29 Rating Scales
Available scales
Numerous informal questionnaires, checklists, and rating scales were created for blind and low vision individuals. While these measures may not produce standardized scores, the qualitative information obtained may help develop meaningful goals and understand the scope and sequence of skills. Examples include the Social Skills Assessment Tool for Children with Visual Impairments (SSAT-VI: R) (Sacks & Wolffe, 2006), Independent Living Skills (ILS) Checklist (Michigan Department of Education Low Incidence Outreach [MDE-LIO], 2018), and Total Life Learning: Preparing for Transition (Bridgeo et al., 2014).
The SIB-R (a measure of adaptive functioning) has a Short Form for the Visually Impaired. This version removed irrelevant items from the SIB-R. However, it was published in 1997, so it is now quite outdated. In addition, coverage of the full range of daily living skills is limited.
Instructions for raters
For items that assume vision on standardized rating scales, ask raters to rate according to the student’s performance with assistive technology or adapted materials or according to the intent of the question rather than the specific example. Responses to such questions should be according to the adapted expectations due to vision. Consider the student’s mode of output (e.g., brailling or typing) for items about written work. For instance, on a scale of executive functioning, “work is sloppy” is intended to reflect attention to detail and care for presentation. For items inquiring about eye contact, consider rating the item based on the student’s whole-body orientation toward the speaker. For items involving directed vision attention, such as looking before crossing the street, reflect on the student’s safety skills for completing street crossings, such as analyzing the environment auditorily, like listening to oncoming traffic.
Examples of items that assume vision:
- Written work is poorly organized.
- Work is sloppy.
- Has poor handwriting.
- Makes careless mistakes.
- Look at other people’s faces when they are talking to them.
- It looks both ways when crossing the street.
- Writes own name.
References
Bridgeo, W., Caruso, B., D’Andrea, L., Fitzgerald, D., Fox, S., Gicklhorn, C., Mills, C., Summersby, S., & Zatta, M. (2014). Total life learning: Preparing for transition. Perkins School for the Blind. https://askhowe.perkins.org/sites/default/files/222482_EmGraph_PerkinsTL-FinalWeb.pdf
Michigan Department of Education Low Incidence Outreach. (2018). Independent Living Skills (ILS) Checklist. https://mdelio.org/sites/default/files/documents/BVI/ECC/ILS/Checklists/ILS_Checklist_2018.pdf
Sacks, S. Z., & Wolffe, K. E. (Eds.). (2006). Teaching social skills to students with visual impairments: From theory to practice. AFB Press. https://www.aph.org/product/teaching-social-skills-to-students-with-visual-impairments-from-theory-to-practice/
