Case Study: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) achieves scalable global early autism detection with Heroku

Heroku App + Salesforce Helps Parents Around the World Detect Early Signs of Autism

The Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University researches early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder and developed a predictive algorithm with 81% accuracy for children aged 12–24 months. Facing paper-based data collection and a need to reach parents earlier and globally, OTARC sought a scalable way to let families monitor behaviors and access timely guidance and support.

A pro bono Salesforce/Heroku team built ASDetect — native iOS and Android apps with Node.js middleware, Heroku Postgres, Heroku Connect and S3-hosted videos — to collect parent observations, sync them with OTARC’s Salesforce research backend, and deliver ongoing communications. Launched in February 2016, the app scales worldwide, helps parents identify at-risk children sooner, and connects families to local resources for earlier intervention.

Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC)

Nancy Sadka

Intake Officer