More individualized understanding, assessment and support for people with autism and ADHD

Researchers in this project aim to identify and integrate personal factors into functional descriptions of autism and ADHD. The idea is to aid more effective individualized understanding, assessment and support for children, adolescents and adults with autism and ADHD.

Neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD are complex disabilities affecting social, emotional and cognitive functions.

Biomedical models centered on diagnosis and symptoms have dominated scientific understanding of, and the practical approach to, neurodevelopmental conditions in healthcare, education and the labor market. However, it is increasingly evident that a biomedical perspective on autism and ADHD is not optimally suited to capture the inherent diversity of individuals with these conditions and to provide effective assessment and support. The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) offers a holistic framework to address these shortcomings.

The project group at the Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), in collaboration with the WHO, has previously developed ICF Core Sets for autism and ADHD. These have been validated, operationalized and implemented.

The ICF Core Sets may be seen as an abridged version of the ICF classification for autism and ADHD, containing only the most important and relevant functional descriptions for these diagnoses.

Core Sets are ICF tools adapted for specific conditions. However, feedback from individuals with these conditions suggests that Core Sets may capture the complexity of functional abilities in autism and ADHD even better if personal factors are added. These include characteristics such as age, gender, lifestyle, identity, spirituality, intrinsic motivation, and similar aspects that can help understand individual diversity and make it easier to find personalized approaches to assessment and support. These factors are not currently included in the ICF Core Sets.