VB-MAPP Language Milestones and Barriers Assessment
Name: Jacob __________
Date of Birth: 1/8/2009
Age: 3-years-old
Assessment Date: 1/12/2012, 1/17/2012
Report Date: January 20, 2012
Assessor: Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D
General information
Jacob is a generally happy and active 3-year-old boy with a diagnosis of autism who lives
at home with his parents Dennis and Carol, and his 5-year-old sister, Emma. Jacob had a
speaking vocabulary of approximately 10 words up until around the age of 2 when he stopped
talking. He was diagnosed with autism at 30 months old by the staff from California’s Regional
Center System. He was provided with an in-home treatment program along with a twice-weekly
preschool program designed for children with special needs. Jacob was identified as a nonverbal
child who often exhibited negative behaviors such as tantruming, screaming, throwing himself to
the floor, and hitting others. He also engaged in a variety of stereotypic behaviors such finger
flicking in front of his eyes, spinning in circles, and pushing things back and forth on the floor in
a repeated pattern.
The current report presents the results of an assessment of Jacob’s language, learning,
and social skills, as well as behavioral barriers that are interfering with his ability to learn more
advanced skills. The assessment tool used was the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and
Placement Program (VB-MAPP) (Sundberg, 2008). This assessment program is based upon
Applied Behavior Analysis with a focus on Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. The
VB-MAPP can help identify a student's strengths and weaknesses across a variety of critical
skills. The assessment also makes it easy to compare and contrast the child’s skills with those of
typically developing children. Jacob’s performance in each of the domains tested will be
presented, followed by an analysis of barriers that are affecting Jacob’s ability to learn. The
report will (1) present the results of the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment, (2) present the
results of the VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment, (3) suggest intervention priorities and a program
designed to teach Jacob more effective language, learning, and social skills, (4) suggest direction
for an intervention program designed to ameliorate or remove his barriers to learning, and (5)
suggest specific IEP goals.
The VB-MAPP breaks language and related skills down into 16 different skill areas (or
domains). In addition to looking at the phonemes, words, phrases, and sentences that Jacob uses,
the assessment also identifies the conditions under which he emits those words. For example,
Jacob could almost perfectly echo the word “cow” after I said “cow,” but when asked to name
the cow when shown the cow and asked, “What is this?” he could not say “cow.” When he
wanted the cow to place it on a felt board he was unable to ask for the cow, and emitted negative
behavior instead. The value of using an assessment tool based on a functional analysis of
language (Skinner, 1957) is that we often find that a child has words in his vocabulary in one
domain, but not another (e.g., can echo but cannot ask). By assessing the occurrence of language
, under these various circumstances (functions) a more effective and individualized intervention
program that directly targets a child’s primary language needs can be developed. The following
language skills and instructional issues were relevant for Jacob and will be addressed in this
report (more advanced domains such as intraverbal, reading, writing, and math were not assessed
given Jacob’s performances on the beginning level of the VB-MAPP).
Manding (asking to receive reinforcers, or to remove undesirable items or events)
Tacting (naming things and actions in the physical environment)
Listener skills (receptive language)
Visual perceptual skills and matching-to-sample
Motor imitation (copying the actions of others)
Echoic (repeating the phonemes, words, and phrases of others)
Play skills
Social skills
Vocal output
Group learning skills
Learning barriers (e.g., behavior problems, compliance, prompt dependency)
Results from the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment
Jacob’s overall score on the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment fell in the Level 1 range
as indicated by a score of 31 out of a possible score of 170 (see his attached VB-MAPP Master
Scoring Form). This places his language abilities around the developmental age of approximately
12-16 months. His scores were out of developmental balance showing some skills much stronger
than others. His general strengths were in the areas of visual perceptual and matching-to-sample
skills, motor imitation, echoic, and play skills; his weaknesses were in the areas of mand, tact,
and listener skills (which constitute the primary domains of early language development). A
specific analysis of his performance in each domain will be presented, followed by suggestions
for an intervention plan and IEP goals.
Manding (asking or protesting)
Despite the fact that Jacob could echo several phonemes and some whole words, he was
unable to use these words to ask for his desired reinforcers. The only way he could ask for
desired items was if he was given an echoic prompt. Without this type of prompt Jacob was
unable to independently ask for any reinforcers (his manding was “prompt bound”). Thus, he
received a score of 1 on the Level 1 mand assessment (see the attached VB-MAPP “Master
Form.”). He did have ways to indicate that he wanted specific items such as reaching for them,
holding up an item that required adult assistance (e.g., a cup when he wanted juice, a remote
control for a toy car), or standing by a specific location or item (e.g., the refrigerator, TV, door).
He would frequently and quickly engage in negative behaviors such as screaming, crying, and
hitting as a way to communicate his wants and needs for specific items or actions (see the
barriers section for more detail on these behaviors and their relation to manding). Jacob clearly
demonstrates motivation when there is something he wants, making mand training an excellent
place to begin his program. Establishing skills in this domain should be considered an
immediate priority for his intervention program.
Name: Jacob __________
Date of Birth: 1/8/2009
Age: 3-years-old
Assessment Date: 1/12/2012, 1/17/2012
Report Date: January 20, 2012
Assessor: Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D
General information
Jacob is a generally happy and active 3-year-old boy with a diagnosis of autism who lives
at home with his parents Dennis and Carol, and his 5-year-old sister, Emma. Jacob had a
speaking vocabulary of approximately 10 words up until around the age of 2 when he stopped
talking. He was diagnosed with autism at 30 months old by the staff from California’s Regional
Center System. He was provided with an in-home treatment program along with a twice-weekly
preschool program designed for children with special needs. Jacob was identified as a nonverbal
child who often exhibited negative behaviors such as tantruming, screaming, throwing himself to
the floor, and hitting others. He also engaged in a variety of stereotypic behaviors such finger
flicking in front of his eyes, spinning in circles, and pushing things back and forth on the floor in
a repeated pattern.
The current report presents the results of an assessment of Jacob’s language, learning,
and social skills, as well as behavioral barriers that are interfering with his ability to learn more
advanced skills. The assessment tool used was the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and
Placement Program (VB-MAPP) (Sundberg, 2008). This assessment program is based upon
Applied Behavior Analysis with a focus on Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. The
VB-MAPP can help identify a student's strengths and weaknesses across a variety of critical
skills. The assessment also makes it easy to compare and contrast the child’s skills with those of
typically developing children. Jacob’s performance in each of the domains tested will be
presented, followed by an analysis of barriers that are affecting Jacob’s ability to learn. The
report will (1) present the results of the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment, (2) present the
results of the VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment, (3) suggest intervention priorities and a program
designed to teach Jacob more effective language, learning, and social skills, (4) suggest direction
for an intervention program designed to ameliorate or remove his barriers to learning, and (5)
suggest specific IEP goals.
The VB-MAPP breaks language and related skills down into 16 different skill areas (or
domains). In addition to looking at the phonemes, words, phrases, and sentences that Jacob uses,
the assessment also identifies the conditions under which he emits those words. For example,
Jacob could almost perfectly echo the word “cow” after I said “cow,” but when asked to name
the cow when shown the cow and asked, “What is this?” he could not say “cow.” When he
wanted the cow to place it on a felt board he was unable to ask for the cow, and emitted negative
behavior instead. The value of using an assessment tool based on a functional analysis of
language (Skinner, 1957) is that we often find that a child has words in his vocabulary in one
domain, but not another (e.g., can echo but cannot ask). By assessing the occurrence of language
, under these various circumstances (functions) a more effective and individualized intervention
program that directly targets a child’s primary language needs can be developed. The following
language skills and instructional issues were relevant for Jacob and will be addressed in this
report (more advanced domains such as intraverbal, reading, writing, and math were not assessed
given Jacob’s performances on the beginning level of the VB-MAPP).
Manding (asking to receive reinforcers, or to remove undesirable items or events)
Tacting (naming things and actions in the physical environment)
Listener skills (receptive language)
Visual perceptual skills and matching-to-sample
Motor imitation (copying the actions of others)
Echoic (repeating the phonemes, words, and phrases of others)
Play skills
Social skills
Vocal output
Group learning skills
Learning barriers (e.g., behavior problems, compliance, prompt dependency)
Results from the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment
Jacob’s overall score on the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment fell in the Level 1 range
as indicated by a score of 31 out of a possible score of 170 (see his attached VB-MAPP Master
Scoring Form). This places his language abilities around the developmental age of approximately
12-16 months. His scores were out of developmental balance showing some skills much stronger
than others. His general strengths were in the areas of visual perceptual and matching-to-sample
skills, motor imitation, echoic, and play skills; his weaknesses were in the areas of mand, tact,
and listener skills (which constitute the primary domains of early language development). A
specific analysis of his performance in each domain will be presented, followed by suggestions
for an intervention plan and IEP goals.
Manding (asking or protesting)
Despite the fact that Jacob could echo several phonemes and some whole words, he was
unable to use these words to ask for his desired reinforcers. The only way he could ask for
desired items was if he was given an echoic prompt. Without this type of prompt Jacob was
unable to independently ask for any reinforcers (his manding was “prompt bound”). Thus, he
received a score of 1 on the Level 1 mand assessment (see the attached VB-MAPP “Master
Form.”). He did have ways to indicate that he wanted specific items such as reaching for them,
holding up an item that required adult assistance (e.g., a cup when he wanted juice, a remote
control for a toy car), or standing by a specific location or item (e.g., the refrigerator, TV, door).
He would frequently and quickly engage in negative behaviors such as screaming, crying, and
hitting as a way to communicate his wants and needs for specific items or actions (see the
barriers section for more detail on these behaviors and their relation to manding). Jacob clearly
demonstrates motivation when there is something he wants, making mand training an excellent
place to begin his program. Establishing skills in this domain should be considered an
immediate priority for his intervention program.
