NeMo Project's Observation Methodology for Embodied Interactions and Autism Spectrum Disorders

In this paper, I outline a semiotic methodology able to detect possible future impairments that can lead to Autism Spectrum Disorder and other neurodevelopmental pathologies through the observation of embodied interactions. In the first part, I deal with the state of the art concerning ADOS and then I describe the three substitutions operated by our NeMo Methodology: i) a substitution in the age of the infant (NeMo deals with 9–18-month-old infants); ii) a substitution of a competent ADOS observer with a less competent one (caregivers, pre-primary teachers, etc.; iii) a substitution of the laboratory and highly grammaticalized ADOS setting with real-life, in the wild, home videos shot through smartphones by caregivers. In the second part of the paper, I describe the twelve signs the observers must look for in order to rate an interaction and decide about its typicality. Finally, through ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) graphs, I describe the performances of the observers who used NeMo methodology and I compare them with the state of the art.