BATON ROUGE — April is Autism Acceptance Month and many families still have to wait months before they can get their child into a specialist to be diagnosed.

“On average, parents suspect something is wrong with their child's development at about a year of age. However, the diagnosis is made about two to three years later on average. So, there is a huge lag, and the lag is because of the long waiting list for autism diagnostic clinics,” pediatric neurologist Mohammed Aldosari said

“Autism Eyes” aims to help with early diagnosis. It works by measuring a child's gaze and eye movement while they watch different videos and images. Based on the child's reactions, a diagnosis is made.

The diagnostic tool offers many benefits, like being able to provide immediate results. It also requires very little training, so primary care physicians would be able to administer the test.

Experts say the end goal is not only to reduce wait times for diagnosis, but to provide treatment sooner.

“With children, there is a principle called brain plasticity, which is a very important principle in terms of responding to treatment. So, the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome. And this has been proven by multiple studies. So, when we diagnose autism about a year to two, or potentially three years earlier, there is a huge impact in terms of their outcomes,” Aldosari said.

“Autism Eyes” is still in development and not yet available for clinical use.