INTELLIGENCE TESTING OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: A Position Paper

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• INTELLIGENCE TESTING OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE BLIND
  OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED A Position Paper
• Marnee Loftin, MA, TSBVI
• Carol Evans, PhD, Davis District, UT
• Debbie Willis, MA, APH
• July 20, 2012
• AER International, Bellevue, WA

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THE BEGINNING

• APH established a Task Force in Jan. 2007
• Asked question of Task Force
• Do IQ tests provide meaningful information for
  individuals with visual impairment?

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THE ANSWER

• The Task Force responded that
• IQ tests can provide meaningful information to
  individuals who are blind and visually impaired,
  as well as to their instructors, families, and
  decision makers.

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HOWEVER IT IS IMPORTANT

• provided that all tests be administered in
  accordance with key points that reflect the
  uniqueness of the population, as well as
  appropriate cautions.

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THE TASK FORCE STARTS

• The Task Force developed a position paper and key
  points that reflect
• Appropriate preparation for administration
• Cautions in administration
• Cautions in interpretation

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CONTENTS OF POSITION PAPER CONSIST OF

• PREPARATION
• Administration
• Specialized Training Needed
• Reasons for Evaluation
• Collaboration between Disciplines
• Eye Conditions and Developmental History

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(Continued)

• ADMINISTRATION
• Adaptations
• Tactile and Symbolic Representation

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(Continued)

• INTERPRETATION
• Qualitative Interpretation
• Reporting Results

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POSITION STATEMENT

• When appropriate practices are followed,
  cognitive or intelligence testing of individuals
  who are blind or VI provides useful and valuable
  information to test-takers, their families,
  instructors, and other decision makers.

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ISSUE 1 ADMINISTERING INTELLIGENCE TESTS

• GUIDELINE Intelligence test results yield
  valuable information about an individual and
  increase the usefulness of the overall
  evaluation.

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PRIOR TO ADMINISTRATION THE EVALUATOR MUST

• Ensure completion of Functional Vision/Learning
  Media Assessment (FV/LMA) by TVI or OM
  Specialist
• Understand
• information contained in the FV/LMA and ways to
  use it in testing

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(Continued)

• the impact of adaptations and modifications
  upon test results
• the importance of making tests accessible
  without changing content assessed or of level of
  difficulty
• Support of collaborative evaluations for
  ensuring the highest quality outcomes

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ISSUE 2 SPECIALIZED TRAINING

• Guideline 2 Those administering tests need
  specialized training in theory of assessment and
  test construction as well as child development
  and communication methods of individuals who are
  blind and VI

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Professional Preparation of Evaluator must
include

• Constructs of intelligence
• Theory of tests and measurement
• Typical and atypical child development
• Test administration with general and special
  populations
• Understanding of collaborative evaluations

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The Professional Evaluator must

• Accept the concept of collaborative evaluation
• Incorporate expertise of VI professionals in the
  evaluation process
• Collaborate in all phases from preparation for
  testing to report writing

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ISSUE 3 REASONS FOR EVALUATION

• Guideline The reason for the evaluation, and
  the resulting specific clinical judgments and
  recommendations, should be clearly documented in
  each individuals report.

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The Evaluator must

• Request information about specific reasons for
  evaluation
• Avoid accepting reasons that relate only to
  regulations

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Specificity of these requests will

• Improve test selection
• Answer referral questions
• Minimize simple reporting of scores
• Increase applicability of results

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The Recommendations should

• Be clear to all stakeholders
• Avoid professional jargon
• Explain technical terms
• Apply to real-life situations and promote
  increasing independence and self-advocacy

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The Evaluation should not be used as the sole
determinant of

• Cognitive abilities
• Presence of additional disabilities
• Eligibility for special programs

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ISSUE 4 COLLABORATION

• Guideline The visual impairment and/or
  rehabilitation professional, classroom teacher,
  family, and individual must be involved during
  the planning, evaluation, and report writing
  process.

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COLLABORATIVE EVALUATIONS WILL ALWAYS

• Gather information from all individuals
• Actively solicit and discuss information
• View collaboration as an on-going process
• Reflect the professional expertise of all

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ISSUE 5 EYE CONDITION AND DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

• Guideline 5 The evaluator should be aware of
  the individuals medical and developmental
  history, as well as the implications of the eye
  condition on the tasks to be performed (and
  implementation of recommendations).

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Specific information necessary includes
understanding of

• Medical history
• Developmental patterns and relationship to vision
• Early intervention
• Congenital vs. Adventitious vision loss
• Neurological vs. Ocular vision problems

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ISSUE 6 ADAPTATIONS

• Guidelines Adaptations, which include
  accommodations that do not change the concepts
  tested nor the difficulty level of the test
  items, should be planned in advance in
  collaboration with the visual impairment and/or
  rehabilitation professional and the test
  developer, and be well-documented in the final
  report.

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ACCOMMODATIONS SHOULD

• Provide access to the test taker
• Be planned in advance
• Maintain the basic concept and level of
  difficulty of items
• Be documented in final report

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ACCOMMODATION OR MODIFICATION?

• Accommodations do not affect basic concept or
  level of difficulty, e.g. braille or LP
• Modifications affect basic concept or level of
  difficulty, e.g. use of calculator
• Either change increases the need for caution in
  interpretation of results

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ISSUE 7 TACTILE AND SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS

• Guideline 7 Symbols, tactile graphics, and
  miniature objects must be carefully considered
  and used with caution to represent pictorial or
  graphical information. Real objects should be
  used whenever feasible.

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Visual stimuli must be carefully analyzed to
determine

• Relevance to the concept being assessed
• Stimuli that can be made accessible
• Any changes or eliminations
• Appropriate use of miniature objects if
  familiarity with both the real object and the
  miniature is ensured

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ISSUE 8 DIRECT OBSERVATION

• Guideline The assessment should include direct
  observation in multiple situations.

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Suggested behaviors for observation include

• Visual efficiency
• Visual fatigue
• Organizational abilities required in
  problem-solving
• Application of OM skills in new environments
• Presence of self-stimulatory behaviors

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Additional information should include

• Social integration with peers
• Independent initiation of activities
• Organization of tasks for successful management
  and completion
• Self-advocacy skills
• Self-management of technology

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ISSUE 9 QUALITATIVE INTERPRETATION

• Guideline When visual-spatial items or tests
  are administered, these results should be used
  only for clinical purposes and to identify
  appropriate modifications of educational or
  vocational materials and instructional methods.
  Results obtained from visual-spatial evaluations
  must never be reported as scores or used to
  determine the presence of other disabilities.
  Important exceptions to this guideline exist, and
  are documented below.

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Visual-Spatial items or tests may be administered
if

• The individual uses vision for learning
• The FV and LMA support the presence of adequate
  vision for specific items
• Both the VI professional and Evaluator agree that
  results provide meaningful information AND
  support the referral question

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Accommodations made to Visual-Spatial items/test
must be

• Supported by the FV/LMA
• Endorsed by both vision professional and
  evaluator
• Noted in the final report
• Include such things as extended time and use of
  CCTV during administration

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Results of performance on Visual-Spatial items or
tests should be

• Reported qualitatively rather than as a score
• Used as a source to determine learning strengths
• Used to plan meaningful accommodations in
  different environments

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ISSUE 10 REPORTING RESULTS

• Guideline Reports of assessments of individuals
  with visual impairments need to be expanded to
  include an explanation of the procedures
  followed, changes in standardized administration,
  and the description of performance observed.

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GENERAL CAUTIONS

• All reports should reflect that tests represent
  an estimate of abilities
• Standardization of most-frequently- administered
  tests did not include persons with visual
  impairments

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Test results should be reported with the
Evaluator specifying

• Intervals around the obtained score as well as
  specific score
• Confidence intervals at 90 level
• Specific concerns relating to validity of scores
• Any adaptations in procedures and/or materials
• Lack of norms for individuals who are blind or
  visually impaired and corresponding cautions
• Accommodations to provide access are specified

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REPORTING RESULTS OF VISUAL SPATIAL TESTS

• Extreme caution must be used in reporting scores
  on visual spatial tests
• Generally these must be reported qualitatively,
  i.e. as strengths and weaknesses, with
  implications for materials and instruction

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Further Information

• www.aph.org/tests/intelligencetesting.html
• Marnee Loftin loftinm_at_tsbvi.edu or
  loftinmp_at_att.net
• Carol Evans visionpsych_at_gmail.com or
  braillepsych_at_yahoo.com
• Debbie Willis dwillis_at_aph.org