Assessment of Skills in Primary School Children with ASD. The “Tutor’s Compass” Diagnostic Tool. Part 1

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objectives. </strong>To individualize interventions during tutoring support for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), an assessment of the skills necessary for group learning is conducted. In Russia, there are no diagnostic tools specifically developed for tutors that consider the unique nature of their tasks. The presented tool, “Tutor’s Compass,” is designed to address diagnostic challenges in providing support to primary school students with ASD.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods. </strong>The diagnostic tool “Tutor’s Compass” is a questionnaire completed by the tutor or another psychological or educational support professional. It allows to assess the skill development in primary school students and to describe the forms of challenging behavior observed during the demonstration of these skills. The tool was tested on a group of 20 primary school students with ASD. The obtained data were compared with the results of adaptive behavior assessment using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results. </strong>The “Tutor’s Compass” tool revealed the significant variability in skill acquisition within the studied group (the proportions of mastered skills varied 0.26-1 across scales). The scales of the questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency (each scale Cronbach’s alpha exceeds 0.9). Significant correlations were found between the “Tutor’s Compass” scales and the main scales of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions. </strong>The “Tutor’s Compass” allows the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the skills development necessary for group teaching of primary school children with ASD over a wide range and can be used to develop the individual interventions plans.</p>