What is VB-MAPP Level 3?
VB-MAPP Level 3 is the highest milestone level of the VB-MAPP and matches typical development from 30 to 48 months. It has 13 domains with 5 milestones each (65 in total): mand, tact, listener responding, visual perceptual and matching-to-sample, independent play, social behavior and social play, LRFFC, intraverbal, classroom routines and group skills, linguistic structure, reading, writing, and math.
Level 3 drops motor imitation and echoic, which end at Level 2, and adds three early academic domains: reading, writing and math. Those three only appear here, and they cover readiness skills such as matching letters, tracing and counting small sets. They are a short bridge to school, and a child who passes them is still at the start of academic learning.
The language domains change character at this level. Requests turn into questions (“Where’s my coat?”), labels turn into descriptions with adjectives and prepositions, and answers turn into back-and-forth exchanges with several turns. Social goals move from playing near peers to starting games and talking with them, which for many autistic learners is the hardest jump in the whole assessment.
A child who scores mostly in Level 3 has the language base for a general education preschool or kindergarten classroom with support. Teams use the VB-MAPP goal mapper to turn the remaining gaps into goals and our VB-MAPP guide for scoring, barriers and placement.
A learner working at Level 3
Here is one ordinary day with a girl whose scores sit mostly in Level 3, as her teacher might describe it.
- She arrives and tells the classroom aide, “I have a red bag today,” then asks, “Where is Mia?” when her usual friend is not at the table. Her questions are real ones; she waits for the answer.
- At circle time she answers “What do you wear on your feet?” and “Who brings the mail?” without help, but gives a related word (“outside”) when asked “Why do we wear a coat?”
- In the pretend kitchen she uses a block as a phone and tells a peer, “You be the mom.” When the peer changes the game, she gets upset and walks away after two turns.
- At the work table she sorts pictures into food and animals, finds the letter in her name among others, and counts out five cubes when asked. She traces a circle well and draws a square with rounded corners.
- On the way home she tells her father one thing she did at school when asked, in a four-word sentence with the past tense slightly off (“I runned at playground”).
What teams usually put first at Level 3
- 1Wh-questions and conversationAnswering who, what, where and later why and how, and keeping a short exchange going, are the skills a classroom asks for all day. Teams vary the wording of questions so the child listens to the question and does not memorize a script. The wh-questions printables are a good fit here.
- 2Talking and playing with peersStarting a game, asking a peer for something and following a peer’s play idea need practice with real children. Teams set up short structured play with one peer and fade adult involvement, since adult-only practice rarely carries over.
- 3Describing with colors, shapes, size and positionAdjectives and prepositions turn single labels into useful descriptions. Teams teach the child to say them and to respond to them as a listener. The prepositions printables cover the position words.
- 4Grammar in longer sentencesLinguistic structure at Level 3 means sentences of four or more words with plurals, past tense and pronouns. Teams model correct forms in context and track the child’s mean sentence length over time.
- 5Classroom readinessWorking through a short task without an adult, following group directions and transitioning without support decide how much help the child needs in school. Task boxes help build independent work.
Every Level 3 domain: milestone areas and a first goal
Our own plain-language summary of each domain at Level 3, with one measurable practice goal per milestone area. Open a domain for every goal and activity, or the goal mapper to copy them.
Mand (requesting)
Asking for what you want or need, with words, signs or pictures, so communication gets the child something real.
- Milestones 11Asking questions to get informationAsks a “where” question when a favorite item is hidden on 4 of 5 opportunities across 2 adults.
- Milestones 12–13Refusing and describing what they wantRefuses an item or activity in their own way (word, sign, gesture, AAC or pushing it away), and the refusal is honored, on 80% of opportunities.
- Milestones 14–15Directing others and joining talk with requestsGives a peer or adult at least 5 different play directions (for example “you build the tower”) in a 15-minute play session.
Tact (labeling)
Naming the things, actions and features the child sees, hears or notices, for the sake of sharing them rather than getting them.
- Milestones 11–12Describing with colors, shapes and positionsLabels 6 colors and 5 shapes on new objects on 80% of trials across 2 sessions.
- Milestones 13–14Naming feelings, people, places and featuresLabels 5 feelings in pictures or video clips on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 15Full-sentence descriptionsDescribes a picture scene with sentences of 4 or more words on 4 of 5 trials.
Listener responding
Understanding what other people say: noticing voices, responding to their name, finding things and following directions.
- Milestones 11–12Understanding colors, shapes and size wordsSelects items by 6 colors and 5 shapes from a field of 4 on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 13–15Position words and multi-step directionsPlaces an item in, on, under, next to and behind a container on 80% of trials.
Visual perceptual & matching-to-sample (VP-MTS)
Looking carefully, matching what goes together, sorting and completing visual puzzles.
- Milestones 11–13Matching by category and what goes togetherSorts 3 categories of mixed pictures (food, animals, clothing) without a model on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 14–15Patterns, sequences and complex matchingContinues an AB or ABC pattern with beads or blocks on 4 of 5 trials.
Independent play
Playing with toys and materials on their own, from simple exploring to pretend play and creative projects.
- Milestones 11–13Pretending with substitutes and play plansUses 3 different objects as pretend substitutes during play on their own.
- Milestones 14–15Drawing, building from pictures and longer projectsDraws 3 recognizable shapes or pictures (circle, sun, face) on 4 of 5 trials.
Social behavior & social play
Connecting with other people: eye contact, responding to others, joining play and talking with peers.
- Milestones 11–13Starting play and talking with peersStarts a play interaction with a peer at least 2 times in a 20-minute play period.
- Milestones 14–15Pretend play and cooperation with peersTakes on a role in pretend play with a peer (shopkeeper, customer) for 5 minutes on 3 occasions.
LRFFC (listener by function, feature & class)
Finding things when they are described by what they do, what they look like or what group they belong to.
- Milestones 11–13Combining clues to find the right itemSelects items using 2 combined clues (feature plus class) for 15 targets on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 14–15Answering who, what and where with selectionSelects the answer to who, what and where questions for 20 targets from a picture array on 80% of trials.
Intraverbal (conversation and answering)
Answering questions and filling in words when there is nothing to see, the building blocks of conversation.
- Milestones 11–13Answering wh-questions and naming members of a groupAnswers 25 different what, where and who questions without visual help on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 14–15Why and how questions and short conversationsAnswers 10 why and how questions (“why do we wear coats?”) on 4 of 5 trials.
Classroom routines & group skills
Joining classroom routines, sitting in a group, waiting and learning alongside other children.
- Milestones 11–13Longer group lessons and learning in a groupParticipates in a 15-minute group lesson with no more than 1 prompt on 4 of 5 days.
- Milestones 14–15Working on their own and multi-step class directionsCompletes an independent seatwork task for 10 minutes without adult prompts on 3 consecutive days.
Linguistic structure
How the child puts words together, from clear words and 2-word phrases to grammar like plurals and past tense.
- Milestones 11–13Plurals, -ing and small grammar wordsUses regular plurals correctly for 10 targets on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 14–15Past tense, possessives and longer sentencesUses past tense for 10 regular and 5 irregular verbs on 80% of trials.
Reading
Early reading skills: enjoying books, recognizing letters and their own name, and matching words to pictures.
- Milestones 11–13Enjoying books and recognizing lettersAttends to a picture book read aloud for 5 minutes on 3 consecutive days.
- Milestones 14–15Recognizing their name and first wordsSelects their own written name from a field of 3 names on 4 of 5 trials.
Writing
Early writing: making marks, copying strokes and shapes, tracing, and forming letters and numbers.
- Milestones 11–12Making marks and copying strokesCopies a vertical line, a horizontal line and a circle after a model on 4 of 5 trials.
- Milestones 13–15Tracing shapes, letters and numbersTraces a circle, square and cross staying mostly within the guide on 4 of 5 trials.
Math
Early number sense: recognizing numbers, counting objects, and comparing amounts.
- Milestones 11–12Recognizing numbers 1 to 5Selects numbers 1 to 5 when named from a field of 3 on 80% of trials.
- Milestones 13–15Counting and comparing amountsCounts up to 10 objects with one-to-one correspondence on 80% of trials.
What comes after VB-MAPP Level 3?
Once a learner meets most Level 3 milestones, the VB-MAPP has little left to measure. Teams usually switch to a broader curriculum assessment such as the ABLLS-R, PEAK or the AFLS, or to the school’s academic curriculum, and use the VB-MAPP Transition Assessment to inform placement.
The ABLLS-R covers many of the same areas in finer steps and continues into academic and self-help skills, so it suits learners who still need detailed language goals. PEAK targets derived relational responding (comparisons, categories, perspective taking), which fits learners who have strong basic language but struggle to generalize. For daily living and independence, teams often move to the AFLS. Our comparison of VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, PEAK and AFLS explains which fits which learner.
The Transition Assessment looks at more than milestone scores: barriers, how fast the child learns, self-care and how they cope with group settings. It helps the team and family decide what kind of classroom and how much support fits. The VB-MAPP guide explains it in more detail.
A full Level 3 score is a strong result, and the child still has work ahead. Most children who finish the VB-MAPP still need support with social language, flexible thinking and academics. With SuperChild, the child keeps practicing on a tablet with trainings for wh-questions, grammar and early math, while the professional follows the data and sets goals in whichever curriculum comes next.
Independent guide by SuperChild, not affiliated with the publisher or authors. Use the official protocol to administer and score.
Written from the publishers’ own materials and published research. Spotted an error? Email contact@superchild.ai and we’ll fix it.