The ICF as an evaluation metalanguage in the various assessment tools: the interaction between person and environment through a multi-level matrix structure


Abstract

The ICF, as a conceptual coordinator, is able to guide the methods of collaboration within the learning environments. It is presented as an expression of the capability approach. In the current analysis we intend to highlight the elements of the multidimensional and multi-perspective language of the ICf, where each string is presented as an alphanumeric code, capable of providing information located within a multi-level matrix structure. Therefore, the ICF's ability to express bio-psycho-social aspects emerges, with particular regard to the interaction between person and environment (environmental factors), portraying the intersubjective dimension of functioning, through the use of qualifiers that evaluate the degree of difficulty, making it explicit through the use of an ordinal scale. The topic of the discussion is therefore the elements of the ICF capable of characterizing it, in the models of individualized educational plans, as an evaluation meta-language of the various assessment tools; the current analysis is in fact conducted with the aim of highlighting the universal character of this language and its articulated matrix structure, a model capable of favoring the intelligibility of existing or produced phenomena, and therefore the operational definition of the intervention objectives . The research and identification of similar elements, in the following exposition, is conducted by analyzing the structure and tools of the ICF, a language used by medical and social disciplines.