Issues with the Current Method: Bayley's Scale
The current standard to test children for developmental delays is the Bayley’s Scale of Infant and Toddler Development. The main issue with this approach as a screening process is that it requires a trained expert to administer, thus it cannot scale, and it does not provide strong statistical measures of certainty. It is based on empirical data in questionnaire form, and this makes it less conclusive than a data-driven screening tool.
Its flaws are shown in the highlighted region in the graph above. Over 40% of children who were determined to be not delayed at 6 months according to Bayley’s, were then determined to be delayed when retested at 12 months. This is indicative of a high false negative rate that occurs from Bayley’s test.
Its flaws are shown in the highlighted region in the graph above. Over 40% of children who were determined to be not delayed at 6 months according to Bayley’s, were then determined to be delayed when retested at 12 months. This is indicative of a high false negative rate that occurs from Bayley’s test.
We need a better tool...
We propose to develop a screening system for FASD using physiological markers such as Cardiac Orienting Response and Pupillary Response. This is not a diagnostic tool; instead, it serves as a decision support tool to:
- Decrease the number of undiagnosed cases
- Decrease the age of diagnosis