WASHINGTON – A new device may be able to automatically check young kids for autism based on how they talk, US researchers said on Monday.

The recorder fits into a child's pocket and looks at the words the child says during the day, and software evaluates how the child makes certain sound.

Kimbrough Oller of the University of Memphis lead the team that analyzed more htan 3 million syllabic utterances, gathered from about 1,500 all-day recordings from 232 kids aged 10 months to 4 years.

The program correctly found existing autism diagnosis 86% of the time. The data also predicted the age of a typically developing child, said the study that first appeared in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Although clinicians have been saying for many years that they think that autistic kids sound strange when they talk, there's been no practical way to use vocalization as a part of the diagnostic or screening procedure in working with autism," said Oller, professor of audiology and speech-language pathology.

Oller identified the speech patterns the device analyzes and helped develop the screening method.

The tests were conducted in English, but Oller said the technique may apply to other languages. "It hasn't actually been tried yet, but there's every reason to think it should," he said.

Doctors diagnose autism in children by testing them for a range of behavioral and speech issues, including how much they talk by a certain age and whether they make eye contact with other people.

"Autism is a multi-factoral disorder and it has many behavioral dimensions to consider. And vocalization is clearly an important one," said Oller. "But I certainly don't think it should be used exclusively."

Oller, who studies language learning and the evolution of language, identified how the formation of different syllables metamorphose during the child's first four years.

Instead of saying “ba” as a part of a longer word, a younger child might say “ba-a” with "sort of a staccato or tremor kind of pattern,"said Oller. The development of an autistic child's language does not follow those typical patterns, the analysis shows.

The software looks at speakers and processes sounds made only by the child being studied. The day-length recordings allow scientists to look into a child's natural speech.

Parents send the recorder to the company after the child has worn it for a day, and the company then analyzes the audio for language development and autism.

Infoture Inc developed the device and software. The company dissolved in February of last year and was reconstituted LENA Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, that still funds the research. The foundation sells the device with clothing that has a pocket to house the recorder.

Oller got consultation fees from Infoture before it dissolved and several of its other workers are researchers for the LENA Foundation.