What is the Integrative Cognitive Profiling Tool?
The Integrative Cognitive Profiling (ICP) Framework, developed by Dr. Elizabeth Guest, is a powerful tool designed to go beyond surface symptoms and uncover the underlying reasons behind an individual’s cognitive strengths and challenges. It focuses on understanding how different cognitive areas—such as sensory processing, thinking and learning styles, and cognitive processing—interact to create a complete picture of the individual. The complete list of cognitive areas is shown in the diagram below.
This Integrative Cognitive Profiling Framework was originally designed to cover the vast range of different difficulties within autism - the range that makes each individual’s autism unique. It was then discovered that by describing the whole breadth of autism, we had in fact described the cognitive diversity of the whole of humanity. Note that this excludes mental health although it can indicate where cognition is contributing to mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.
The key strength of the Integrative Cognitive Profiling Framework is the ‘integrative’ part. This means that it explores how the different identified components combine and interact to explain all the cognitive strengths and weaknesses interact to make up the wholistic cognitive profile of an individual. It is this that creates the power of this framework and which distinguishes it from other cognitive profiling tools.
Rather than just identifying behaviours , the Integrative Cognitive Profiling Framework seeks to explain why certain difficulties or strengths arise. It looks at the root causes of behaviour and how various cognitive elements work together, offering a holistic understanding of the individual. This comprehensive insight enables parents, carers, and professionals to create more targeted and effective strategies for supporting the development of children. Through understanding a person as a complete cognitive individual, you can be significantly more targeted and effective in implementing strategies and adjustments.
A simpler version can be applied to teams via interactive workshops which enables participants to understand how they and different team members think differently. This enables team members to work together more effectively and efficiently. Because people feel valued for what they are able to offer it also improves well being. Because a culture of making reasonable adjustments for everyone is developed, those who have diagnosable cognitive differences are accommodated with little extra effort and without being singled out. In addition, they feel appreciated for what they can do well rather than berated for what they can’t do.