What is the VB-MAPP? A Guide for ABA Professionals
- Ashleigh
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
Next up in our ABA Assessments Series is a guide to the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP). This is a common assessment tool used in ABA, especially with early learners, such as toddlers and preschoolers. This article will explore what this assessment entails, the skills it covers, and how it's used to inform treatment planning.
What is the VB-MAPP?
The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) is a criterion-referenced assessment, curriculum guide, and skill-tracking system for verbal behavior skills. Mark Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D, developed this assessment based on BF Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior and other developmental and behavior-analytic research.
Who is the VB-MAPP Designed for?
The VB-MAPP is primarily designed for young autistic children. It's also appropriate for children with other developmental disabilities and those with language delays.
This assessment evaluates the language skills that would be expected of a typically developing 4-year-old. Because of this, it's most often conducted with early learners, from toddler age to around eight years old. While it can sometimes be appropriate to administer the VB-MAPP with older learners who haven't yet acquired basic language skills, clinicians often get pushback from funders for not utilizing an "age-appropriate tool."
What Skills Does the VB-MAPP Assess?
The VB-MAPP assesses a wide range of language and early learner readiness skills, from manding and tacting to reading, writing, and cooperation. In total, this assessment contains 170 learning and language milestones.
Three Levels of the VB-MAPP
The VB-MAPP is broken down into three levels that correspond to developmental age ranges. These include:
Level 1: 0-18 Months
The first level of the VB-MAPP covers the language abilities of a typically developing infant up to 18 months old.
The domains included within Level 1 are:
Mand
Tact
Listener Responding
Visual Perceptual Skills & Matching-to-Sample
Independent Play
Social Behaviors & Social Play
Motor Imitation
Spontaneous Vocal Behavior
Level 2: 18-30 Months
The second level of the VB-MAPP covers the language abilities of a typically developing 18-30-month-old.
The domains included within Level 2 are:
Mand
Tact
Listener Responding
Visual Perceptual Skills & Matching-to-Sample
Independent Play
Social Behaviors & Social Play
Motor Imitation
Listener Responding by Function, Feature & Class (LRFFC)
Intraverbal
Classroom Routines & Group Skills
Linguistic Structure
Level 3: 30-48 Months
The third level of the VB-MAPP covers the language abilities of a typically developing 30-48-month-old.
The domains included within Level 3 are:
Mand
Tact
Listener Responding
Visual Perceptual Skills & Matching-to-Sample
Independent Play
Social Behaviors & Social Play
Reading
Writing
Listener Responding by Function, Feature, and Class (LRFFC)
Intraverbal
Classroom Routines & Group Skills
Linguistic Structure
Math
Is the VB-MAPP a Criterion or Norm-Referenced Assessment?
Despite the age ranges specified within the levels of the VB-MAPP, it is a criterion-referenced assessment. Criterion-referenced assessments measure a learner's performance against specific, predefined skills. Learn more about the differences between criterion and norm-referenced assessments in this article, Shining a Spotlight on Assessments Commonly Used in ABA.
How Do BCBAs Use the VB-MAPP?
Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) use the VB-MAPP as an assessment tool to evaluate a learner’s current skill level, identify strengths and deficits, and guide individualized treatment planning. The assessment provides a detailed snapshot of a child’s verbal behavior, language, and learning readiness abilities.
Similar to other skill-based assessments, BCBAs follow the following steps when using the VB-MAPP in ABA therapy.
Initial Assessment of Milestones: BCBAs administer the VB-MAPP to gain a baseline understanding of their learner's skills.
Assessment Analysis: The BCBA analyzes the assessment, specifically looking at:
The overall level the learner scored in
Gaps within each skill domain (e.g., strong in tacting, but no mand abilities)
The learner's relative areas of need
The learner's relative strengths
Barriers Assessment: The Barriers assessment within the VB-MAPP helps behavior analysts identify factors that may hinder a learner's progress, such as challenging behaviors, weak motivation, and prompt dependency.
Transition Assessment: The Transition Assessment evaluates a learner’s readiness to move to a less restrictive learning environment, such as school. It looks at key areas like social skills, independence, and acquisition rate. This helps BCBAs, families, educators, and multidisciplinary providers make informed decisions about school placement, support needs, and long-term planning.
Treatment Planning: After identifying the child’s specific needs, BCBAs create treatment plan goals that align with those areas of need. It's important to note that treatment plans shouldn't be copy-and-pasted goals written directly from an assessment. The VB-MAPP is intended to be used as a curriculum guide, not a direct curriculum. Use it to guide goals, but individualize to the learner's unique needs and abilities.
Re-assessment: The VB-MAPP is typically re-administered roughly every six months. For learners who acquire skills quickly, it may be beneficial to conduct it more often.
Does Insurance Approve of the VB-MAPP
It's always best to check with each funder to confirm which assessment tools they accept for ABA services. However, in my experience, many insurance providers do accept the VB-MAPP for early learners.
Where Can You Purchase the VB-MAPP & Related Materials?
You can purchase the VB-MAPP and other assessment tools on Amazon and Different Roads to Learning. Different Roads to Learning also offers VB-MAPP testing kits, which include all of the stimuli needed to conduct the assessment, saving clinicians valuable time.
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