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According to biomedical science, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions and communication, as well as severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior [41]. The diagnostic criteria for ASD included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) [41], refer to ASD as a single diagnosis category that includes autistic disorder (autism), Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified [41]. Autism is a very specific difference in the ability to read social cues, understand social interaction, and respond appropriately. In general terms, the level of cognitive ability, intelligence, perception, use of language, degree of withdrawal, excitability, self-injury, and physical appearance will vary greatly in autistic persons [43]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ASD occurs in 1 in 68 children and is almost five times more common among boys than girls: 1 in 42 boys versus 1 in 189 girls. While autism affects

Ethical issues of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are important because they can have significant effects on human liberty, happiness, and people’s ability to lead a good life. They are also of functional interest because they can determine whether technologies are used and whether their positive potential can unfold. For these reasons, policy makers are interested in finding out what these issues are and how they can be addressed. The best way of creating ICT policy that is sensitive to ethical issues pertain to being proactive in addressing such issues at an early stage of the technology life cycle. The present paper uses this position as a starting point and discusses how knowledge of ethical aspects of emerging ICTs can be gained. It develops a methodology that goes beyond established futures methodologies to cater for the difficult nature of ethical issues. The authors outline how the description of emerging ICTs can be used for an ethical analysis.