Parents are often confronted with the realization that their child may have special needs or learning impairments. This is a difficult revelation to digest. Once realized, the next step for the parent to pursue is testing and assessment of their child. Testing and assessment is critical in understanding the source of the impairment, the intensity of the problem, and to assist in developing strategies to accommodate the needs. Surprisingly, many behaviors or symptoms that the child displays are related to several syndromes. Often, children with Asperger’s Syndrome are misdiagnosed with ADHD due to the behavioral similarities. This is why accurate testing and assessment is necessary.
As a parent, you want the best for your child and therefore it is important to ensure that your child is assessed with the tool that is most appropriate for the situation. This article will help explain one of the assessments that is available. There are several assessments that can be accessed by professionals, and deciding upon which test is most appropriate can be a difficult decision. A parent will want to do research on the tests suggested to them and base their decision upon the reliability of the test, the standardization process, and the norms upon which the test scales were based. The task can be overwhelming to a parent. This article attempts to investigate one assessment, the Vineland II, and assist parent’s in determining if the Vineland II is the best assessment to utilize with their child.
The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) were originally based on the 1965 version of the Vineland Social Maturity Scales developed by Edgar Doll (Stein). The Vineland II emerged due to the environmental and cultural changes that had occurred since the original 1965 version. The Vineland II was also created in an attempt to address the unique characteristics attributed to developmental disabilities. Furthermore, the Vineland II reflects the technological climate of the times and makes considerations for the use of computers and technological advances by the general population (Stein). The Vineland II, similar to the original version, is an individually administered test which measures the adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior is the tasks necessary for daily living such as bathing, feeding oneself, using the bathroom, etc. The Vineland II can be utilized to measure abilities in individuals from birth to age ninety, individuals with developmental disabilities, and is appropriate for diverse populations . An expanded version is also available. The expanded version has an additional evaluation which explores behaviors based on a maladaptive behavior index (Stein).
The Vineland II consists of an interview form, a parent/caregiver rating, and a Teacher rating form. The interview form is comprehensive in examining adaptive behavior skills and further offers a starting point for future treatment plans and goals. A semi structured interview is administered, taking between twenty and sixty minutes to complete (Stein). The expanded version takes approximately ninety minutes to complete. The survey and Teacher rating form are both administered independently. The Vineland II addresses four domains of adaptive behavior (Stein). The first domain is communication, measuring expressive, receptive and written language. This domain attempts to evaluate the child’s means for expressing their wants and needs, and how the child understands information presented to him. Daily Living skills make up the second domain and measure personal living skills, domestic skills, and community skills. Socialization forms the third domain and includes both leisure and relationship abilities. The fourth domain is Motor skills and is usually only utilized with children ages 3 and above. The Teacher Rating Form is used only for subjects ages three to twenty one, and contains all four above domains, but with revised criteria appropriate for the school setting. The expanded version, which includes the Maladaptive Behavior Index, is not part of the Teacher Rating Form and is only used with individuals three and over.
To answer the questions on the test, a five point descriptive form is used. The answers available are: almost always, often, sometimes, rarely, and never (Stein). The Teacher Rating portion establishes a three point scale of Never, sometimes, and usually (Stein). A professional who is trained in the administration of the Vineland II and in the interpretation of the scores will review the data obtained for the test. These scores can be interpreted based on clear guidelines of raw scores converted to V-scale scores with a mean of fifteen and standard deviation of three. From this five global adaptive levels can be determined including a descriptive level of low, moderate low, adequate, moderate high, and high. The Maladaptive behavior index uses descriptive categories of average, elevated, and clinically significant which then are utilized in determining an adaptive age equivalent score.
The professional utilized to administer this test should have specialized training in testing and administration, and have specialized training with the Vineland II specifically. The specialized training ensures the professional giving your child this test is familiar with specific guidelines for administration, recording and scoring and interpretation of scores. The items which are included on the Vineland II have been reviewed by a panel of experts in diagnostics, and each item has been assessed for relevance and bias(Stein). Items were trialed with random groups of 1,843 subjects and clinical samples of 382 subjects (Stein). The sample groups were controlled for in respect to gender, cultural diversity, economic standing, geographic location, and community size from which they come from (Stein). Similarly, the Teacher Rating Form was tested on fifteen age groups of children and testing was designed to evenly distribute gender, economics, geographic location, community size, and special educational needs (Stein). These sample pools included individuals with ADHD, autism, emotional and behavioral needs, hearing impairments, visual impairments, and mental retardation (Stein).
Reliability is an important consideration when relying on an assessment to help in the diagnosis or understanding of your child. Reliability for the Vineland II was determined from various methods. Reliability was found to be high for the Vineland II as a comprehensive measurement based on the method of internal consistency, test-retest method, inter rater reliability, coefficient alphas and split rate reliability (Stein). Reliability on individual domain scores, or the scores obtained in the Communication category, the Socialization category, the Daily Living Skills category, and Motor skill s category, averages from .80 to .90 (Stein). The Vineland II is also found to have strong consistent Validity. The weakest areas in regards to reliability are found with the Teacher Rating Form and the Maladaptive Behavior Index (Stein). However, as an overall test for adaptive behavior skills and determining special needs, the Vineland II is a comprehensive and reputable assessment. As a parent beginning the process of assessment and testing with your child, the Vineland II would likely be an appropriate measurement tool to start with and to help the professionals narrow down the causes of your child’s difficulties.
Stein, S. (n.d.). Review of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition. (M. M. database, Ed.) Retrieved 11 04, 2010, from Capella University Library: http://ezproxy.library.capella.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.capella.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db;=mm&AN;=TIP18193482&site;=ehost-live&scope;=site
