Pirates Assessment Tool
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pilot Study to Investigate the Potential use of the Pirate Adventure Social Communication Assessment Tool as an Adjunct to Current Initial Assessment of a Child Referred with Social Communication Difficulties.
IRAS ID
217234
Contact name
William Farr
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 18 days
Research summary
Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) affect at least 1.1 % of the population (CDC, 2014). NICE recommends that diagnosis requires a multidisciplinary team assessment, obtaining information from various settings including home and school, as well as testing for evidence of autistic behaviours and/or patterns of thinking (NICE, 2011). A number of tools have been developed to aid this process including observational tools such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). This is a lengthy process, our own study of practice in UK suggesting this takes around 13 hours of professional time to complete, costing around £800 per child (Galliver et al., in submission). Most teams (10/12) employed a two-stage process including an initial screening clinic determining the need for the full multidisciplinary diagnostic assessment. Diagnostic services are reporting increasing pressure to meet the growing level of demand, frequently resulting in waiting times of between 6 months and 2 years to complete an assessment (Autism Achieve Alliance, 2014).
This study aims to pilot a new digital tool, developed by the research team, which incorporates a number of psychometric tests used in diagnostic assessment. It is in the format of a pirate adventure game, that can be used at the initial assessment alongside history taking, screening questionnaires (e.g. SCQ), and information collected from educational settings. The assessment takes 10 minutes to complete and initial clinical experience suggests it provides useful additional information about the child.
This study will pilot the use of the tool in children attending an initial assessment clinic and in typically developing children attending a local primary school.REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/2138
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion