Acceptability and Usability of the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) CoreSets for Autism platform: Evaluation by UK Adults

A diagnosis of autism does not provide sufficient information to understand how the world is experienced by an Autistic person. The World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning (ICF) Core Sets for Autism provides a framework from which a more in-depth understanding of an Autistic person’s profile of strengths and needs can be acquired. This is the first UK evaluation of the ICF CoreSets for Autism platform, an operationalization of the ICF Core Sets for Autism via an online assessment. In Study 1, 20 Autistic adults were supported to complete the assessment, provide feedback via think-aloud interviews and to evaluate it. In Study 2, which was pre-registered, 464 Autistic adults and 481 Non-Autistic adults completed the assessment independently online and evaluated it. Both studies used a participatory approach. Using standardised questionnaires both studies found the assessment “acceptable” and found usability to be “ok” or better. This was also true for subgroups of Autistic adults who expressed clinically significant autistic traits, anxiety or depression, those from minoritised ethnicities, older adults and who were unemployed. The findings suggest the ICF CoreSets for Autism platform has potential as a standardised evidence-based tool to improve understanding of Autistic adults’ strengths and needs.