INTRODUCTION TO THE

ABLLS-R
Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills- Revised
A DESCRIPTION OF THE ABLLS-R
The ABLLS-R assesses 25 Domains within 4 Areas:
 Language Skills – Cooperation and Reinforcer Effectiveness,
Visual Performance, Receptive Language, Vocal Imitation,
Requests, Labelling, Intraverbal, Spontaneous Language.
 Academic Skills – Play and Leisure, Social Interaction, Group
Instruction, Group Instruction, Classroom Routines, Generalized
Responding, Reading, Math, Writing, Spelling.
 Motor Skills – Imitation, Gross Motor, Fine Motor
 Self Help – Dressing, Eating, Grooming, Toileting.
PURPOSE
 “… to identify those language and other critical skills
that are in need of intervention in order for a child to
become more capable of learning from his everyday
environment.”

 To provide a measure of other important skills such as

academic, motor skills and self-help skills.
RATIONALE
 Skills acquisition for students with ASD is different than
typical students.

 Goals can be based on the student’s ability level

 Teaching a few critical skills can increase the student’s

ability to acquire new skills without specialized teaching
conditions.

 Students learn how to learn!

ADVANTAGES
 Emphasis on function over structure
 Motivation

 Variety of skills measured (language, academics, self-

help, motor skills)
 Measures generalization of skills

 Tracks skills over time – easily referenced

 Provides specific information for teaching objectives.

DISADVANTAGES

 Skills are not compared to the learner’s age group - age

norms not provided.

 Those administering the assessment should have a

fundamental understanding of verbal behaviour.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE
ABLLS-R
Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills-
Revised
LANGUAGE - STRUCTURE VS.
FUNCTION
 Skinner’s analysis of verbal behaviour serves at the
conceptual basis of the ABLLS-R assessment.

 Most assessments measure WHAT words the student

uses to communicate (structure).

 Skinner also looks at WHY the student communicates

(function).
MOTIVATION
 What motivational conditions affect the student’s ability
to demonstrate skills?

 Does the student’s ability to demonstrate the skill change

under a variety of motivating conditions?

 Does the student respond to social reinforcement?

COMPLEX STIMULI
 Can the student attend to a variety of combined stimuli?

 Verbal and visual

 Language in the natural environment (Skinner’s

analysis).
GENERALIZATION
 Does the student demonstrate these skills across various
environments?

 With different instructors? Parents? Peers?

 Are the skills functional when they are needed,

especially language skills?
FLUENCY
 Can the student USE the skills quickly when necessary?

 In a variety of contexts?

 What’s important about responding in a timely fashion?

JOINT ATTENTION
 Does the student share attention to actions, objects or
situations with others?

 Critical to the acquisition of other more complex social

skills.
LEARNER READINESS
 Is the student willing to be taught?

 Does the student respond to social reinforcement?

 Intermittent reinforcement?

 Can the student attend to learning materials, follow

instructions and respond in a timely manner?
SOCIAL SKILLS

 Does the student notice peers?

 Does the student interact with peers?

 Does the student learn from peers?

BASIC LEARNER SKILLS
Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills- Revised
BASIC LEARNER SKILLS
 Cooperation and Reinforcer Effectiveness
 Visual Performance
 Receptive Language
 Motor Imitation
 Vocal Imitation
 Requests
 Labelling
 Intraverbals
 Spontaneous Vocalizations
 Syntax and Grammar
 Play and Leisure
 Social Interaction
 Group Instruction
 Classroom Routines
 Generalized Responding
BASIC LEARNER SKILLS
 “…15 important skill areas that appear to be critical in
order to learn from everyday experiences.”

 382 items

 70% of the assessment

 Why are such simple skills so important?

SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY

 Why is the skill area important?

 Whatother skill areas might a deficit in this area affect?
 How might it impact behaviour?

 What questions do you have about the skill area?

LARGE GROUP SHARING
 Share with the large group what you discussed around
each of the skill areas
BARRIERS TO LEARNING
VB-MAPP (SUNDBERG, 2008)
Skill Deficits in the following areas have been identified as
creating barriers to learning

 Poor, absent or weak repertoires in:

 Requesting

 Receptive/ expressive labelling

 Motor imitation

 Echolic skills

 Matching to samples

 Listener repertoires

 Intraverbal

 Social behaviour
BARRIERS TO LEARNING
VB-MAPP (SUNDBERG, 2008)
 Negative behaviours
 Instructional control
 Prompt dependent
 Defective scanning skills
 Failure to make conditional discriminations
 Failure to generalize
 Weak or atypical motivators
 Response weakens motivation
 Reinforcement dependent
 Self stimulation
 Obsessive-compulsive disorder
 Hyperactivity
 Failure to make eye contact, or attend to people
 Sensory defensiveness
COMPLETING THE INITIAL
ASSESSMENT
Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills- Revised
WHO CAN COMPLETE THE ASSESSMENT

 A Professional who has knowledge of the Protocol and

who has direct contact with the student on a regular
basis.

 Has a background in conducting and interpreting

assessments.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
 Informally
 Over a period of several weeks

 Scored on the skills tracking grid

 Provides information about the strengths and weaknesses

 Allows the teacher to identify any missing skills that

may interfere with a student’s ability to acquire new
skills effectively
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
 The initial assessment may be completed in several steps
 Review the assessment and identify the areas where the
student clearly meets the criteria for
 thehighest score on an item (ie. score of 2 or 4)
 Has not demonstrated skills in that area

 Identify areas where the level of the student’s skills are

in question
 Gather information from other professionals, team
members, parents
 Observe the student demonstrating the skills
INFORMATION SOURCES

 Information from parents, the school team and other

professionals familiar with the student.

 Direct observation of the student in a variety of

situations.

 Formal presentation of tasks by the assessor.

SCORING THE ASSESSMENT
 Information that is provided must accurate, not a guess.
 Scores are based on what skills the student consistently
demonstrates at present.
NOT:
 Skillsdemonstrated in the past, but no longer consistently
observed.
 Emerging skills.

 It is better to underestimate a student’s skill level.

TRANSFER RESULTS TO TRACKING
GRIDS
 The open circles to the left of the grid should be colored
in for items that were tested but for which the student
scored 0 on the initial assessment
 The assessment date may reflect the time period in
which the assessment is completed, for example instead
of an assessment DATE, the month and year in which the
assessment was completed may be used
UPDATING THE ASSESSMENT
 IS MUCH EASIER THAN THE INITIAL
ASSESSMENT because it takes less time
 If a student remained at the same level as the initial
assessment, the same number should be circled on the
appropriate line of the update
 When transferring updated information to the tracking
grid, using different colors provides easy visual
identification of the student’s progress
TIPS FROM THE TRENCHES
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
 Choose at least one assessment area and do the initial
scoring for one of the students in your class.
 Take into account the criteria for a mastered skill
SCORING THE ASSESSMENT
 Information that is provided must accurate, not a guess.
 Scores are based on what skills the student consistently
demonstrates at present.
NOT:
 Skillsdemonstrated in the past, but no longer consistently
observed.
 Emerging skills.

 It is better to underestimate a student’s skill level.

DEVELOPING IPP GOALS FROM
THE ASSESSMENT
Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills- Revised
INTENSIVE TEACHING
1:1 teaching interactions
ELEMENTS OF GOOD TEACHING
INTERACTIONS
 Teaching environment is paired with reinforcement.
 Goals are appropriate to the student’s skill level, small
and achievable.
 Goals are clear to the student and the teacher.

 New skills are introduced with appropriate levels of

prompting to support learner success.
 Prompts are effectively faded.

 New skills are interspersed with mastered skills to

support the learner and decrease avoidance behaviours.
PROMPTING
 Physical Prompt – hand over hand or some type of
physical contact to cue the skill.
 Verbal Prompt – a spoken cue (ie. “what do you want?)

 Echoic prompt – modeling the exact verbal response

which the child can then echo.
 Imitative prompt – modelling

 Gestural prompt – Demonstrating the response (ie.

Pointing to a picture).
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
TEACHING
Teaching throughout the classroom and throughout the day
GROUP TEACHING
INTERACTIONS
Small group teaching
ZIPPEDY DOO
 A6 – The student will work for instructor controlled
reinforcement.
 C1 – Responds to own name

 D5 – Imitation of hand and arm movements

 D17 – Imitation of speed of action

 D20 – Imitation of a motor sequence

THE LITTLE OLD LADY BOOK
 A10 – scans items in an array
 B3 – match identical objects to sample

 C5 – Follow instructions to touch common objects in

various positions
 C8 – Follow instructions to give named non-reinforcing
items.
 C10 – touch item vs. distractor

 C15 – touch own body parts

 C37 – select by function

THE LITTLE OLD LADY BOOK
 D1 – Motor Imitation with objects
 D4 – Imitation, leg and foot movements

 D5 – Imitation, leg and foot movements

 E3 – Imitation, initial sounds of words

 G6 – Labels pieces of clothing

 G7 – Labels ongoing actions

 H1 – Fill in words from songs

 H7 – Intraverbal Associations
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE GROUP
TEACHING INTERACTIONS
What are some of the elements that make a good group
teaching interaction?
 Mix and vary skills

 Provide adequate prompting

 Have clear goals

 Pair the teaching environment with access to

reinforcement.
 Limit ‘wait time’ by interspersing turn taking activities
with imitations or group activities.
 Try to adjust goals in addition to adjusting prompt levels.
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE GROUP
TEACHING INTERACTIONS

 What is the role of the teacher in a group?

 What is the role of the Educational Assistant?

 How can the two work as a team?

Using the ABLLS-R to inform programming