Skills Assessment General

Step 2: Identify the Service Setting and Priorities

Step 3: Consider the Verbal Repertoire

Comprehensive Assessment Comparison

VB-MAPP (Sundberg, 2008)

ABLLS-R (Partington, 2006)

AFLS (Partington & Mueller, 2012)

Essentials for Living (EFL; McGreevy, Fry, & Cornwall, 2012)

Key Features:

• Prioritizes essential skills — those that, if the individual cannot perform them, someone else must do for them
• "Tolerating" domain is unique — assesses ability to tolerate common life situations (waiting, changes in routine, medical procedures, being told "no")
• Includes a priority assessment that identifies the skills most critical for the individual's quality of life and caregiver burden reduction
• Designed for individuals who may not progress through traditional early learner curricula

| Strengths | Only assessment designed for severe/profound populations, emphasizes quality of life, prioritization system reduces the overwhelming number of potential targets | | Limitations | Very large (2,600+ items), requires significant time, not widely used outside specialized programs, limited research base compared to VB-MAPP | | Best for | Individuals with severe/profound disabilities, group home settings, reducing caregiver burden, quality-of-life-focused programming |

PEAK Relational Training System (Dixon, 2014-2016)

Four Modules:

| Strengths | Addresses advanced cognitive-verbal skills not covered by other assessments, RFT basis provides framework for derived relational responding, fills the gap between basic operant training and complex language | | Limitations | Newer with a smaller but growing research base, can be conceptually complex for staff to implement, DT module overlaps significantly with VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R | | Best for | Learners who have mastered basic verbal operants but show deficits in generalization, reading comprehension, abstract reasoning, or perspective-taking |

Combining Assessments

Common Combinations

Avoid Redundancy

When combining assessments, skip domains that overlap directly. For example, if using both VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R, you do not need to administer both mand sections — use VB-MAPP for milestones and ABLLS-R for detailed task analysis of the mand repertoire.

Curriculum-Based Assessment

Beyond standardized tools, curriculum-based assessment (CBA) involves:

1. Task analyzing the curriculum being used with the learner (e.g., a specific reading program, a social skills curriculum, a vocational training sequence)
2. Probing each step in the curriculum to identify where the learner is performing independently
3. Identifying the instructional level — the point at which the learner can perform with minimal prompting
4. Setting goals based on the next steps in the curriculum sequence

CBA is useful when:

• The learner is already in a structured curriculum and you need to find their current level
• Standardized assessments do not cover the specific domain being taught
• You need rapid, ongoing assessment tied directly to daily instruction

Ecological Assessment

Ecological assessment evaluates the individual in the context of their actual environments and the demands of those environments.

Procedure:

1. Identify target environments (home, school, workplace, community settings)
2. Inventory the skills required in each environment (what does a same-age, typically developing individual do in this setting?)
3. Observe the individual in each environment
4. Discrepancy analysis: Compare required skills to the individual's current repertoire
5. Prioritize discrepancies based on safety, independence, social inclusion, and caregiver priorities
6. Develop intervention that teaches skills in the context where they are needed

Ecological assessment is essential for:

• Transition planning (what skills does the individual need for the next environment?)
• Community-based instruction (what does this grocery store, bus route, or workplace require?)
• Ensuring social validity of treatment goals (are we teaching skills the individual and family actually need?)

Assessment Selection Checklist

• Considered chronological and developmental age
• Identified the primary service setting and treatment priorities
• Evaluated the individual's current verbal repertoire
• Selected the assessment tool(s) that best match the learner profile
• Checked for overlap if using multiple tools — eliminated redundancy
• Planned for ecological assessment of target environments
• Identified who will administer each assessment component (BCBA, RBT with supervision, caregiver)
• Scheduled sufficient time for valid administration (not rushed)
• Planned reassessment timeline
• Confirmed assessment results will directly inform treatment/IEP goals

Key References

• Sundberg, M. L. (2008). VB-MAPP: Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program. AVB Press.
• Partington, J. W. (2006). The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills — Revised (ABLLS-R). Behavior Analysts, Inc.
• Partington, J. W., & Mueller, M. M. (2012). The Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS). Behavior Analysts, Inc.
• McGreevy, P., Fry, T., & Cornwall, C. (2012). Essentials for Living. Patrick McGreevy.
• Dixon, M. R. (2014). PEAK Relational Training System: Direct Training Module. Shawnee Scientific Press.
• Dixon, M. R. (2015). PEAK Relational Training System: Generalization Module. Shawnee Scientific Press.
• Dixon, M. R. (2016). PEAK Relational Training System: Equivalence Module. Shawnee Scientific Press.
• Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (2001). Relational Frame Theory: A Post-Skinnerian Account of Human Language and Cognition. Springer.
• Browder, D. M. (2001). Curriculum and Assessment for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities. Guilford Press.