To think AI should be used to diagnose autism & ADHD

Not possible. A large part of the autism assessment is around human interaction between the clinician and the observee. Even if AI could be trained to ask follow on and probing questions, it could not illicit the same type of response as a human, due to the way the observee would interact differently with a human to a robot / computer.

The recounting of detail to your Dr is a large part of the diagnostic process. If you remove that interaction I can’t see that the process will become MORE accurate.

Do you really think there are doctors just giving children ADHD diagnosis' that don't meet the criteria?

There is research into diagnosing dementia / cognitive problems using computerised analysis of language. It seems to work quite well. So I don't think it's much a stretch to think other conditions could be looked at in a similar way.

www.news-medical.net/news/20230628/CognoSpeak-AI-tool-uses-speech-technology-to-quickly-assess-dementia-risk.aspx

Possibly, AI is certainly being used to support Doctors screening scans/X-rays etc and is picking up abnormalities. I think it’s great and I certainly think there is a place for AI in medicine and psychiatry.

However, I and my adult diagnosed ADHD friends all had similar worries after diagnosis that we had somehow magically collected a set of personality quirks that mimicked ADHD. Having a human practitioner to talk it through with really helped in the early days of diagnosis and I’m not sure AI could have helped with that reassurance.

Genetic testing would be a good idea, I am torn between thinking I have ADHD myself and that it is totally over diagnosed, that the symptoms people experience are just a side effect of modern life for a huge amount of people, perhaps most of us.

Some kind of objective genetic test for ADHD would clear this up.

Please note I am not saying your adhd isn't real but that a test would clear doubts up and that I too have many, many symptoms of adhd some of which are very debilitating.

Sorry but your comment has triggered something and left me feeling deeply uncomfortable. While extremely useful genetic testing results can often be traumatic to receive. Would we test every child from from birth? I can see the benefit of immediately supporting them but with a spectrum disorder could it be predicted how it will manifest? Nurture accounts for a fair bit here. And in countries where health insurance is needed would/could this preclude medical conditions and make life harder/more expensive for the individual?

While there is a strong genetic component to ADHD it is not fully understood what causes it, so genetic testing to indicate if you do/don’t have is a gross over simplification of a complex medical condition. It is estimated by Dr Russell Barkley that there is between 25 and 45 genes that could contribute to having ADHD. It seems that this could account for the spectrum and severity of symptoms people exhibit.

Sorry you got triggered but its just how I feel, an objective test would be better than a range of symptoms pretty much anyone might be able to fit into and I say that as someone who think I also fit into that profile.

Thing is a specialist could have said dd had asd/adhd from young. But we never saw anyone.
gene testing could be cheaper private than assessment? Or cover both asd/adhd?
presentation and how it affects can vary by age/environment.
eg dd is ok at primary. The gates are locked no roads to cross. No books to carry. No timetable. She can spend a while in toilet.
but almost 0 supervision on playground is an issue.
having to carry pe kit.
often child diagnosis depends how well you record issues so parents and teachers.
but school arent concerned despite only one ND friend.
Also for eg our HT seems to not believe about asd

I remember years ago watch a documentary and consultants were using AI to help diagnose autism. The child watched a role play video and the ai was able to record where the child looked. Seemingly it gave a good indication of a child reaction being ND versus NT.