Motor assessment tools: their concurrent validity in evaluating children with multiple handicaps.

Three developmental motor assessment tools were administered concurrently to 17 children with severe multiple handicaps in an effort to examine the relationship of developmental age equivalent scores among the 3 tools. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development, a standardized and norm-referenced infant assessment tool, was used as criterion for concurrent validity in evaluating the other 2 tools, the Callier-Azusa Scale and the Fircrest Deaf-Blind Motor Assessment Tool. In spite of variations in quantity and type of behaviors assessed on each of these 3 instruments, highly significant positive correlations were shown between age equivalent scores on the Bayley and those on each of the other 2 tests. These findings support the application of objective, quantifiable measurement tools for determining developmental motor age levels of severely disabled children with multiple handicaps.