ASTRID

Portfolio for the Assessment, Treatment and Integration of Disabilities

Salvatore Soresi and Laura Nota
University of Padua

GENERAL OVERVIEW

ASTRID brings together a series of tools elaborated within the Centro di Ateneo di Servizi e Ricerca Handicap, Disabilità e Riabilitazione dell’Università di Padova and experimented in activities of consultancy and supervision in numerous rehabilitation services in Northern and Central Italy.
Essential aspects for leading a relatively autonomous and independent life relate to basic cognitive capacities, the capacity to perform movements and to get around, to receive and transmit signals and messages, to maintain essential relations with the persons in one’s own circle, to manage personal care and nutrition and care of the living environment, and to perform even simple tasks required by the school or work environment. The sectors explored by ASTRID, therefore, relate primarily to

• social and personal functioning,
• adaptation, self-determination,
• the quality of life
• community integration.

KEY FEATURES

• Aimed at integration: provides operators with the means for integrating the disabled person into the scholastic, working or everyday context.
• Portfolio structure: the 50 tools can be used independently of each other, making it possible to select on each occasion those most suitable for a specific context.
• Reference to ICF (functional diagnosis): provides personalised reports which, through standardised and/or criteria-based scores, enable a diagnosis of the functioning of the subject.
• Treatment assessment: the tests are designed to monitor and optimise decisions and measures related to the qualification/rehabilitation of the subject.
• Multimodal testing thanks to the possibility of having “cross-referenced” assessments of the subject with self and hetero-assessments of the investigated areas.
• Assessment of the quality of life of the caregivers, because a greater sense of self-efficacy enables them to help the disabled subject better.
  

STRUCTURE

The tools of ASTRID are collected in three volumes:

Portfolio A
1. Assessment of the functional skills in everyday life (resources and strong points) and of the weak points (disadaptive behaviour, cognitive deterioration and psycho-pathological problems) of disabled adolescents or adults benefiting from treatments scheduled by health-social and educational services.
Assessment of the quality of life, for an estimate of the levels of satisfaction of persons with disabilities (self and hetero-assessments of the caregivers), their operators and relatives (self-assessment).

Functional skills

• VaLiAb: assessment of the level of ability of subjects with intellectual disabilities (questionnaire: adults)

Weak points

• VaCoDis: assessment of disadaptive behaviour (checklist: all ages)
• QDRM – Questionnaire for the Assessment of Deterioration in Mental Retardation (questionnaire: adults)
• FBF Schedule: assessment of psycho-pathological problems (questionnaire: adults)

Quality of life

• My life as a student: analysis of the quality of scholastic life (questionnaire: 11-19 year-olds)
• QdV – Questionnaire on the Quality of Life (adults)
• QdVarm-O/QdVarm-G: hetero-assessment scales for quality of life (operators and parents) (questionnaire: adults)
• Grid for analysis of objective living conditions (checklist: adolescents and adults)
• Operators’ satisfaction (questionnaire)
• Working with disabled persons: analysis of levels of professional self-efficacy (questionnaire)
• My life as a parent: analysis of the quality of life of parents (questionnaire)
• How much self-confidence do I have? analysis of parents’ beliefs about their efficacy

2. Assessment of social skills through both direct (observation grids of the interactions, grids for the analysis of role play and relational problem-solving), and indirect observation (questionnaires for self and hetero-assessment of the caregivers) of disabled persons of all ages.
Assessment of scholastic integration through both direct (observation grids of the interactions) and indirect observation (sociometric surveys and questionnaire for analysis of scholastic integration).
Assessment of the self-determination (autonomous decision-making capacities) of disabled persons aged 11 and over.
These tools facilitate the programming of qualification/rehabilitation activities, as well as providing information on the quality of the experiences of inclusion and integration of the disabled persons.

Social skills (direct observation)

• Grid of direct observation of play behaviour, in pre-school contexts and in protected contexts (3 grids: children, adolescents and adults)
• Role-play assessment for three different types of activity: expressing a wish, a different opinion and dealing with others’ insistence (3 grids: children, adolescents and adults)
• Relational problem-solving for children with and without slight cognitive difficulties and for adults with slight cognitive difficulties (3 grids)

Social skills (indirect observation)

• How do I behave with others? self-assessment of social skills (questionnaire; 8-19 year-olds)
• VAS/VASarm: hetero-assessment of social skills, for children aged 3 and over and adolescents (VAS) and for adults with intellectual disabilities (VASarm) (questionnaires)
• Checklist for the analysis of assertive behaviour (all ages)

Scholastic integration (direct observation)

• Direct observation grid of the interaction between disabled and non-disabled subjects in scholastic contexts, of task-centred and non task-centred behaviour, of integration in the class group and teacher-pupil integration (4 grids: children and adolescents)

Scholastic integration (indirect observation)

• Sociometric matrix for the analysis of scholastic integration (grid: children and adolescents)
• QAIS – Questionnaire for the Analysis of Scholastic Integration for classes with and without disabled persons (children and adolescents)

Self-determination

• SVA 11-19 anni/SVAarm – Self-determination Assessment Scales (questionnaires: adolescents and adults)
  

3. Portfolio for the orientation of disabled persons aged 11 and over, aimed at professional integration, with particular relevance for the contribution made by the employment to boosting the level of autonomy of the persons with impairment and the enhancement of satisfaction with life. The majority of the tools are accompanied by semi-structured interviews to be proposed to relatives or other significant figures.
Protocol for the assessment of professional development with presentation of case studies.

Representation of work, study and leisure time

• My present and my future (self-assessment) and The present and the future of _____ (hetero-assessment): an introduction to orientation activities (questionnaires: adolescents and adults)
• Ideas and attitudes on scholastic-professional future (questionnaire;11-19 year-olds)
• Thoughts about the future: assessment of irrational ideas (questionnaire: age 17 and over)

Self-efficacy

• How much self-confidence do I have? (questionnaire; 11-19 year olds)

Problem-solving

• Do I know how to tackle my problems? (questionnaire; 11-19 year-olds)

Decion-making styles

• ADMQ/MDMQ – Adolescent/Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (questionnaire; 11-19 year-olds)
• Assessment of decision-making styles: addressing the phenomenon of indecision, with an estimate of the degree of uncertainty shown (grid:11-19 year-olds)

Interests and values

• My future job (11-14 year-olds)/ My preferences for the future (15-19 year-olds)/ Obstacles and support (15-19 year-olds): to highlight professional preferences, also considering obstacles and resources (questionnaires)
• My professional values (11-19 year-olds)/Styles and motivations for work (15-19 year-olds): to assess motivations and expectations of satisfaction in relation to future employment (questionnaires)

Social skills

• Social behaviour in the workplace/ Working relations/ Social competence in the workplace: direct observation of the social skills related to work (grids: adolescents and adults)
  

THE MATERIALS

All the questionnaires, checklists, semi-structured interviews and observation grids, with respective personalised reports, are prototypes for which authorisation is given for reproduction by photocopying. Each tool comes complete with manual and the criteria for correction and interpretation.