Submitted by: April Groeneweg, BCBA

What is your most preferred item or activity? If you’re like me, it doesn’t take long to figure out the answer. I can list various items in order of how much I like them. For many individuals with autism, creating your own list provides some challenges. Some of these challenges may include making choices between two preferred items, requesting an item, and indicating when they are bored with the item. Preferences can be discovered for every individual even if they have not yet learned to request the item.

An example of an assessment for individuals who can make choices is called a Forced Choice Preference Assessment. Within this assessment, two preferred items are shown to the child. Choice can be made by touching, pointing, grabbing, or gazing eyes toward the item. The items are presented numerous times until every item has been shown with the other items. The number of times the item was chosen is divided by the number of times the item was presented. This division will assist in determining an order of preference.

Another example of assessment for individuals who cannot request or may have difficulty making a choice is called a Single Stimuli Preference Assessment. With this assessment, the length of time the child plays with the toy is collected. Each item is presented one at a time until the child stops playing with the item. The order of preference is determined based upon the length of time each item was played with.

A more advanced method of assessment for individuals who can make choices when many items are presented at once is called a Multiple Stimulus Preference Assessment. With this assessment, many items are presented, typically 5 or more at a time. The order in which the child selects the item is collected. The item can be replaced and shown again in the next choice or removed and not available again until all items have been chosen.

Determining what your child likes the most can help figure out new presents to buy. If you notice your child has a preference for light up toys, musical toys, moveable toys, etc. move that to the top of Santa’s list.

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Providing a sample of the patients verbal and related skills is the first component of the VB-MAPP. The assessment has approximately 170 learning and language milestones that are balanced across 3 developmental levels from the ages of 0-18 months from 18- 30 months and lastly 30-48 months. Skills included in the assessment are mind, tact, and echoic plus a great more but that was just to keep the list short and to name a great few.

Providing a assessment that contains common learning and language barriers that children with Autism face or any other developmental disabilities is component number 2, the Barrier Assessment. The barriers that are being assessed are behavior problems, instructional control, defective minds, defective tact’s and a great few more. When these barriers are identified by the test then things can be done for a child to overcome his or her problem.

The third is the Transition Assessment, containing exactly 18 assessments. This third assessment can help identify whether a child is making meaningful progress. This assessment is a tool providing information to let it be known what needs to happen to meet a child’s learning needs. The assessment includes measures of the overall score of the VB-MAPP milestones and barriers assessments and many more skills.

The forth component is the VB-MAPP Task Analysis and skills tracking that provides further breakdown of the skills. It serves a complete learning and language skills curriculum guide. Verbal Behavior is very complicated and to overcome barriers of speech problems can be over whelming for a child.

The fifth and very last component is VB-MAPP placement, goals that correspond with the first four components. The placement guide provides directions specifically for what should be done. The intervention program are there to ensure the relevant parts that are necessary for the intervention that is included.

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