Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a mental disorder that retards acquisition of linguistic, communication, cognitive, and social skills and abilities. Despite being diagnosed with ASD, some individuals exhibit outstanding scholastic, non-academic, and artistic capabilities, in such cases posing a challenging task for scientists to provide answers. In the last few years, ASD has been investigated by social and computational intelligence scientists utilizing advanced technologies such as machine learning to improve diagnostic timing, precision, and quality. Machine learning is a multidisciplinary research topic that employs intelligent techniques to discover useful concealed patterns, which are utilized in prediction to improve decision making. Machine learning techniques such as support vector machines, decision trees, logistic regressions, and others, have been applied to datasets related to autism in order to construct predictive models. These models claim to enhance the ability of clinicians to provide robust diagnoses and prognoses of ASD. However, studies concerning the use of machine learning in ASD diagnosis and treatment suffer from conceptual, implementation, and data issues such as the way diagnostic codes are used, the type of feature selection employed, the evaluation measures chosen, and class imbalances in data among others. A more serious claim in recent studies is the development of a new method for ASD diagnoses based on machine learning. This article critically analyses these recent investigative studies on autism, not only articulating the aforementioned issues in these studies but also recommending paths forward that enhance machine learning use in ASD with respect to conceptualization, implementation, and data. Future studies concerning machine learning in autism research are greatly benefitted by such proposals.

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that describes certain challenges associated with communication (verbal and non-verbal), social skills, and repetitive behaviors. Typically, autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed in a clinical environment by licensed specialists using procedures which can be lengthy and cost-ineffective. Therefore, scholars in the medical, psychology, and applied behavioral science fields have in recent decades developed screening methods such as the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers for diagnosing autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. The accuracy and efficiency of these screening methods rely primarily on the experience and knowledge of the user, as well as the items designed in the screening method. One promising direction to improve the accuracy and efficiency of autism spectrum disorder detection is to build classification systems using intelligent technologies such as machine learning. Machine learning offers advanced techniques that construct automated classifiers that can be exploited by users and clinicians to significantly improve sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and efficiency in diagnostic discovery. This article proposes a new machine learning method called Rules-Machine Learning that not only detects autistic traits of cases and controls but also offers users knowledge bases (rules) that can be utilized by domain experts in understanding the reasons behind the classification. Empirical results on three data sets related to children, adolescents, and adults show that Rules-Machine Learning offers classifiers with higher predictive accuracy, sensitivity, harmonic mean, and specificity than those of other machine learning approaches such as Boosting, Bagging, decision trees, and rule induction.

Machine learning has been used successfully to improve the accuracy of computer-aided diagnosis systems. This paper experimentally assesses the performance of models derived by machine learning techniques by using relevant features chosen by various feature-selection methods. Four commonly used heart disease datasets have been evaluated using principal component analysis, Chi squared testing, ReliefF and symmetrical uncertainty to create distinctive feature sets. Then, a variety of classification algorithms have been used to create models that are then compared to seek the optimal features combinations, to improve the correct prediction of heart conditions. We found the benefits of using feature selection vary depending on the machine learning technique used for the heart datasets we consider. However, the best model we created used a combination of Chi-squared feature selection with the BayesNet algorithm and achieved an accuracy of 85.00% on the considered datasets.

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a neurodevelopmental condition associated with verbal and nonverbal communication, social interactions, and behavioural complications that is becoming increasingly common in many parts of the globe. Identifying individuals on the spectrum has remained a lengthy process for the past few decades due to the fact that some individuals diagnosed with ASD exhibit exceptional skills in areas such as mathematics, arts, and music among others. To improve the accuracy and reliability of autism diagnoses, many scholars have developed pre-diagnosis screening methods to help identify autistic behaviours at an early stage, speed up the clinical diagnosis referral process, and improve the understanding of ASD for the different stakeholders involved, such as parents, caregivers, teachers, and family members. However, the functionality and reliability of those screening tools vary according to different research studies and some have remained questionable. This study evaluates and critically analyses 37 different ASD screening tools in order to identify possible areas that need to be addressed through further development and innovation. More importantly, different criteria associated with existing screening tools, such as accessibility, the fulfilment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) specifications, comprehensibility among the target audience, performance (specifically sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy), web and mobile availability, and popularity have been investigated.