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VB-MAPP
Verbal Behavior Milestones
Assessment and Placement
Program
What is it???
• Developed by Dr. Mark Sundberg
• Based on the B.F. Skinner’s functional analysis of
language/verbal behavior
• A criterion-referenced assessment
• Designed to provide a representative sample of a
child’s existing verbal and related skills
• 170 Milestones from 16 skill areas over 3
Developmental levels (0-18, 18-30, 30-48 months)
• Also includes:
– Barriers Assessment
– Transition Assessment
– Task Analysis
– Placement & Writing IEP Goals
For whom is this appropriate?
• Students with language delays that
significantly impact their learning
– Young children
– Students with moderate to severe
learning impairments
– Individuals with developmental
language abilities at or below 48
months. (4 years)
Who can give this test?
• The assessment uses verbal behavior
terms so it is important for the tester to
have a functional understanding of
behavioral principles, VB, basic linguistic
structure, etc.
• But it doesn’t have to be an SLP…
• And it doesn’t have to be just one person.
After reviewing this assessment, do you feel
you have the skills necessary to
administer this assessment?
What is it good for?
• Ascertaining developmental language abilities
and needs
• Documentation of student progress over time
• Identifying factors that may hinder a child’s
progress
• Highlighting factors for consideration in
determining least restrictive environment
• “The VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment is
designed to identify the existing language and
related skills for children with autism and
other developmental disabilities” (p15).
What does it measure?
• 16 Milestones – Levels 1, 2, & 3
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Mands
Tacts
Intraverbals
Echoics
Motor Imitation
Reading (Textual Behavior)
Spelling (Transcription)
Listener Responding
Listener Responding by Function, Feature, and Class (LRFFC)
Visual Perceptual/Match to Sample (VP-MTS)
Independent Play
Social Behavior & Social play
Spontaneous Vocal Behavior
Classroom Routines & Group Skills
Linguistic Structure
Math
How do I give this test?
• Each item should be administered using the procedures
laid out in the guide. (see codes above)
• Formal administration of test items
• Direct observation of child
• Interviews with parents and others who know the child
well
• Can be done over several sessions
• There are no time limits for completing the whole
assessment
• The parent can be present during the assessment
• Formal testing and observations can be conducted in a
classroom, home or community.
• See the Tips for the Tester on pg 19 & 20
Materials
A list of suggested materials is presented on pages 21 & 22 of the guide.
You can find most all of the materials needed in a preschool classroom.
We also have the ABLLS kit in each district that contains a number of useful materials.
From your study guides we saw that there would be a need to get Child-specific
reinforcers, pictures of family members and most people did not have access to an
Environmental Sounds activity.
Milestones Assessment
• 170 Measurable learning & language
Milestones
• 3 Developmental Levels
– 0-18 months
– 18-30 months
– 30-48 months
Pages 6- 14 give an overview of the 16 Milestones
Areas – you reviewed them with the study guide.
Share comments regarding skills in Levels 1, 2, 3
from what was observed while completing the
study guide.
Milestones Assessment Scoring
• Assign a score of 0, ½, 1 based
on criteria given in the guide
• If a skill is obviously too easy
for a child it can be marked
without thorough testing.
• If a student misses 3 skills in a
row it is reasonable to stop
testing in that area.
• Scores are recorded for each
item and for the whole section
in the protocol and transferred
onto the Master Scoring Form
• There is room for up
to 4 assessments on
this form
• Use a different color
for each
administration
• The circle below each
section is used to
indicate that the skill
was tested but that
the child didn’t
receive any points for
that section
Early Echoic Skills Assessment (EESA)
by Barbara Esch
• Anyone can administer this subtest, but an SLP may
obtain the most optimal results
• Ask the child to repeat each test item
• Enter the appropriate point score
• 1 point – all sounds are correct
• .5 point - if echoic response is recognizable but
incorrect consonants, missing consonants or extra
syllables
• 0 points – no response, incorrect vowels, deleted
syllables
• Give up to 3 trials, scoring the best response
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT
• Identifies factors which may be impeding a
child’s progress towards learning and
language acquisition.
• 24 factors, described with scoring instructions
beginning on page 99 of your manual
• Identified factors can be directly addressed
through learning objectives, etc.
• “Once a specific barrier has been identified, a
more detailed descriptive and/or functional
analysis of that problem is required.”
You all looked at the 24 areas with your study guide
– any comments/questions?
Barriers Assessment Scoring
• Assign a score from 0 to
4 based on criteria
identified for each
barrier.
• Transfer scores from
each barrier to the
Barriers Assessment
Scoring Form
Sample Barriers Assessment
• A score of 1 suggests that an
occasional problem exists and
should be monitored.
• A score of 2 suggests that a
moderate problem exists and
further analysis and possibly
an intervention program
should be considered.
• A score of 3 indicates that a
persistent problem exists and
is in need of a behavioral
analysis and formal
intervention program.
• A score of 4 indicates a severe
problem exists and there is a
need for analysis and formal
intervention.
TRANSITION ASSESSMENT
• There are 18 measurable areas identified on that can help
educators and parents make decisions and set priorities.
• Looks at 3 main categories of performance (p128)
– VB-MAPP scores and academic independence
– Learning patterns
– Self-help, spontaneity, and self-directions
• Does not attempt to determine placement for a child,
repeatedly states that this is the responsibility of the IEP team
• In general, higher scores indicate a greater potential for
success and independence in a less restrictive environment
• “The general goal is to base the decision on the child’s ability to
learn and make meaningful progress in the chosen setting”
(146).
• “The purpose of the Transition Assessment is to provide those
making decisions with data about the child that might assist in
the process” (146).
Transition Assessment Scoring
• Assign a score from 0-5
based on criteria
identified for each item
• Some scores come from
the Milestones or
Barriers assessment
• Transfer scores from
each item to the
Transition Scoring Form
Sample Transition Assessment
• “The results from the three
categories should be weighed
differently” (146).
• Decisions are the sole
responsibility of the child’s IEP
Team
• In general if a child scores:
– 0-2 may need more individualized
& intense teaching sessions,
higher teacher/student ration
– 4-5 may benefit from a classroom
with lower teacher/student
ratios, teaching format closer to
that used for typically developing
children, but still uses behavioral
methodology
Task Analysis
Located in the Protocol
It is not a required piece of the assessment
Broken down into the same 3 developmental areas
Presented in the same color as each area of the
Milestones assessment
• Contains approximately 900 skills covering 16 areas
of the VB-MAPP
• Gives a breakdown for most of the milestones being
assessed in Levels 1, 2, & 3
• Serves as an ongoing learning and language skills
curriculum guide
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Interpreting the Results
• "The results of the Milestones Assessment,
the Barriers Assessment, and the Transition
Assessment provide a comprehensive
overview of the child and can be used to
design an individualized intervention
program. These three assessments identify
what skills a child needs to acquire,
and what language and learning barriers need
to be reduced or removed in order to move
the child forward" (Guide p147).
Three steps are shared when interpreting the
VB-MAPP results.
• First, you need to identify the general level of
the child.
• Second, you need to analyze the scores in
each of the skill areas and their relation to the
child’s performance in other areas. You
should look for strengths and weaknesses.
• The third step is to look for a balance across
all of the skills areas for each level.
Interpreting the Results
• Chapters 8, 9 & 10 provide information on how to
interpret the results and use them to:
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Determine the general level of the child
Look for strengths and weakness
Look for balance across skill areas
Determine appropriate teaching style
Determine intensity of the intervention
Write IEP goals
• “By identifying milestones, the focus of the
intervention program can be sharper and the
direction clearer, making it easier to write IEP goals”
(26). What do you think?
VBMAPP Sample Level 1 Profile
• Focus primarily on:
– Establishing mands,
echoics, motor imitation,
listener discriminations,
tacts and visual perceptual
and matching skills.
– Play & Social Skills
– Spontaneous Vocalizations
• More intensive teaching
format may be
recommended
VBMAPP Sample Level 2 Profile
• Still an early learner but
beginning to show some
solid learning and
language skills
• Focus primarily on
expanding the skills they
have in a variety of ways
• Teaching style should still
primarily consist of
intensive teaching format.
NET and less structured
teaching methods should
be gradually introduced
VBMAPP Sample Level 3 Profile
• Demonstrating a solid
foundation of skills
• Allows for more
advanced language,
social and academic
instruction
• Intervention should
focus on expanding,
teaching and
generalizing a variety of
skills
Tips & Tricks to Share
• Located on the website
– New 240 Word List
– Intraverbal Subtest
– Verb list
• VBMAPP Ipad App – some of you looked at
that resource.
• Projects the Autism Teacher Leaders are
workign on
Reflection Comments
• Positives
– gives good information once you get it
– Includes tools to look at behavior and transitions
• Negatives/Challenges
– Criteria is not in the protocol
– Cumbersome – sometimes hard to understand
– Have to come up with lists of words to check for
ABLLS-R vs VB-MAPP
How are they Similar &
How are they Different???
A BRIEF HISTORY
Teaching Verbal Behavior to the Developmentally Disabled
(1990)
Dr. Mark Sundberg
Assessment of Basic
Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS)
(1998)
Dr. Mark Sundberg & Dr. James Partington
Assessment of Basic
Language and Learning Skills-Revised
(ABLLS-R)
(2006)
Dr. James Partington
Verbal Behavior Milestones
Assessment and Placement Program
(VB-MAPP)
(2008)
Dr. Mark Sundberg
SIMILARITIES
•Authors who have partnered closely together
•Both focus strongly on assessment of verbal operant skills,
with other skills assessed on an almost secondary basis
•Both measure multiple facets of language
•Both are criterion-referenced assessments
•Both are assessed through observation, interview and direct
administration of test items.
•Both have partial mastery options for specific skills
SIMILARITIES (cont.)
•Both include graph formats for charting a child’s progress
• Both are designed to be administered periodically (often
annually but does not have to be) to a single child and
change over time noted on the original graph
• Both include graph formats for charting a child’s progress
• Both contain one protocol and one guide.
• Both are copyrighted.
DIFFERENCES
•VB-MAPP has 170 milestones across 16 skill areas
•ABLLS-R has close to 500 individual skills assessed over 25
areas
•VB-MAPP addresses developmental milestones
•ABLLS-R addresses discrete skills
•VB-MAPP presents milestones in a hierarchical manner
•ABLLS-R presents some skills in a developmental hierarchy
but not all
•VB-MAPP allows you to stop administering items is student
is not able to complete 3 sequential skills
•ABLLS-R all test items should be administered or
considered
DIFFERENCES (cont.)
•VB-MAPP scoring criteria must be referenced in the manual
•ABLLS-R scoring criteria is right on the form
•VB-MAPP includes the barriers and transition assessments
•ABLLS-R does not, though does look at some of the
equivalent components of these assessments
•VB-MAPP includes specific echoics to test, but does not list
out other specific items
•ABLLS-R has assessment items lists in the appendices
•VB-MAPP presents IEP development guidelines
•ABLLS-R presents criteria in a way that can be fairly easily
translated to measureable instructional objectives for IEPs
Assignment
• Additional Resources Reflection 10 pts (on
website, brief summary of at least 2 resources)
• Final Reflection 10 pts (on website – compare &
contrast the two tools, which do you think you
would use, do you see any strengths or
weaknesses to the tools, etc.)
• Final Test 20 pts – will be sent Monday June 3rd
and should be sent in by Friday June 7th.
• Due Date is June 7th for all of these items.
Webpage
• http://assessmentsandautism.eportalnow.net
• Password: autism