Identification and exploration of facial expression in children with ASD in a contact less environment

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasing rapidly at higher rate which has a greater impact in many organizations to contribute to ASD coaching and training. The highest complexity lies in the factor of early identification of ASD to support training. Many researchers have proved that early identification of autism and appropriate coaching to children with high ASD can result in a quality improvement in child’s lifestyle. This early identification of autism can be screened through stages involving evaluation of eye gaze, emotion, expression, linguistic ability, responsiveness. Objective of this paper mainly focuses on analyzing the facial expression of children with autism in a contact less environment as the children could even respond to the target object they face. The paper identifies the various facial expressions of autism children excluding the time and event occurrence. These expressions are used as an early screening method to identify children who may fall under autistic characteristic in the near future. Moreover the facial expressions could be analyzed in a live video environment as stimuli emotional sequence that further leads to next level of screening. The paper also analyses the major facial expression perceived by the children along with the variation in facial expression dynamics that a normal Toddler (TD) possess.