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the successful practices I have employed when
assessing students with a visual impairment who
are from CLDB.
Another suggestion that I would provide for
those assessing students from CLDB is to translate assessment documents to the student's native language. In the past, I have translated
prompts for assessments such as the WPPSI-III
for students whose primary language is Spanish
and who were too young to have the Spanish version of the WISC-IV administered. Translation of
prompts will provide a measure of receptive ability and allow the evaluator to measure the skill
being performed. However, the evaluator must be
aware that cognitive measures do not transfer
from one language to another; therefore, any data
collected through translation should be reported
clinically and not through the use of standard
scores or overall scores and used for informational purposes only.
In addition to the validity issues mentioned
earlier, assessment professionals should have
general knowledge of the developmental patterns
of children who are blind or visually impaired and
the language acquisition stages of those students
who are from a diverse language background.
Consultation with the student's bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher is critical for the evaluator to gain information on how
the student's diverse background or language
may impact test performance. Additionally, consultation with the TVI is critical, not only for best
practice but because it is also required by federal
code. I am a certified bilingual teacher as well as
a diagnostician who is certified as a teacher of
the visually impaired and I still consult and collaborate heavily with the student's classroom
teacher, parents/family, and other teachers of the
visually impaired when planning assessments of
my students with visual impairments who are
from CLDB. States have varying guidelines for
