language Processor (DLP) into the pocket of specially designed LENA clothing.
2. At the end of the day, plug the DLP into your PC. The audio data will transfer and software analysis begins.
3. View your reports to analyze your conversations, identify patterns of talk throughout the day and receive percentile rank information.
the latest
latest episodes
Nothing good can come of this.
Specially designed clothing?! What are they thinking?
You do have to admire the single-minded focus on parting panicking parents from their hard earned cash, however.
Language processing technology reading adult native speakers does marginally well at translating that text into speech. Color me dubious that this has been shown to be effective at detecting something people can't otherwise detect.
My suspicion is heightened by the use of "Dr." and "PhD" on the same name.
On the one hand, the device has a "little einstein" quality to it. Like some sort of dashboard display for your child's progress towards ideal normality.
On the other hand, that software sounds interesting, as growing up somewhat autistic but not quite enough so for anyone else to notice and help you out with sucks ass.
I'll wait for the skull plug model.
I think you're being a little irresponsible and sensational here, Mark.
The website never says anything about "detecting autism." This is a VERY blunt tool in determining the courses of conversations and measuring vocabulary.
Granted, it's a completely crazy con/scheme, but you shouldn't put words into the companies mouth about detecting autism.
OMG look at the about box. This is such snake oil. Some "philanthropists" created a "foundation" with the assets of their failed company:
http://www.lenababy.com/About.aspx
This should be an iPhone app. That would cut the cost dramatically.
If this company doesn't do it very quickly, another developer will make the app.
This sounds ridiculous. Why would the recording device itself matter and why would you need special clothes? All the "analysis" would probably be happening in the sofware right when you put the audio into your pc?
amirite?
And autism from speech patterns? Where was the research that connected autism to certain speech patterns? Wouldn't that horse come before the cart of software that has now mastered that very well understood analysis? This sounds like it's just another crazy mechanical gadget that doesn't really *do* anything.
First came the dog language translator because people feel they are too stupid to figure out which basic need of their dog they should satisfy. I suppose it is only logical that people are also too stupid to discuss with toddlers.
A device which minimizes the need for social interaction and subjective analysis by using a standardized computer algorithm to record and diagnose. Sounds like something an autistic person might design...
I reviewed this in detail.
Lesson 1: All the evidence shows you should talk more to your child. So, for free, please go talk more to your child - I know I will!
Lesson 2: Studies with very few children that are biased can attract lots of money if there is a hot-button issue in the title.
Ground-breaking study on language: 42 kids
Autism assessment development: 27 affected kids
see the foundation page for references.
In a one-page paper, please discuss the major issues with this kind of study and the potential biases that may arise, causing already stressed out parents to gnash their teeth and wail in agony.
Kuanes..
Did you even look at the website?
http://www.lenababy.com/AutismScreen/default.aspx
"The LAS enables you to:
• Automatically and objectively screen for autism
• Detect language delays
• Assess the quality of your child's language environment"
Let's see now: by age 3, there are 20 cases of reported autism per 10,000 people in the US. (http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autism.php). The web site for this product brags that detection has improved to 91%. So, roughly 1,000 false positives per 10,000 kids, with freaked out parents and agonizing medicalization of toddlerdom, for catching less than two dozen kids that probably would have been caught anyway.
Brilliant!
#10: Whilst I agree with your 'This is bullshit' sentiment, I do have some toddlers I'd like to introduce you to...
Interesting if legitimate. Unfortunately there are many, many examples of pseudoscience that take advantage of the parents of autistic children (and parents that are concerned their children may develop autism). Just take a look at Jenny McCarthy's anti-vaccination campaign or google "facilitated communication."
for i = 1:17000
say(words(rand))
end
At second glance the term "specially designed LENA clothing" rings the loudest alarm bells for me. Why settle for selling a single electronic device when you can get four years' worth of clothing purchases out of the deal?
I'd love to see the data results of that little device after a month of having it hanging around the pockets of the folks we've elected...
I'm rather appalled that boingboing posted this snake oil.
hey, holding snake oil up for a good drubbing is a wonderful thing too you know.
Excellent! This device will complement the astounding results that I already get with my psychograph.
that reminds me, I have an appointment with Zorgo this afternoon.
Hooray! Just in time for Christmas! Makes a great stocking stuffer for all of you helicopter parents.
"Automatically and objectively screen for Autism"
I missed the part where the machine tracks the child's sensitivities and preferences, monitors his social contact, and observes his playtime. In what way does it differentiate between a child who chooses not to talk and one with higher functioning autism who talks? How does it determine whether a 2-year-old scaled the pantry shelves or pointed to the cookies at the top? Does it separate speech aimed at a toy versus a human being?
An accurate diagnosis of autism usually requires a panel of professionals, a full medical history, several sessions with a child over a period of months and multiple evaluations for not only speech, but social connections and ritualistic behavior. What makes this company think that people would believe a cheesy little voice recorder can "detect" someone who is different?
Definitely skeptical of this.
I'm no autism expert, but it seems like the severe cases that would really impact a kid's life can be detected from non-speech cues: Eye contact, repetitive movements, the extreme sensitivity to noise that a lot of autistic kids seem to have, major social delays, things like that.
By the time you get to an age where a kid is talking enough to rule out "just slow to start talking", are there really that many undiagnosed autistic kids left?
This seems like a product that's really only useful for the sort of parents who take their child not displaying superhuman "smarter than your kid" genius as a sign that something is terribly wrong.
But that could just be me being automatically critical of anything that promotes rampant self-diagnosing.
perhaps this Miracle Device will finally help clear up the mystery of whether vaccines or chemtrails (or both, ZOMG!)cause autism.
If only I had known an objective assessment gadget would be developed to assess autism I wouldn't have spent all these years at university studying to be a clinical psychologist.
This product seems to imply that Autism is caused by kids not receiving enough "conversational turns". As the father of an autistic child I find this dangerous and insulting.
Back in the 60s and 70s, autism was blamed by "experts" on "refrigerator mothers" who didn't give enough love to their child. Until it was discredited, this notion did a tremendous amount of harm.
Mark, why did you feature not just a link, but an entire brochure for this product? "Pocket-sized gadget for detecting autism" seems far too credulous a title.
Parents beware!
Apoxia, everyone who has access to the internet knows that psychology is bunk.
In response to the comments posted, the LENA Foundation felt it was worth while to respond to some of the confusion surrounding the technology it has created. LENA Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation, with the goal of creating advanced technology for the early screening, diagnosis, research and treatment of language delays and disorders in children. There are three separate technologies offered to parents: the LENA Home System, which is used to monitor the effectiveness of intervention therapies; the LENA Language and Autism Screen, which uses a day-long recording sample to analyze a child's vocalizations using a phone-based and cluster-based approach to determine if the vocalizations are similar to vocalizations of children with autism. It is not a formal diagnosis - it is a tool used to detect patterns earlier (24-48 months) so that a parent can determine if a formal diagnosis should be pursued. The third technology is the LENA Developmental Snapshot - an online 52-item parent questionnaire that parents can use to track their child's expressive and receptive language abilities. All of the assessments and screens are highly correlated to the assessments given by SLPs and pediatricians (correlation chart is available on website). The Language and Autism Screen has sensitivity and specificity at the same and/or higher level than the M-CHAT, ESAT, ABC, ASQ, SCQ, DBC/ASA, STAT, and PDDST-II. All of which are accepted assessments in the medical and professional field.
Clothing - special clothing is used to ensure fidelity of acoustic sound (all cloth is tested) as well as ensuring that the digital language processor is a specific distance from the child's mouth so that all recordings take place with comparable acoustic properties for comparison to normative data.
Conversational Turns do not cause autism. We measure language environment and development in order to feedback the information to concerned parents and professionals.
The LENA System is in use at over 40 universities, children's hospitals, and schools for the deaf and hard of hearing. Research using the system has been published in several scientific journals and presented around the world. Please review our technical papers and research presentations at www.lenafoundation.org if you have additional questions.
#30
Ah yes, I forgot you can get a university grade education on the internets today.
Warning to those who want to stamp us out: we will bite ur feet.
We don't necessarily want to be cured - like smoked sausages. We mostly don't want to be like you - neurotypicals.
The problem that really needs attention here is the narcissistic parent's need to produce a model child.
Maggie- "This seems like a product that's really only useful for the sort of parents who take their child not displaying superhuman "smarter than your kid" genius as a sign that something is terribly wrong."
It was in fact my kid's ability to do mind boggling 'smarter than other kids' stuff that made me insist that he be evaluated for ASD. He spoke very well at 2, just with a ratio of 100:1, nouns to verbs.
And yes, Drs. blah blah and hoohah, PhD was a red flag, as well as "Team of world class scientists", nothing of any use has come from that team except the Thighmaster and and low nicotine cigarettes. Good name for a punk band.
Phrenology?
Well, I'm disappointed. I thought maybe this would be good for drinking games.
I'm a Communicative Disorders Assistant who works with kids 0-4 with speech and language delays. While studies do show that language-rich environments improve a child's expressive language, they also show that higher-income families (like those who can afford this gadget) already have a much greater amount of language in the home than low income, at-risk families. Parent training is the key to any language program for kids. Does the gadget analyze how many questions parents ask? Asking "What's this?" 100 times a day is not uselful language for the kid. Does it analyze how many verbs or prepositions the kids know, in addition to labelling everything in their environment? You can't put sentences together if all you use are nouns. What if the child's problem is due to motor speech delay? All the yammering in the world won't help if the child can't plan the movements for the sounds. Although "Anonymous" says LENA is not-for-profit, I think it's fiendishly clever of them to market cute outfits as part of the package. If it were just about sound clarity, an ugly smock would do the job. While I applaud the intention, this is nothing more than a gadget that tells you to talk to your kids. I can do that. TALK TO YOUR KIDS. That'll be $200, please.
I don't think it's much use for detecting autism, but it looks like a great idea for helicopter parents who want to eavesdrop on every conversation their child has.
Reminds me of the Chatnannies and Jim "Death's Head" Wightman.
It amazes me that so few of y'all can imagine that this could work.
At the very least it would capture repetition, toneality, etc - and a computer can review 24 hours of audio much more quickly to spot potentially interesting patterns than a human can.
I'm not saying it does work, just that the premise is not so far fetched as a lot of folks here are impugning.
I think that many people who don't have experience in the healthcare field have a rose-colored view of diagnostic capabilities. Results of many types of tests are kind of vague and subject to interpretation. You can't necessarily tell that whether an object on a x-ray is a tumor, a calcification or a visual artifact. Given that autism is barely understood, a small advance in diagnostic capability could be a big breakthrough.
PLEASE SEE THE DSM IV-TR CRITERIA FOR A DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM! You will quickly see that this device will not aid in the diagnosis/ screening of Autism. I have no idea how these people sleep at night. There are many businesses like this one scamming parents who are desperate to create the most ideal environment for development and are so fearful of finding out their child has autism. Please, please consult with a licensed psychologist face-to-face (not one of the schmucks from this company) before purchasing this product.
As the parent of a child with Asperger's Syndrome (a high functioning form of autisum) I can tell you that this type of device very well might have been able to detect his condition when he was 2 or 3. We knew something wasn't right and tried seeing many "professionals" who didn't get it. Being able to analyze a full day of verbal interactions could have made a difference.
Given all of that, I agree that this has the potential for making parents freak out needlessly. It could be a useful tool though if you have some reason to suspect that a child has some form of autisum.