A charity wants to build the world’s first assessment centre that uses an aggression-predicting wristband for people with autism.
Autism Together will start trials of the technology this spring. The trials will take place at the charity’s Raby Hall care home on the Wirral, on Merseyside.
Autism Together chief executive Robin Bush: his charity is trialling wristband sensors for people with autism
The charity is launching a £2.5m appeal to raise funds for the trial.
The appeal will also fund a new building on the existing Raby Hall site to house the technology.
Form of communication
Robin Bush is Autism Together’s chief executive. He said he feels passionately about the project because he has worked with people with severe autism for 26 years and knows aggression is a form of communication.
Five children’s psychiatric hospitals in the US are developing the technology through the Autism and Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative.
Researchers have completed a pilot trial of the biometric wristbands.
The group hopes the technology will help people better recognise their emotions and calm themselves down.
Wristband is ‘game changing’
The watch-sized biometric wristband measures minute physiological changes such as surface skin temperature, heart rate and sweating. It also measures three-dimensional limb movements.
Data suggests the device predicts an outburst a minute before it happens.
Bush says the project is very significant and the technology will be “game changing”.
He believes it will help identify the causes of problems such as anxiety, sleep disturbance and challenging behaviours.
The wristbands cost more than £1,000. However, the charity stresses that the NHS or the local authority will fund those it treats.
Important insights into behaviour
In the trial on the Wirral, seven people with autism will wear wristbands.
Researchers will cross-reference data with observations about when and where episodes occurred. They will also take note of factors such as light, heat, noise and proximity to others.
Bush said the data should reveal important insights into individual behaviour.
Click here to help the charity’s fundraising efforts.
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