Autism Through the Eyes of a Computer

> “We need to have a very precise measurement of what autism is, and discover the essence of autism,” Schultz says.

I don't think ASD has an "essence", because it isn't a single condition, it is a large number of distinct conditions, with distinct causes–grouping them all together as "ASD" is a sign of how poorly we understand them. As we improve our understanding of those distinct underlying conditions and causes, I think ASD as a diagnosis is going to disappear, to be replaced with multiple more specific diagnoses.

My wife suffers from epilepsy. One of its characteristics is the unpredictability of when the seizures would occur. If this technology can be proven to predict outburst in Autistic folks, perhaps it can be "taught" to forewarn when an epileptic seizure is about to occur as well. In both cases, it would significant improve the quality of life.