Mercer is bringing faster autism answers to rural Georgia families. Here’s how

Rural Middle Georgia families who once waited months or years for an autism diagnosis are now getting answers in less than a week through an early detection program run by Mercer University School of Medicine.

Launched in June 2025, the Mercer University School of Medicine Early Autism Detection Program brings evidence-based autism screening into rural healthcare centers, expanding access to timely evaluations closer to home in collaboration with state partners, including the Department of Public Health and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Program leaders said they are working to identify autism spectrum disorder earlier, when intervention can have the greatest impact, and in rural communities, where access to specialty care is limited.

The program utilizes the EarliPoint Evaluation, an FDA-approved, tablet-based eye-tracking device that helps primary care providers identify children between 16 and 30 months who may be on the autism spectrum and quickly get families the resources they need.

The goal of the project is early intervention and providing families with peace of mind, said Sherrie Williams, project management office director at Mercer University School of Medicine.

“Rather than families waiting the average of 18 to 24 months to get an appointment (and) to get tested, we’re able to speed up the process,” Williams said. “We’re at about 4.7 days from the time the provider sends the referral until that family is sitting in front of us. So, we have taken a two-year process, and we put it in less than a week.”

The program currently serves children referred by providers in Laurens, Monroe and Washington counties, with plans to expand to Berrien and Ware counties soon.

How does it work?

EarliPoint tracks a child’s eye movements while they watch short videos of social interactions. Research shows neurotypical children tend to focus on faces and shared interactions, such as two children fighting over a toy at daycare, while children on the autism spectrum may look elsewhere and miss the entire interaction, Williams said.

The tool does not issue a formal diagnosis, Williams said. Instead, it generates a report indicating whether a child’s behavior is consistent with characteristics of autism. That report is sent to the referring provider, who reviews the results with the family and determines next steps.

“When we first introduced EarliPoint, we frequently heard from providers, ‘So, now do I need to send them for testing?’” Williams said. “No, this is the testing. This takes the place of this long, drawn out process that will take 24 months for families to see someone.”

If a child receives a positive result, providers can make referrals for early intervention services, which help with cognitive development, communications skills and more. If the result is negative but developmental concerns remain, additional clinical evaluation may still be recommended.

Testing takes about 10 to 20 minutes and is completed in a single visit, a sharp contrast to traditional hours-long, multi-session evaluations that often require long travel to specialists.

“For our families, transportation is a huge barrier,” Williams said, recalling her experience serving families in Berrien County as a licensed clinical social worker for 10 years. “We had families driving four hours north to Atlanta. We had one family that had a severely autistic child, and being in the car for any amount of time was very traumatic for that child in dangerous driving conditions.”

Barriers rural families face

Since July 2025, about 30 families have participated in the program, Williams said. She said leaders expect the number to grow as more providers and families learn about it.

Families in rural communities — especially first-time mothers — often have limited access to information about autism, which can make it harder to recognize early signs or know how to respond to unusual behavior, said Jennifer Tarbutton, a pediatrician at Children’s Healthcare Center of Sandersville.

Tarbutton said pediatricians are responsible for monitoring development during frequent checkups starting at birth, including fine motor, social and language skills using standardized screening tools.

“If at any point along the way, whether it’s my observation, the parent’s concern, or if one of the screening tools is abnormal, then we can refer them on for the EarliPoint screening,” she said.

Tarbutton, who has practiced in Washington County for 19 years, said her clinic has assessed about 10 families so far and that starting the process early can make a long-term difference.

“Not all of those patients were confirmed to have autism,” she said. “But for the small number of those who were, they’re still processing that their child has this diagnosis, so they are in the process of getting all the therapy started. It could take months to be able to see the improvement.”

Tarbutton said it is still too early to measure the day-to-day impact EarliPoint has had on autism evaluations in her clinic but said she is thankful Washington County is one of the pilot sites.

In Georgia, children diagnosed with autism typically must complete two screening tools before insurance will cover services such as school-based support or applied behavior analysis therapy. EarliPoint now qualifies as one of those screenings, allowing providers to move more quickly toward therapy referrals, Tarbutton added.

“In the past, we had to send children to developmental pediatricians with wait times of one to two years,” she said. “Now we can do this in our office and help families get services much earlier.”

Mercer University School of Medicine Dean Jean Sumner said the project aligns with the medical school’s founding mission to serve rural areas, which she described as the most underserved region of the state regardless of income.

“Mercer wants to bring the very best technology and the best care to the most underserved people in our state,” Sumner said. “We saw this as an opportunity to help children that may or may not be on the spectrum, and to help physicians make the right diagnosis that are out there serving the populations.”

Without programs like this in place, rural families often face limited options, Williams said.

“Sometimes the children are in elementary school before testing is happening or even an acknowledgment that this child may be developmentally delayed in some sort of way,” she said.

Even with an early diagnosis, challenges remain. Williams said support services are limited in many rural areas, particularly for children ages 16 to 30 months who are not yet school-aged and therefore do not receive services through school systems.

Williams said the work extends beyond testing, noting partnerships with Babies Can’t Wait and the Georgia Department of Public Health to connect families with early support services while longer-term therapies are arranged.

“There still aren’t enough therapists in rural communities,” she said. “But these partnerships give families guidance and support during these very scary times.”