Fast and effective assessment for individuals with special needs form optimization and prediction models

The aim of this study was to determine which items in the psychological assessment forms used by counselling and research centres for individuals with special needs are effective in classifying individuals into special needs diagnostic categories. Data were obtained from the psychological assessment request forms of 1814 individuals aged 6 to 12 years who were referred to the centre between 2019 and 2023 with suspected special needs and who were classified as having special needs based on psychological and developmental assessments. In addition, we wanted to develop new predictive models using machine learning methods based on these items. Optimizing the psychological assessment application form so that it contains fewer questions may help to make the assessment process faster and more effective. It is expected that the results of this study will make an important contribution to saving time and energy for experts and individuals.