Profiling and Assessment

Research Projects

Unpacking The Portsmouth Neurodiversity Profiling Tool: An evaluation of training and profile outcomes

The Neurodiversity (ND) Profiling tool and ND Pathway is a needs-led model launched and funded by Portsmouth City Council that has been used by local schools. It was co-produced by psychologists, teachers, parents, young people, and clinicians to help families and professionals work together to understand a child’s unique strengths and challenges and plan support that fits the individual. The aim of this project is to evaluate this tool, the training provided to professionals, and the outcomes of this scheme.

In a first study we evaluate the training provided to professionals on the ND Profiling tool using a survey. You can read the report.

In a second study we are conducting a large-scale analysis of around 1,000 profiles collected by the Portsmouth City Council with the aim of understanding how the profiling is supporting the needs of local children and their families. The findings of this research will be published here in due time.

To find out more about this project, please contact Dr Iris Nomikou at iris.nomikou@port.ac.uk.

Tracing the effects of a needs-led Neurodiversity Pathway to develop robust outcome measures: a stakeholder-led approach

In this project, which is funded by the Wessex Health Partnership, we aim to capture the outcome priorities of early support approaches for different stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and clinical professionals. In this project we expand to the entire footprint of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with a series of community engagement events exploring the experiences and perspectives of different stakeholders. The summaries of these events will be published here in due time.

To find out more about this project, or get involved, please contact Dr Iris Nomikou at iris.nomikou@port.ac.uk.

Evaluating clinician-child conversations during ADOS online assessments

This project analyses video recordings during online ADOS-2 assessment, looking at the conversations generated by different questions in the test. Overall, the project suggests that the ADOS-2 does not facilitate a natural conversation, that clinicians diverge in the way they use the test, and that final reports may misrepresent children’s communicative abilities. Read the PhD thesis abstract here and the PhD thesis here.

To find out more about this project, or get involved, please contact Dr Leanne Chrisostomou at leanne.chrisostomou@port.ac.uk.

Identifying social pragmatic skills in children

This PhD project aims to develop principles for the assessment of social pragmatic communication skills in interactive contexts. To bring coherence in the field, as a first step we are conducting a scoping review to understand existing definitions of social pragmatic skills (SPS), their theoretical underpinnings, and how they have been operationalised in existing assessments. This work has been registered and will become available here (OSF pre-registration).

Following this, a new approach for speech and language therapists will be designed and trialled, evaluating children's social pragmatic skills. The PhD project is hosted at the University of Portsmouth but the empirical work is carried out in Vienna, Austria.

To find out more about this project, or get involved, please contact Melanie Trojan at melanie.trojan@port.ac.uk.

Interaction and "play" in assessments with children with Down Syndrome

For standardised assessments to work, children need to engage with them, understand the tasks, and persist across lengthy repetitive activities. For this project we have analysed interactions between children with Down syndrome and assessors during the Bayley's test (in this paper) and the KBIT-2 test. We have observed that children's participation is low, and the overall picture of their abilities may not be reliable.

To find out more about this project, or get involved, please contact Dr Alessandra Fasulo at alessandra.fasulo@port.ac.uk.

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