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Accommodating the Bayley-III for motor and/or visual impairment: a comparative pilot study
Linda Visser1, Selma A J Ruiter, Bieuwe F van der Meulen
1Departments of Special Needs Education and Youth Care (Ms Visser and Drs Ruiter, van der Meulen, and Ruijssenaars) and Psychometrics and Statistics (Dr Timmerman), Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
The adapted Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) effectively assesses children with motor and visual impairments. Accommodations were practical and beneficial for most participants, suggesting improved validity for this population.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Neurodevelopment
- Clinical Assessment Tools
Background:
- The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) is a standard tool for assessing early development.
- Children with motor and/or visual impairments may face challenges with the standard version, potentially leading to biased results.
- Accommodations aim to reduce impairment bias without changing the core constructs measured by the test.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the validity and usefulness of a modified Bayley-III version designed for infants and toddlers with low motor and/or low vision.
- To determine if specific accommodations, such as enlarged materials, improve assessment for this population.
Main Methods:
- A within-subject design was employed, testing 19 children aged 22-90 months with both the accommodated and standard Bayley-III.
- Testing order was randomly counterbalanced to minimize order effects.
- Test administrators provided feedback on the practicality and perceived usefulness of the accommodations.
Main Results:
- A subset of children demonstrated significant benefits from the accommodated version, with two children showing a notable difference in raw scores.
- Test administrators found the accommodations to be practical and advantageous for the majority of children assessed.
- The accommodated version appears to be a useful tool for assessing development in children with motor and visual impairments.
Conclusions:
- The Low Motor/Vision accommodated Bayley-III version demonstrates potential for validly assessing the developmental progress of children with motor and visual impairments.
- Further large-scale research is recommended to confirm and enhance the construct validity of these accommodations.
