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Autonomic Dysregulation in ASD

Overview

Atypical autonomic reactivity is a common feature in ASD. Research consistently shows:

  • Blunted EDA responses in children with ASD during stress (Airij 2020 — 75% SVM accuracy classifying ASD vs typical from EDA alone)
  • Hypoactive sympathetic response during stressing events
  • Parasympathetic deficits — difficulty down-regulating after arousal
  • Delayed recovery is a hallmark — the meltdown signature

Signal Considerations

Because ASD physiology is atypical, models trained on neurotypical populations may not transfer directly:

  1. ASD may show attenuated physiological reactivity despite normal subjective distress (dissociation pattern)
  2. Detection thresholds calibrated for neurotypical populations may miss ASD-specific signals
  3. Person-dependent models consistently outperform global models (Goodwin, Imbiriba)

Relevance to Meltdown Minder

The dissociation between subjective distress and autonomic response means: - EDA signals may be weaker in ASD — HRV features may be more reliable - WHOOP's HRV (beat-to-beat R-R intervals) may have an advantage over EDA-only approaches - Person-dependent models are essential, not optional

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