VB-MAPP: Overview, Assessment and Interpretation 

Individuals with autism MUST be properly assessed in order to obtain a baseline level of performance, provide a direction for intervention, and monitor progress.  Using an inadequate assessment or no assessment at all can lead to the teaching of unnecessary skills and/or inappropriate skills.  The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP; Sundberg, 2014) is a criterion-referenced assessment tool, curriculum guide, and skill-tracking system.  It provides teachers, therapists, and parents with an effective means of assessing the learning, language, and social skills of children with autism or other developmental disabilities.  This full-day workshop is designed to provide participants with an overview of the VB-MAPP (Sundberg, 2014) and to help prepare them to administer and interpret the assessment. 

It is recommended that a VB-MAPP guide and protocol be brought to the workshop.

Objectives:

• State the differences between standardized tests and criterion-referenced assessments.
• List assessments that utilize the verbal operants as a basis for language assessment.
• Summarize the history of the VB-MAPP.
• State the purpose of the VB-MAPP.
• List the five components of the VB-MAPP.
• Define the sixteen VB-MAPP Milestone domains.
• Locate specific scoring forms, assessments, and other information in the VB-MAPP protocol and guide.
• Score portions of the assessment using hypothetical information.
• Select the appropriate method of measurement for each milestone.
• Interpret sample VB-MAPP assessments and make recommendations regarding skills/behaviors that must be established, maintained, increased, or decreased.
• Discuss intervention plans for a variety of student profiles including intensity of intervention and specific teaching formats.