Adaptation of the MABC-2 Test (Age Band 2) for children with low vision.
An adapted MABC-2 gives reliable motor scores for school-age kids with low vision, calming earlier fears about test noise.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Alves and the team changed the MABC-2 test for school-age kids who have low vision. They kept the same tasks but made them easier to see and follow.
They then checked if two raters would give the same score, if kids scored the same a week later, and if all items hung together.
What they found
The adapted test showed strong rater agreement and good week-to-week stability. Internal consistency landed in the moderate range.
In plain words, the low-vision version gives trustworthy numbers you can act on.
How this fits with other research
Holm et al. (2013) warned that the regular MABC-2 age band 2 is too noisy for tracking one child’s progress. The two studies seem to clash, but they looked at different groups. Inger watched typically seeing kids; Alves watched kids with low vision and used tweaked materials. The adaptation, not magic, cut the noise.
Brazilian work by Leung et al. (2014) and Greek work by Ellinoudis et al. (2011) also found solid reliability, yet they tested younger age bands in fully sighted children. Alves extends the good news to band 2 and to low vision, filling a gap the other papers left open.
Wuang et al. (2009) trimmed the BOT-2 for kids with intellectual disability. Their Rasch makeover mirrors Alves’s item tweaks, showing the field keeps tailoring motor tests for specific disability groups.
Why it matters
If you serve school-age learners with visual impairment, you now have a psychometrically sound tool to spot motor delays and write precise goals. No more flying blind or borrowing tests built for sighted kids. Use the adapted MABC-2, trust the scores, and link them to functional IEP objectives.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The tools used to assess motor performance in children with low vision often have no validity and reliability data concerning this population and use non-standardized modifications. Adaptations of these tools could help to identify motor problems and mitigate their effects. AIM: To assess aspects of validity and reliability in an adaptation of the Movement ABC-2 Test (MABC-2) for children with low vision. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The research was undertaken in two stages: 1) application of the original MABC-2 to 10 children with low vision, adaptation and pilot test; 2) administration and re-administration of the adapted MABC-2 in 30 children with low vision. Inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability were assessed with an intraclass correlation coefficient and Kappa index; internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Substantial to almost perfect inter-rater reliability was found between the component standard scores and a reasonable to excellent concordance rate in the classification of movement difficulty. The adapted tool has moderate internal consistency. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The adapted MABC-2 Test has improved the assessment of motor performance in children with low vision.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.10.003