What is the Vineland Test?

The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (Vineland-II) measures the personal and social skills of individuals from birth through adulthood.  Because adaptive behavior refers to an individual's typical performance of the day-to-day activities required for personal and social sufficiency, these scales assess what a person actually does, rather than what he or she is able to do. 

In order to determine the level of an individual's adaptive behavior, someone who is familiar with that individual, such as a parent or caregiver, is asked to describe his activities.  Those activities are then compared to those of other people the same age to determine which areas are average, above average, or in need of special help.

Learning about an individual's adaptive behavior helps us to gain a total picture of that individual.  When adaptive behavior information is combined with information about an individual's intelligence, school achievement, and physical health, plans can be made to address any special needs that person may have at home or in school.

There is a teacher version and a parent version.  The parent questionnaire can be processed either as an interview or a parent survey.  The parent version will address a wider variety of adaptive behaviors than the teacher version, which only addresses behaviors observed in the classroom.

The Vineland-II assesses adaptive behavior in four domains: Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization, and Motor Skills.  It also provides a composite score that summarizes the individual's performance across all four domains.

Information about the Vineland assessment is provided by AGS publishing:

http://ags.pearsonassessments.com/group.asp?nGroupInfoID=aVineland

For a sample letter requesting a school to administer the Vineland test, see this link:

http://www.come-over.to/FAS/VinelandRationale.htm