Ehh... I can tell you reasons why that won't always work..... First off, sensitivity to stimuli. I see someone wearing a wristband/watch in one of the pictures

Ehh... I can tell you reasons why that won't always work..... First off, sensitivity to stimuli. I see someone wearing a wristband/watch in one of the pictures in the article. Some autistic people are super sensitive to wearing things like watches, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, headbands, etc. Oh wait, sensor gear is almost always one of those things... The other is that as much as people talk about repetitiveness and rituals, I can tell you that sometimes there is no pattern! My brother who is most strongly on the spectrum, is older than I am... so I've known him my entire life. I have a pretty good idea what he likes, doesn't like, and what stresses him. There are still occasional days where he has a meltdown and I sit there and go through my 'notes' and can't figure it out. One time I was trying to recount this experience to his doctor and she said it sounded like I was looking for signals in a field of noise. She was right. Sometimes it's just too random to really know. I imagine it's easier if you have a willing subject who can communicate with you why they got upset after the fact. Unfortunately for my brother, "why" is a question he doesn't like answering - and when he (rarely) does, the answers are usually not very credible like "Why were you so angry?" "because you haven't taken me out shopping on Saturday yet!" (and it's Tuesday and we just went Saturday) (The funnier part is he'll often ask me "why" I do things lol :D) Anyway, back to the article. I don't like it. Inpatient psychiatric settings are already a scary sorta place. You get locked in a building you might not be familiar with, might have to wear different clothing (not usually but sometimes), be exposed to different noises and scents and temperature... and be around other people, also with other issues.. Being forced to wear sensors sounds like it'd add to the awfulness. It's also not a great environment to observe someone because they might just "shut down" from their normal behavioral patterns. AND IF THEY DON'T "SHUT DOWN" they might be encouraged to do so by getting a strong dosage of medicine. That's not fun. I get where they're coming from - psychiatrists (that take insurance, especially state medicaid plans which most patients would probably have) are usually overworked, underpaid, and it's a stressful job where everyone's hoping for an easy fix but it's not easy. Still, I appreciate the sacrifice the patients in those research projects are making, and the work the researchers are putting in. Especially for adults on the spectrum. There are vast vast amounts of resources expended on helping kids with autism but the moment you turn 18 it's basically "good luck lol"