Yes and no. Again, I think there will be, but I don't think it will be from any one test, but some combination of several. An "autism spectrum panel" of tests, if you will. The reason we have the long list of "associations" is because we have studied autistics and found commonality in genetics, epigenetics, anatomy, and physiology. Autism, like many other conditions and syndromes, can be diagnosed medically and/or psychologically, if say, it meets not all, but a majority of the criteria. An example: In my world of neonatal medicine, there is a syndrome or sequence we call VACTERL. If a baby is born with Vertebral, Anal, Cardiac, Thoracic, Esophageal, Renal, and Limb abnormalities, they have VACTERL. However, the presentation is highly variable and if the baby has 5 or 6 out of the 7, it can still be considered VACTERL. So it is with autism, every one of us with diagnosed autism has been tested in some way, psychologically, but despite the commonalities that resulted in the autism diagnosis, the testing results comparing us may be variable, hence, what we call "the spectrum".
So, I am thinking right now, given known common ASD genetic and epigenetic and RNA biomarkers, known common anatomical markers, and known common behavioral components, even though not any one test is conclusive, especially given the inherent variability in presentation, there could be an "autism spectrum panel" made up of several tests (genetic, neuroimaging, neurodiagnostic, and psychological). When I use the term "common", this like saying "most", but not all. One may question the need for this, but in the interest of accuracy and specificity, for scientific knowledge, for personal knowledge, I believe this to be important.
When I said in my initial response that there appears to be a convergence or list of factors that make up the "autistic brain", I would hold that statement to be true, regardless of the truth that not all autistic brains are structurally the same.
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