Low reliability of sighted-normed verbal assessment scores when administered to children with visual impairments.

Abstract

The most common and advocated assessment approach when a child cannot access visual materials is to use the verbal subscales of a test the psychologist already has and is familiar with. However, previous research indicates that children with visual impairments experience atypical verbal development. This raises the question of whether verbal subscale scores retain their reliability and interpretation validity when given to children with visual impairments. To answer this question, we administered a vocabulary subscale from a common intelligence test along with several nonverbal subscales to 15 early-blind adolescents (onset of ≤2 years). Reliability of only the vocabulary test scores was insufficient for high-stakes testing. This finding points to the broader issue of difficulties in assessing populations of exceptional children who experience atypical development trajectories, possibly making their assessment with common tests inappropriate. (PsycINFO Database Record

A comparison of sighted and visually impaired children’s text comprehension

“…We would have opted for a standardized Greek receptive and/or expressive vocabulary test, however and to the best of our knowledge one does not exist for children with visual impairments. We are mindful of the Morash and McKerracher (2017) critique on utilizing a standardized vocabulary test for sighted population upon a population with visual impairments for the English language. The fact that vocabulary has been shown to be a strong predictor of reading comprehension (Muter, Hulme, Snowling, & Stevenson, 2004) and inference making (Oakhill & Cain, 2012) from elementary grades (Ouellette & Beers, 2010) to early adulthood (Braze, Tabor, Shankweiler, & Mencl, 2007) warrants research interest.…”

Profiling Children With Cerebral Visual Impairment Using Multiple Methods of Assessment to Aid in Differential Diagnosis

“…When formal assessment items require any form of adaptation or modification, and children with visual impairments have not been included in the standardization protocols, it is generally accepted that standardized scores cannot be applied without additional validation efforts that includes these children (Morash & McKerracher, 2017). It has, however, also been proposed that the need for additional standardization studies for this population may depend upon the types of adaptations introduced since some may not significantly alter the degree of difficulty of test items (Ruiter et al, 2011).…”

Cognitive functioning of a blind student in a foreign language classroom

“…The blind population outperformed the sighted population in subtests for verbal working memory, such as subtest on sequences of numbers, which can be explained by the fact that blind individuals are well trained in remembering information necessary for their effective and safe functioning in every-day situations, for instance remembering landmarks on the way to a destination (cf. Morash, McKerracher 2017). Until recently, such a selective way of measuring cognitive abilities of blind children was considered a valuable source of information on their development, nowadays, however, it is claimed that semantic and conceptual representations develop differently in blind and in sighted individuals, therefore the reliability of verbal subtests, especially those based on semantic knowledge, raises serious objections as an assessment tool applied to blind children and adolescents (Morash, McKerracher 2017).…”

“…Morash, McKerracher 2017). Until recently, such a selective way of measuring cognitive abilities of blind children was considered a valuable source of information on their development, nowadays, however, it is claimed that semantic and conceptual representations develop differently in blind and in sighted individuals, therefore the reliability of verbal subtests, especially those based on semantic knowledge, raises serious objections as an assessment tool applied to blind children and adolescents (Morash, McKerracher 2017). Problems with a reliable assessment of intellectual abilities of blind students contribute to overall difficulties in making a holistic diagnosis concerning special educational needs of blind children.…”