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Presenter study handout

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning

4 contact hours · 0.4 AOTA CEUs · Module 2 · 16 slides

Presenter-side material. Each block shows the slide as the audience sees it, the talk track, and space for your own notes. Model answers appear here — do not hand this version to learners.

Module 2

2.1 — VPA™ architecture: the Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™, 12 skills across 5 domains

Transition

Module 2

VPA™ architecture: the Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™, 12 skills across 5 domains

0:20 – 0:50

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Transition: "VPA™ architecture: the Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™, 12 skills across 5 domains."

My notes

2.2 — VPA™ Architecture

Title

Module 2

VPA™ Architecture

Two tools, two jobs — the 5-Minute Classroom Screen and the 30-minute Full VPA™.

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Say this

Open here. "VPA™ Architecture." Two tools, two jobs — the 5-Minute Classroom Screen and the 30-minute Full VPA™.

Say why this section matters for their caseload, then advance.

My notes

2.3 — Choosing a depth

Poll

Poll

Choosing a depth

Given 20 minutes with a new referral, what would you run today?

Select one.

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Ask the poll: "Given 20 minutes with a new referral, what would you run today?"

Options:

• 5-Minute Classroom Screen

My notes

2.4 — The five domains map to the five levels

Five-Level Framework

Domains

The five domains map to the five levels

1

Visual Acuity & Sensory Foundation

Can the visual signal get in clearly enough to use?

2

Visual Efficiency

Fixation, pursuits, saccades, binocular comfort, near endurance.

3

Visual Processing

Discrimination, memory, closure, figure-ground, form constancy, spatial relations.

4

Visual-Motor Integration

Translating what is seen into graded, accurate motor output.

5

Functional Integration

Reading, writing, and task performance under real classroom demand.

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Say this

Run the five levels bottom-up.

Name each level, then say which one you assess first and why.

My notes

2.5 — Which instrument, when

Comparison

Which instrument, when

Classroom Screen (decide whether to look)

  • 30 observed behaviors, six per level, 3–5 minutes
  • Green 0–4 · yellow 5–10 · red 11+
  • Automatic-trigger items escalate regardless of total
  • Referral history only — never an assessment finding

Full VPA™ (measure)

  • 12 skills across 5 domains, about 30 minutes
  • Age-band entry, basal and ceiling on 9 adaptive skills; acuity, contrast, convergence are fixed 2-item checks
  • Printed calibrated cards for acuity, contrast, saccades, pursuits
  • Domain profile that drives goals, dosage, referral
Teacher / parentconcern raisedOT Screening (Classroom Screen)30 behaviors · green / yellow / redPASSFLAGDocument. No further OT.Provide teacher-facingclassroom accommodationsif requested.Classroom Screen or Full VPA™Score all 5 domainsPlan of careIEP goals · interventionAdapt-and-refer (Level 1)if acuity/health concern
Screening asks "Is there a concern?" Assessment asks "What exactly is the problem, and how do we intervene?" The path a referral takes depends on that answer.
The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Contrast the two columns: Classroom Screen (decide whether to look) versus Full VPA™ (measure).

Classroom Screen (decide whether to look):

• 30 observed behaviors, six per level, 3–5 minutes

My notes

2.6 — Full VPA™ administration view

Visual

Artifact

Full VPA™ administration view

Say/Do script, level ladder, and the scoring worksheet in one clinician view.

Say/Do script, level ladder, and the scoring worksheet in one clinician view.

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Say this

Talk over the visual: "Full VPA™ administration view."

Say the caption in your own words: Say/Do script, level ladder, and the scoring worksheet in one clinician view.

My notes

2.7 — Why 12 skills across 5 domains

Teaching slide

Design logic

Why 12 skills across 5 domains

  • Each domain samples one level of the framework: Access, Efficiency, Processing, Visual-Motor Integration, Functional Integration.
  • Related skills share one setup — fixation with pursuits, convergence with near-focus, discrimination with form constancy, copying with clock planning — which is how the battery fits in 30 minutes.
  • Every skill runs its own L1–L5 task ladder, so breakdown is located, not inferred.
  • Functional Integration includes both reading and writing — the two referral drivers.
L1 · Access
Near acuity
Contrast sensitivity
L2 · Efficiency
Fixation & pursuits
Saccades
Convergence & near focus
L3 · Processing
Discrimination & form constancy
Figure-ground
Visual closure
Spatial relations
Visual memory
L4 · Visual-motor integration
Copying & visual-spatial planning
L5 · Functional integration
Reading & writing endurance

Task rubric 0–3 → reported as VPL 1–5

0

Unable

1

Emerging, max support

2

Functional but inefficient

3

Accurate & efficient

Five domains, twelve skills, about 30 minutes — one domain per framework level. Every task is rubric-scored 0–3; the highest task level scored 2 or better is the skill’s achieved level, reported as VPL 1–5 against the age-band expectation.
The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Frame the slide: "Why 12 skills across 5 domains."

Walk each point, one sentence each:

• Each domain samples one level of the framework: Access, Efficiency, Processing, Visual-Motor Integration, Functional Integration.

My notes

2.8 — Three numbers — and they are not the same number

Comparison

Scoring

Three numbers — and they are not the same number

What you record at the table

  • Item rubric 0–3 for every task you administer: 0 unable, 1 emerging with maximum support, 2 functional with inefficiency, 3 accurate and efficient.
  • A rubric of 2 or 3 counts as passing that task; 0 or 1 does not.
  • Observation is recorded alongside every rubric score — head movement, refixations, latency, discomfort.

What the software derives

  • Achieved level L1–L5: the highest task level scored 2 or better on that skill.
  • VPL 1–5 (Visual Performance Level): achieved level adjusted for rubric quality — VPL 1 (emerging), VPL 2 (developing), VPL 3 (functional), VPL 4 (efficient), VPL 5 (advanced). Always write the number; “functional” is a descriptor of VPL 3, not the name of Domain 5.
  • Gap: VPL compared to the expected VPL range for the student’s age band.
VPA™ · Scored profile
L1Acuity & sensory foundationincl. field & scanning
strong
L2Visual efficiency
limiting
L3Visual processing
emerging
L4Visual-motor integration
limiting
L5Functional integration
breaking down
Profile shape: foundation intact / output limitedIntervention enters at Level 2 (efficiency), not at Level 4 handwriting drill.
Rows are the five framework levels in order (L1 → L5) — the L number is the level, never the score. Performance is the bar and the word beside it. Read the shape before any composite: a flat-but-low profile, a single notch, and a “foundation intact / output collapsed” staircase call for three different plans.

Say it precisely: tasks are rubric-scored 0–3, skills achieve a level L1–L5, and the skill result reported is VPL 1–5 against the age-band expectation. Nothing in the VPA™ is scored 1–3.

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Say this

Contrast the two columns: What you record at the table versus What the software derives.

What you record at the table:

• Item rubric 0–3 for every task you administer: 0 unable, 1 emerging with maximum support, 2 functional with inefficiency, 3 accurate and efficient.

My notes

2.9 — When to reach for a standardized tool

Teaching slide

Adjuncts

When to reach for a standardized tool

  • A single skill is flagged and you need depth for eligibility.
  • A payer or district requires a norm-referenced score.
  • Team disagreement about whether the finding is real.
  • Use adjuncts to deepen a flagged area — not to replace the level profile.
L0

Visual acuity & ocular health

Distance/near acuity check, contrast, red-flag screen

L1

Visual fields & attention to space

Confrontation fields, cancellation, scan-grid coverage

L2

Oculomotor & near-point efficiency

Fixation, pursuits, saccade columns, NPC, endurance

L3

Visual-perceptual processing

Discrimination, figure-ground, closure, memory, spatial

L4

Visual-motor integration

Copy tasks, form reproduction, timed written output

Each level is sampled by its own task family. A composite score collapses these into one number; the profile keeps them separate so the plan can target the unstable floor.

The VPA™ tells you where to look; a standardized tool can tell you how far below peers.

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Frame the slide: "When to reach for a standardized tool."

Walk each point, one sentence each:

• A single skill is flagged and you need depth for eligibility.

My notes

2.10 — Module 2 video — VPA™ architecture

Video

Lecture

Module 2 video — VPA™ architecture

VIDEO SLOT

Tour of the instrument family and how the pieces relate.

Slides tab → set “url” to your YouTube/Vimeo/Loom embed link

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Set up the clip in one sentence, play it, then debrief with "what did you notice?"

My notes

2.11 — Diagram — 12 skills mapped to 5 domains

Visual

Import

Diagram — 12 skills mapped to 5 domains

L1 · Access
Near acuity
Contrast sensitivity
L2 · Efficiency
Fixation & pursuits
Saccades
Convergence & near focus
L3 · Processing
Discrimination & form constancy
Figure-ground
Visual closure
Spatial relations
Visual memory
L4 · Visual-motor integration
Copying & visual-spatial planning
L5 · Functional integration
Reading & writing endurance

Task rubric 0–3 → reported as VPL 1–5

0

Unable

1

Emerging, max support

2

Functional but inefficient

3

Accurate & efficient

Five domains, twelve skills, about 30 minutes — one domain per framework level. Every task is rubric-scored 0–3; the highest task level scored 2 or better is the skill’s achieved level, reported as VPL 1–5 against the age-band expectation.
The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Describe what belongs here: Architecture graphic showing domains, skills, and the L1–L5 ladder..

My notes

2.12 — Screenshot — Full VPA™ skill menu

Visual

Import

Screenshot — Full VPA™ skill menu

Visual Performance Assessment™ · Select skills

Visual access

  • Near acuity
  • Contrast sensitivity

Visual efficiency

  • Fixation & pursuits
  • Saccades
  • Convergence & near focus

Visual processing

  • Discrimination & form constancy
  • Figure-ground
  • Visual closure
  • Spatial relations
  • Visual memory

Visual-motor integration

  • Copying & visual-spatial planning

Functional integration

  • Reading & writing endurance
The Full VPA™ skill menu. Clinicians select the skills the referral question actually requires; the ladder and scoring rules stay identical across every skill selected.
The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Describe what belongs here: Skill menu view showing the 12 skills grouped by domain..

My notes

2.13 — So what? Pick the tool by the decision you owe

So what?

So what?

So what? Pick the tool by the decision you owe

The Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™ answer different questions. Choosing the wrong one costs you a session you will not get back.

The screen routes the referral; the Full VPA™ establishes achieved level and profile across 12 skills in about 30 minutes.

What you do with it

  • Classroom Screen (3–5 minutes) when the question is "does this need looking at?"
  • Automatic-trigger items escalate regardless of the total score.
  • Full when you need an achieved level, a domain profile, and a progress baseline.

Watch for

Writing a screen result into present levels — a screen is referral history, never an assessment finding.

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Land the "so what": The Classroom Screen and the Full VPA™ answer different questions. Choosing the wrong one costs you a session you will not get back.

Explain the mechanism plainly: The screen routes the referral; the Full VPA™ establishes achieved level and profile across 12 skills in about 30 minutes.

Then give them the moves — say each one as something they can do Monday:

My notes

2.14 — Two-minute case: which tool?

Mini case

Two-minute case

Two-minute case: which tool?

You have 25 minutes with a newly referred Grade 2 student, an IEP meeting in three weeks, and a teacher report of place-losing and slow copying.

Which tool do you run today, and what do you schedule?

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Two-minute case. Read it aloud:

You have 25 minutes with a newly referred Grade 2 student, an IEP meeting in three weeks, and a teacher report of place-losing and slow copying.

Put the question to them: "Which tool do you run today, and what do you schedule?" Give 60 seconds, no talking.

My notes

2.15 — Reflect and share

Reflection

Reflect and share

Reflect and share

Which of the 12 skills do you currently never assess — and what has that cost you?

THINKPROCESSSHARE
The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Reflection prompt: "Which of the 12 skills do you currently never assess — and what has that cost you?"

Offer the sentence starter: "I currently do not assess [skill]. This has cost me because..."

Think for one minute, write, then take two shares.

My notes

2.16 — Knowledge check — architecture

Self-check

Knowledge check

Knowledge check — architecture

When is the Classroom Screen the right instrument?

Self-check only — it does not affect your post-course quiz score.

The VPA™: Assessment & Clinical Reasoning
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Say this

Knowledge check: "When is the Classroom Screen the right instrument?"

Options:

• When you need a score for the IEP

My notes