Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Timely diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an important step for the implementation of individualized interventions that require a detailed assessment of the child's behavioral characteristics. Effective diagnostics should be complemented by a comprehensive assessment of the child's needs in everyday life, which helps ensure the relevance and adequacy of rehabilitation interventions. Physical therapy (PT) plays an important role in the rehabilitation process for children with ASD. A physical therapist collects information, conducts assessments, formulates goals together with the child and his or her family, develops an individualized program of interventions, and evaluates their effectiveness. At the same time, there are no standardized approaches to assessing and monitoring the quality of physical therapy for children with ASD in Ukraine, which creates difficulties for the consistent use of examination results and rehabilitation practices in different institutions. The aim is to substantiate the quality control system of physical therapy for children with ASD, taking into account the model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The literature sources, scientific research and rehabilitation standards were analyzed to determine a set of indicators and assessment tools that can serve as criteria for quality control of physical therapy in children with autism spectrum disorders. Assessment tools play an important role in physical therapy for children with ASD, as they provide an objective analysis of the child's current condition, help identify individual needs and determine the initial goals of rehabilitation. The assessment results become the basis for building an effective therapeutic program. Assessment tools according to the ICF domains related to body functions and activity and participation (b147, b156, b210-b270, b710-b780, d210-d250, d510-d572, d710-d799, d910-d950) that can be used at different stages of control (preliminary, current, intermediate, final and corrective), and their ability to help ensure quality control of the therapeutic process by adapting intervention methods to the specific needs of the child, were reviewed. However, out of twenty-one assessment instruments, only one has been translated into Ukrainian, namely the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). The Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) translated into Ukrainian can serve as an analog of the Balance test. However, these two instruments are not enough to ensure full quality control of physical therapy. All other examination tools have not yet been translated and adapted for use in Ukraine. A unified system of assessment and monitoring of physical therapy for children with ASD provides high-quality diagnosis of motor skills, identification of specific disorders, formulation of individual therapeutic goals and tracking of developmental dynamics. This increases the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and allows us to adapt the approach to the needs of each child. Standardization of assessment can be achieved through the use of the categories of the ICF core set and appropriate tools. To improve the quality of physical therapy for children with ASD, the use of standardized assessment tools should be expanded. In particular, additional tools should be translated and adapted to help objectively assess various aspects of the development and progress of children with ASD.
Source: Art of Medicine
Authors: Л. І. Басенко, К. А. Тимрук-Скоропад
Institution: Lviv State University of Physical Culture
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409075092