VB-MAPP

VERBAL BEHAVIOR
MILESTONES ASSESSMENT &
PLACEMENT PROGRAM

Carl T. Sundberg
MAC 2018
THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL
BEHAVIOR
• The primary focus of an intervention program for children with autism
should be on the development of effective language and social skills.
• Our first task is to identify the existing skills of each child.
• Our next task is to identify the language, social, behavioral, and learning
barriers that are preventing more rapid learning.
The VB-MAPP Skills
Assessment

• The failure to conduct an appropriate assessment

results in one of the biggest problems in
programs that serve children with autism:
• An Inappropriate Curriculum
• The VB-MAPP Skills Assessment contains:
• 170 verbal behavior milestones
• 16 different verbal operants and related
skills
• 3 developmental levels (0-18 months, 18-
30 months, 30-48 months
• Most of the scales correspond with Skinner’s
classification of the verbal operants (i.e., echoic,
mand, tact, intraverbal).
4
VB-MAPP Milestones
Master Scoring Form
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT

• The VB-MAPP will help identify language

strengths and deficits
• Gaps in language development
• General and specific language level
comparisons to typically developing
same age peers.
• The VB-MAPP will direct the order of
skills to teach. For example:
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT

• You don’t want to start teaching function

intraverbals if the student only has 20
tacts or LR responses.
• You don’t want to start to teach
academic skills until the student has the
appropriate level of mand, tact, LR, and
intraverbal skills.
• You may be able to teach reading but it
is likely to be rote because the student
does not have the prerequisite verbal
repertoire to support reading with
comprehension.
7
VB-MAPP Milestones
Master Scoring Form
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Mands
Emits 4 different mands without prompts
(but what do you want and object)
• Keep building the number, fade the
object, fade the IV
• M6: Mand for missing items
• M8: Two or more words (go fast, pour
juice)
• M11: Manding for information
• M13: Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions
(My crayon is broken)
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Tacts
Has about 15 tacts, all nouns
• M7: Generalization
• M8: Actions
• M9: Two component (noun/noun-
verb/noun) shoes and socks – bouncing
ball
• M13/14: Adjective/pronouns
combinations sentences (Look at that
spider, its scary)
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT

LR
Can select about 30 items from a messy
array of 6
Can perform about 5 motor actions on
command
• M9: Follows 50 two-component
noun/verb combinations (show me the
baby sleeping, the ball bouncing).
• M10: Selects the correct item in a book,
picture scene or NE for 250 items
• M14: Follows 3 step directions (Get
your coat, hang it up, and sit down)
THE VB-MAPP
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
LRFFC/IV
Doesn’t have any yet.
• M6: Should start simple song fill-ins and
animal sounds (touch the one that says,
“woof, woof”, the Itsy Bitsy Spider)
• M7: Start transferring known Tact/LR to
LRFFC then to IV (Touch the one you sit
in)
• M8-10: Increase number and
complexity and Generalization (Feature
and Function, “What has wheels?”)
• Level 3, increase complexity and
number. More complex conditional
discriminations
• Where do you take a bath (common
error-soap)
• What grows on your head (common
error- hat)
• What do you eat with (common error-
pizza)
 • I am often asked why a student is not performing
well in the classroom or in a social situation.
WHY ARE THESE
REPERTOIRES • I typically find defective language repertoires,
especially in the mand and intraverbal.
IMPORTANT? • Social interactions consist mainly of asking
questions and answering questions.
 • These repertoires represent the cornerstone of
WHY ARE THESE language, learning and compliance.

REPERTOIRES • Success in the classroom is dependent upon

IMPORTANT? receptive skills, expressive skills, conversational
skills, imitation skills, and intraverbal skills
(answering questions.)
WHY ARE THESE
REPERTOIRES
IMPORTANT?
Students who are not proficient in
these basic repertoires are:
• More likely to have behavior
problems
• Less likely to do well in the
classroom
• Less likely to develop social skills
• Less likely to do well with
functional life skills
WHY ARE THESE
REPERTOIRES
IMPORTANT?

If you do an analysis of a student’s

weaknesses in the classroom, you will
most likely find deficiencies in one or
many of the basic language and
learning repertoires.
How, for example, can you expect a
student to engage in peer play or
social activities?
WHY ARE THESE
REPERTOIRES
IMPORTANT?
Can he follow directions?
Can he understand multiple step
directions?

Can he answer questions?

What would the following VB-MAPP
profile tell you about this student’s
classroom readiness skills?
17
VB-MAPP Milestones
Master Scoring Form
THE VB-MAPP
TASK ANALYSIS &
SKILLS TRACKING
The milestones can be considered floors in a
building, and the task analysis contains the
steps between each floor.
There are 170 milestones and
approximately 1000 total tasks in the
VB-MAPP task analysis.
The task analysis form also allows for
more detailed skill tracking.
Building a whole repertoire, not just
individual skills (e.g., mand, tact, M-T-
S repertoires).
19

VB-MAPP Milestones
Assessment Level 1
20
VB-MAPP Milestones
Master Scoring Form
21

VB-MAPP Task Analysis

Mand Level 1
22

VB-MAPP Task Analysis

Mand Level 1
THE VB-MAPP
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT

• Important to find out what a child can

do (The VB-MAPP Skills Assessment),
but also what she can’t, and why.

• VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment

designed to identify and score
24 different learning and
language acquisition barriers.
Once a barrier is identified, a more
detailed descriptive and/or
functional analysis is required.
THE VB-MAPP
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT

• There are many ways for a verbal

repertoire or related skill to become
defective.
• Individualized analysis is needed to
determine what the nature of the
problem is for a specific child, and what
intervention program might be
appropriate.
THE VB-MAPP
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT

• Often, absence of skills and presence of

barriers are related.
• Milestones assessment reveals that child
needs to learn more mands.
• Barriers assessment reveals that the
child scrolls and is prompt bound.
• These two barriers must be removed in
order for the mand repertoire to grow
and become functional for the child.
THE VB-MAPP
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT

• Intervention program should focus on

freeing the existing mands from prompts
and other unwanted sources of control
and eliminate scrolling when manding.
• These problems must be fixed before
new mands are added.
• If not, new mands will be of little
functional use.
COMMON
LEARNING &
LANGUAGE BARRIERS

• Instructional control
(Escape/avoidance)
• Behavior problems
• Defective mand
• Defective tact
• Defective motor imitation
• Defective echoic (e.g., echolalia)
• Defective matching-to-sample
COMMON
LEARNING &
LANGUAGE BARRIERS

• Defective listener repertoires (e.g.,

LD, LRFFC)
• Defective intraverbal
• Defective play and social skills
• Prompt dependent, long latencies
• Scrolling responses
• Defective scanning skills
• Failure to make conditional
discrimination
COMMON
LEARNING &
LANGUAGE BARRIERS
• Failure to generalize
• Weak or atypical MOs
• Response requirements weaken the
MO
• Self-stimulation
• Articulation problems
• Obsessive-compulsive behavior
• Reinforcement dependent
• Does not attend to people/materials
• Defective social behavior
SCORING
THE VB-MAPP
BARRIERS ASSESSMENT

• For some, immediate focus of

intervention is on removing a
particular barrier, rather than language
instruction.

• Most common immediate

barriers to remove involve
instructional control problems,
or other behavior problems.
31

VB-MAPP Barriers
Assessment
 An Analysis of a
DEFECTIVE
INTRAVERBAL REPERTOIRE
• Intraverbal behavior is most prone to
becoming rote.

• Task of directly teaching intraverbal

behavior is complicated and endless.
• Early intraverbal training pretty straight
forward, but by 3-4 years of age, a
typical child acquires 1000s of different
intraverbal relations.
• Most adults have hundreds of
thousands of different intraverbal
relations as a part of their verbal
repertoires.
 An Analysis of a
DEFECTIVE
INTRAVERBAL REPERTOIRE
• Verbal SDs usually are much more
complicated than the nonverbal SDs;
have multiple components, in brief
time frame.
• Multiple words as SDs almost always
involves verbal conditional
discriminations (examples)
 An Analysis of a
DEFECTIVE
INTRAVERBAL REPERTOIRE
• Multiple words as SDs almost always
involves verbal conditional
discriminations (examples)
• Tell me some THINGS you find the
BEDROOM
• Three variables to attend to
• Some things vs. A thing
• Things vs actions
• Bedroom vs. other rooms
• Common errors related to conditional
discriminations may include:
• Bed (a thing vs. some things)
• Sleep (do vs. find)
• Potty, sink, shower (bedroom)
 An Analysis of a
DEFECTIVE
INTRAVERBAL REPERTOIRE

• Vocal verbal stimuli are transitory,

nonverbal stimuli more static
• Attending to verbal SDs often more
laborious than to nonverbal SDs
 • Child has not received formal intraverbal training
An Analysis of a • Child is given training, but it’s too early to focus on
DEFECTIVE intraverbals
• Nonverbal stimuli control response form (tact prompt bound)
INTRAVERBAL • Intraverbal curriculum is out of developmental and
REPERTOIRE behavioral sequence
• Rote intraverbal responses have been firmly established due
to conditioning history
 • Single verbal stimuli and single verbal responses have been
Potential Causes of a over conditioned
DEFECTIVE • Specific target responses are not in child’s repertoire as tacts,
INTRAVERBAL LDs, or LRFFCs

REPERTOIRE • Child doesn’t attend to multiple verbal stimuli (S-deltas)

• Child does not have sufficient training on verbal conditional
discriminations
 Group 1 (Animal sounds & Write the exact response
Score
song fill ins) given by the child
A kitty says… + Meow
Twinkle, twinkle, little… + Star

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
Assessment Subtest
Ready, set… + Set, go
The wheels on the bus Round and round
+
go…
Rock-a-bye… + Baby
A dog says… + Ruff ruff
Peek-a-… + Peek-a-boo
The itsy bitsy… + Spider
Head, shoulders, knees, Cough
-
and…
Happy birthday to … + you
Other:
Other:
Total points (10 points
maximum): 9
38
 Group 2 (Name, fill-ins, Write the exact response
Score
associations) given by the child
What is your name? + Noah

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
You brush your… + Teeth

Assessment Subtest
Shoes and … + Feet
You ride a… - Pictures
You flush the… + Toilet
You sleep in a… - Pillow
You eat… + Spaghetti
One, two… + 3
You wash your… + Hands
You sit on a … - down
Other:
Other:
Total points (10 points
maximum): 7
39
 Group 3 (Simple What Write the exact response
Score
Questions) given by the child

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
What can you drink? - Cup

Assessment Subtest
What can fly? + Bird
What are some numbers? + 1,2,3
What can you sing? - A dance
What’s your favorite Disney movie
-
movie
What are some colors? - Crayons
What do you read? + Books
What is outside? + Grass
What’s in the kitchen? - Eat
What are some animals? - Cow
Total points (10 points
maximum): 4
40
 Group 4 (Simple who, Write the exact response
Score
where, & age) given by the child
Who is your teacher? + Emma

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
Assessment Subtest
Where do you wash your Soup
_
hands?
Who builds a web? -
Where is the refrigerator? - Cold
Who drives the car? - Wheels
Where do you take a Water
-
bath?
How old are you? - 1
Where are the trees? - Leaves
Who do you see on TV? - Movies
Why do you use a band- On your arm
-
aid?
Total points (10 points
maximum): 1
41
 Group 5 (Categories, Write the exact response
Score
function, features) given by the child
What shape are wheels? - Car
What grows outside? - Playground

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
Assessment Subtest
What can sting you? - Song
What do you do with a On your feet
-
sock?
What can you push? + Chair
What do you do with a Juice
-
straw?
What do you write on? - Pencil
Can you name some body Nose
-
parts?
What’s something that’s No response
-
sharp?
What do you wear on hair
-
your head?
Total points (10 points
42
maximum): 1
 Group 6 (adjectives, Write the exact response
Score
prepositions, adverbs) given by the child

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
What color is my shirt? + White

Assessment Subtest
What do you eat with? - Pizza
What’s up in the ski? + Clouds
What’s above a house? - Window
What do you smell with? - Flowers
What are some hot Chicken
-
things?
What grows on your Shoulders
-
head?
What is under a boat? - Sail
What animal has stripes? + Zebra
What color is your shirt? - white
Total points (10 points
maximum): 2
43
 Group 7 (Multiple part Write the exact response
Score
questions) given by the child
What makes you sad? -
Name some clothing. -
Tell me something that is not a Pizza

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
Assessment Subtest
-
food.
What helps a flower grow? - Smell

When do we set the table? - On the fork

What do you do with money? - Play it

Why do people wear glasses? - Emma is wearing glasses
Where do you put your dirty A shirt
-
clothes?
What is something you can’t A shirt
-
wear
What’s something that is candy
+
sticky?
Total points (10 points
44 maximum): 1
 Group 8 (Multiple part Write the exact response
Score
questions) given by the child
What’s in a balloon - Pop
What do you take to a Cake
+
birthday party?

VB-MAPP Intraverbal
Assessment Subtest
Where do you go if you’re Dad
-
sick?
Why do you wear a coat? - Zipper
What do you do before bed? - Sleep
What’s your last name? - Noah
What do you put in a Eat
-
sandwich?
What musical instrument has Egg shakers
-
strings?
What do you do with an Do the rain
-
umbrella?
Why do adults need to get car
-
gas?
Total points (10 points
45maximum): 1
THE VB-MAPP
TRANSITION ASSESSMENT

• A common goal for many educators and

parents of children with special needs is to
integrate the child into a mainstream setting.
• There are many different levels of integration
and the Transition Assessment was designed to
identify the skills that increase the probability
that a child will be successful in a less
restrictive setting.
• NO single skill will be a good determiner of
success, but a collective body of skills can help
educators and parents make decisions.
THE VB-MAPP
TRANSITION ASSESSMENT

• The VB-MAPP Transition Assessment provides

a tool to help determine if a child has the
necessary prerequisite skills to learn in a less
restrictive classroom environment.
• There are 18 skill areas on the Transition
Assessment.
48

VB-MAPP Transition
Assessment
49

VB-MAPP Transition
Assessment
THE VB-MAPP
TRANSITION ASSESSMENT
If a child’s scores on the Transition
Assessment are primarily in the range of
0-2, then it is likely that the child will
benefit most from a classroom that
provides…
• High teacher-to-student ratio
• Individualized and intense teaching
session
• Careful use of behavioral methodology
• Strict performance measures (data)
• Regular supervision and monitoring by a
qualified professional
• Formal training for the child’s parent or
caretaker
THE VB-MAPP
TRANSITION ASSESSMENT

If the child’s scores fall mostly in the

4-5 range, then it is likely that the
child would benefit from a classroom
that provides:
• Lower teacher-to-student ratio

• Uses a teaching format closer to that

used for typically developing children

• But still uses behavioral methodology

and performance measurement

• Provides parent and caretaker training

52

VB-MAPP Master Scoring

Form
CURRICULUM PLACEMENT
& WRITING IEP GOALS

This sample shows a common profile

for many young children with autism.
• Charlie is a 3-year-old child who is
showing elevated echoic skills, but
does not have any mands, tacts, or
listener discriminations, and play
and social skills are weak.
CURRICULUM PLACEMENT
& WRITING IEP GOALS

• For this child, an intervention program

should begin immediately.
• The initial focus should be on using the
echoic repertoire to establish mands by
using the transfer of control procedures.
• It could be predicted that this child will
quickly acquire manding because of the
strength of his echoic repertoire.
• Once a couple of mands are
established, tact and listener
training should begin.
CURRICULUM PLACEMENT
& WRITING IEP GOALS

• In general, if a child scores primarily in the

Level 1 area, the focus of the intervention
should be on establishing the following six
basic skills:
• Mands
• Tacts
• Listener skills
• Visual perceptual and matching skills
• Imitation
• Echoic skills
CURRICULUM PLACEMENT
& WRITING IEP GOALS
• Play and social skills are also important
and should be a part of the intervention,
as well as spontaneous vocalizations.
• The teaching style may be more of an
intensive format that involves:
• High number of teaching trials
• Very carefully arranged contingencies
(i.e., prompting, fading, shaping,
transfer of stimulus control, use of the
MO, differential reinforcement, etc.)
• Meticulous data collection