What would you do if you could predict the future a minute in advance? That might not seem like a long time, but for caretakers of people with autism, knowing what will happen 60 seconds from now could be enough time to prevent an aggressive outburst.
To alert caretakers when stress levels are nearing the point of an aggressive episode, Northeastern behavioral scientist Matthew Goodwin has created a wearable wrist device for people with autism that monitors physiological indicators of stress.
People with autism are prone to aggressive outbursts because their resting levels of stress are much higher than someone without autism. “Their arousal levels are already at the ceiling,” says Goodwin, an associate professor with joint appointments in Bouvé College of Health Sciences and the Khoury College of Computer and Sciences. “It takes very little to cross the tipping point.”