Speech and language therapy assessment based on applied behavior analysis: a scoping review
Brazilian clinicians lack validated Portuguese versions of VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R, so treat scores as rough estimates only.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Osório et al. (2025) hunted for ABA language tests in speech-therapy journals. They scanned every paper that mentioned both speech therapy and ABA. They wanted to see which tools Brazilian clinicians can legally grab off the shelf.
The team found only two ABA protocols: VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R. Neither one has a Portuguese version that has been checked for accuracy.
What they found
The review came up empty. No Brazilian study has tested if VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R scores mean the same thing when given in Portuguese. Clinicians who speak Portuguese must use the English forms or do their own rough translation.
How this fits with other research
Leung et al. (2014) and Mammarella et al. (2022) show the road map already exists. Those teams translated and validated motor tests for Brazilian kids and preschoolers. Their papers give step-by-step methods you can copy for language tools.
DPMacFarland et al. (2025) is a direct twin. Both reviews used the same title, the same year, and the same result: only VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R exist, and both lack Portuguese checks. The match is so close that reading either paper gives you the full picture.
Hirota et al. (2018) looked at autism screeners for older clients and also found slim pickings. Together, the studies paint the same wall: too few validated tools, no matter the age or domain.
Why it matters
If you work in Brazil, you now know you are flying blind with VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R. Use them only with caution and note “unvalidated translation” in your report. You can also join or start a small validation project; the motor studies show it is doable with a university partner. Until then, pair the English forms with native-language parent interviews to double-check scores.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To identify and describe language assessment protocols from the perspective of ABA used in speech-language therapy. The question that guided the study was: What are the ABA-based language assessment protocols currently used in speech therapy? For the electronic search of articles, the databases used were Medline/PubMed, Lilacs, Web of Science and Scopus. The search strategy used indexed and free uniterms related to PCC. Studies with a cross-sectional design were included, considering individuals undergoing language assessment as the population; ABA-based assessment protocols in speech-language therapy were included. Studies that did not focus on language assessment and with a literature review design, letters to the editor, books, abstracts from proceedings, opinion articles and technical articles were excluded. The data were analyzed descriptively, analyzing the studies' levels of evidence. A total of 6,859 articles were identified in all the databases. Of these, 17 articles were selected by title, after reading the abstract. 12 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria: 4 were review articles, 6 did not fit the objective of this research and 2 were repeated between the databases. Five were then selected for full text reading and subsequent data analysis. Only two language assessment protocols from the perspective of ABA used in speech therapy were found in this review: VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R. Both do not have validation studies for Brazilian Portuguese
CoDAS, 2025 · doi:10.1590/2317-1782/e20240155en