<![CDATA[Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. Early detection of ASD is crucial; however, conventional diagnostic methods rely heavily on clinical observation and expert assessment, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Along with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, especially in computer vision and machine learning, automated image-based approaches have gained attention as alternative tools for ASD screening. This study proposes a hybrid classification approach that integrates MobileNetV3 as a feature extraction model with the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm for autism classification using facial image data. Unlike previous CNN–KNN approaches, this study specifically explores the use of MobileNetV3’s lightweight architecture to generate compact and discriminative facial features, which are then classified using KNN to evaluate its effectiveness in low-complexity and resource-efficient settings. This design highlights the novelty of combining an optimized lightweight CNN with a distance-based classifier for autism detection from facial images. The dataset used in this research was obtained from Kaggle and consists of 2,940 labeled facial images of children categorized into Autism and non-Autism classes. This study proposes a hybrid classification approach that combines MobileNetV3 as a lightweight feature extraction model with the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm for autism classification. Experimental evaluations were conducted over multiple independent runs to improve statistical reliability, and model performance was assessed using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The results indicate that the proposed hybrid model achieves satisfactory and consistent performance while maintaining computational efficiency. These findings suggest that integrating lightweight deep learning models with classical machine learning algorithms can provide an effective and resource-efficient approach for autism classification, with potential applicability as a supportive tool for early ASD screening rather than a definitive clinical diagnosis.]]>
