Gonna make you a star

How the world’s first autism outcomes measurement tool, the Spectrum Star, was created. Sue Hahn reports. Scarecrow competitions, Women’s Institute meetings and exercise classes. These are the kind of events usually hosted by the village hall in Wyboston, Bedfordshire. But on one spring afternoon in 2010 the hall held a distinctly different event – the first workshop to develop a tool that could change how autism services are evaluated. The workshop, attended by about 40 service users and professionals, was one of three that culminated in the launch this year of the Spectrum Star, the first outcomes measurement tool to