Assessing functioning of children on the autism spectrum is necessary to determine the level of support they require to participate in everyday activities across contexts.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a comprehensive biopsychosocial framework recommended for classifying health-related functioning in a holistic manner, across the components of body functions, activities and participation, and environmental factors.

The ICF Core Sets (ICF-CSs) are sub-sets of relevant codes from the broader framework that provide a basis for developing condition-specific measures. This study combined the ICF-CSs for autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cerebral palsy (CP) to validate the ICF-CSs for autism in an Australian sample of school-aged children.

This cross-sectional study involved caregivers of school-aged children on the spectrum (n = 70) completing an online survey and being visited in their homes by an occupational therapist to complete the proxy-report measure based on the ICF-CSs for autism, ADHD and CP. Absolute and relative frequencies of ratings for each of the codes included in the measure were calculated and reported, along with the number of participants who required clarification to understand the terminology used.

Findings indicate that the body functions and activities and participation represented in the ICF-CSs for autism were the most applicable for the sample. However, findings relating to environmental factors were less conclusive. Some codes not currently included in the ICF-CSs for autism may warrant further investigation, and the language used in measures based on the ICF-CSs should be revised to ensure clarity.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38400895/

The pod now has many (thousands!) of new listeners and we decided to bring forward our annual Q and A session with the hosts of the show.

A little more backstory of each host, a look back at why we do what we do, some incredible highlights you might have missed and why the pod is a firm proponent of evidence based practices.

We cover off many topics, including:

Is the podcast a full-time gig?

What the difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed practice is,

Qualitative research and the rich benefits of it's implementation,

The often overlooked concept of maturation,

The view of pain and discomfort in therapy - the good and the bad,

Hands-on vs hand-off approach and the top-down and bottom-up philosophies,

Our scientific stance on manual facilitation techniques and why we have a section on the website that is dedicated to our conversation with the DMI (Dynamic Movement Intervention) founder(s).

It's about why research both matters and why ResearchWorks! 😉


We still plan on bringing you some incredible interviews with amazing researchers over the last 7 episodes of the year, culminating in our historic 200th episode milestone, so be sure to stayed tuned!

LEAP-CP stands for Learning through Everyday Activities with Parents, an early detection and intervention program that adapts the international clinical practice guideline for early detection and intervention in CP for low and middle income countries.

In this paper, LEAP-CP was tested in an RCT with Asha Bhavan Centre in India from 2019 to 2019 and has continued implementation since 2021. This study aimed to determine the acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, penetration, retention and fidelity of LEAP CP at the Asha Bhavan Centre in India.

Golam Moula is the Research Project Coordinator, working in the field of rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy at a national level Indian Organisation - Asha Bhavan Centre.

He manages the LEAP CP, a randomised controlled trial of Early Intervention for infants with cerebral palsy in collaboration with the University of Queensland and is managing the ongoing implementation of the LEAP CP Program.