The use and validity of the International Classification of Functioning disability and health (ICF) as a common language for describing inclusive educational settings is known (Maxwell et al., 2018). Participation can be considered as a bi-dimensional phenomena on a spectrum with the frequency of attendance at one end, and the intensity of the involved experience at the other. However, difficulties measuring participation suggest that a broader number of measures need to be used when trying to capture the phenomena (Augustine et al., 2021). While taking a specific focus on investigating participation through the ICF as one aspect of inclusion gives an improved understanding of participation as a measure of inclusion, we need a more precise measuring tool. This paper will present data from the Swedish survey study Longitudinal Research on Development in Adolescence (LoRDIA) where adolescents with and without self-reported neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) were followed from 12/13 to 17 years, in three waves. Mental health problems were measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, and well-being was measured with the Mental Health Continuum short form. The paper aims to further refine the measurement of participation and provide suggestions for good practice when measuring participation for inclusion. Specifically, the following research question will be used: In what way can a measure of participation be practically improved as a tool for investigating inclusion? Initial results from the LoRDIA data suggest that in order to more effectively capture participation items representing both the frequency of attendance and the intensity of involvement need to not only both be present but also need to be consistently employed throughout any measuring process. This should be done by increasing the variety and number of measurement points. Care also needs to be taken to avoid either being inadvertently removed at any stage, particularly when working with longitudinal data where missed data at one or more time-points can render the investigation less useful. Consistent implementation throughout a study is thus essential to providing an enhanced approach to measuring participation and should be considered in any future revisions of the ICF—a so-called “ICF-2”. Doing so would thus create a more accountable classification framework that succeeds in capturing the involvement experience of the individual and in doing so achieves a more effective and useful classification framework for the field of inclusive education.

Lilly Augustine, Frida Lygnegård & Mats Granlund (2021) Trajectories of participation, mental health, and mental health problems in adolescents with self-reported neurodevelopmental disorders, Disability and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2021.1955304 Maxwell, G. R., Granlund, M., & Augustine, L. (2018, June). Inclusion through participation: understanding participation in the international classification of functioning, disability, and health as a methodological research tool for investigating inclusion. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 3, p. 41). Frontiers. Front. Educ., 12 June 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00041