The SASP in Pediatric OT: Spatial Awareness Testing, Scoring, Research, and Reporting Tips

Some students can name every letter and number but still reverse them, lose their place on a math worksheet, or copy work that looks nothing like the model. One older tool built for this question is the Spatial Awareness Skills Program (SASP) by Jerome Rosner. It is part test and part curriculum, which sets it apart from most visual perception tests on our shelves.

Why school and clinic therapists use the SASP

The SASP was written for children whose spatial skills are developing more slowly than expected. The Buros Center for Testing describes its purpose as identifying those children and providing information about how to remedy the deficit (Buros Center for Testing, n.d.). PRO-ED lists occupational therapists, developmental optometrists, and teachers as the intended users, and describes the target group as children from prekindergarten through the elementary grades who have learning disabilities, attention problems, or dyslexia (PRO-ED, n.d.-a).

Therapists tend to reach for it when a young student struggles with copying, letter formation, or spacing and you want a result that points directly to a starting level in an intervention sequence.

What the SASP is

• Author: Jerome Rosner (PRO-ED, n.d.-a).
• Publisher: PRO-ED, Austin, Texas. Buros lists a 1999 publication date (Buros Center for Testing, n.d.).
• Kit: Curriculum Manual, Instrument Manual, Student Response Booklets, and a Scoring Transparency (PRO-ED, n.d.-a).
• Ages: Publishers describe it in grade terms (prekindergarten through elementary). Venter et al. (2018), citing the manual, describe the test as suitable for children ages 4 to 10. Confirm the exact range in your Instrument Manual.
• Format and time: Individual or group administration, about 20 minutes (Therapro, n.d.).

Edition note. There is only one edition of the SASP. Rosner explains in the preface that the SASP Test is a revision of his earlier Test of Visual Analysis Skills (TVAS) from 1975, and that the new version is shorter and easier to score reliably. The SASP curriculum updates the visual component of his earlier PREP program (PRO-ED, n.d.-b). If you trained on the TVAS, the SASP is its successor. Availability is worth checking: Buros notes that in 2016 the publisher reported the test as out of print, yet PRO-ED currently lists the complete kit for sale (Buros Center for Testing, n.d.; PRO-ED, n.d.-a).

What it measures

Rosner frames spatial awareness as two related skill sets (PRO-ED, n.d.-b):

• Analysis: breaking a spatially organized pattern into its parts, such as quantity, size, and position.
• Organization: grouping, or "chunking," those parts using visual strategies and words so the information is easier to process. Rosner notes that his earlier programs assumed organization would follow automatically once analysis improved, and the SASP was built to teach it directly.

The test itself is a copying task. Venter et al. (2018) describe it as measuring a child's ability to use spatial awareness to near copy a series of line shapes that increase in difficulty, using geometric forms rather than letters or numbers. Because the child draws every response, the test asks for visual motor output as well as spatial thinking. Keep that in mind when you interpret a low score.

The curriculum is organized into seven levels. According to the preface, Levels A to C target analysis skills typically expected of 3 to 6 year olds, Levels D to F continue analysis and add basic organization, and Level G addresses third and fourth grade organization skills. A separate section teaches verbal organizers, the words that support the process (PRO-ED, n.d.-b).

How it is scored and reported

The SASP is not a standard score test. Based on the published table of contents for the Instrument Manual, the scoring chapter covers ceilings, scoring procedures, converting raw scores to age equivalents, and an appendix that converts SASP scores to age equivalents and SASP levels (PRO-ED, n.d.-c). Venter et al. (2018) add that the manual reports age equivalent scores in six month intervals.

In practice, you will report three things:

1. Raw score (accuracy on the copied items).
2. Age equivalent from the manual's conversion table.
3. SASP level (A to G), which tells you where to start in the curriculum.

Do not report a standard score or percentile unless you name a separate published norm set. The manual does not appear to offer percentiles; check its "Scores Provided" section to confirm.

A realistic school example

Maya is a second grader whose math work is hard to read. Columns drift, numbers reverse, and she miscopies problems from the board, though her grasp is functional and she traces accurately. The OT gives the SASP alongside a motor reduced visual perception measure.

Sample score summary (FICTIONAL)

This example is invented for teaching purposes. The values were not taken from the SASP conversion tables. Look up every score in your own manual.

• Chronological age: 7 years, 4 months
• SASP raw score: 9
• Age equivalent: 5 years, 6 months (illustrative)
• SASP instructional level: C (illustrative)

How to write it up

Maya completed the Spatial Awareness Skills Program (SASP) Test (Rosner, 1999), a copying task in which the student reproduces line patterns of increasing complexity. She earned a raw score of 9, which corresponds to an age equivalent of 5 years, 6 months. Age equivalents describe the age at which an average child earns the same raw score; they are not standard scores and should be read as a general indicator of developmental level. Maya reproduced simple patterns accurately but lost track of where lines began and ended as designs became more complex. Her results place her at SASP Level C, which suggests starting intervention with spatial analysis activities. Because the SASP requires drawing, results were interpreted alongside a motor reduced visual perception measure.

What the research says

The published research is thin, and most of it uses the SASP as a comparison measure rather than studying the SASP itself.

• Reliability. Venter et al. (2018), citing the manual, report average internal consistency of .76 and inter rater reliability of .96. An internal consistency in the .70s is modest for decision making about an individual child. Confirm these values in your manual.
• Convergent validity. Venter et al. (2018) gave the SASP and the Richmond Reversal Rating to Year 1 to 3 children at one Western Australian school. Scores correlated significantly, moderately for SASP raw scores and more weakly for percentiles. The authors note the SASP's drawing demand may have lowered the correlations, and the sample was small.
• Norms outside the manual. Venter et al. (2018) used Australian percentile norms that Rateau et al. (2003) developed for Rosner's earlier TVAS. Those norms come from the predecessor test and Australian children, so do not use them for U.S. eligibility decisions.
• Intervention studies. Richmond et al. (2014) used the SASP as a pre and post measure in a 10 week study of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System with 31 children ages 6 to 12. The abstract reports a significant change in writing speed and does not report a significant change on the SASP. The abstract does not describe a control group.
• Independent review. The SASP was reviewed in the Fifteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook (Buros Center for Testing, n.d.), which is worth reading through your library.

Practical cautions

• Age equivalents only. They are easy for families to misread and are weak support for eligibility on their own. Pair the SASP with a standardized measure if you need a standard score.
• Old norms. The test dates to 1999. Describe it as a criterion for instructional planning, not as a current normative comparison.
• Motor confound. A child with poor pencil control can score low for reasons that have little to do with spatial analysis. Watch how errors happen and compare with a motor reduced test.
• Group administration. It is allowed, but you lose useful behavioral observations. Test individually when the result will drive services.

How it compares to related tools

• Beery VMI, Sixth Edition. Also a geometric form copying test, with Short and Full Formats taking 10 to 15 minutes each and supplemental Visual Perception and Motor Coordination tests. It yields standard scores, percentiles, and age equivalents (Pearson, n.d.).
• DTVP-3. Five subtests for ages 4 through 12, about 30 minutes, with Motor Reduced Visual Perception, Visual Motor Integration, and General Visual Perception composites (PRO-ED, n.d.-d).
• TVPS-4. A multiple choice test for ages 5 through 21 with seven areas including Spatial Relationships, requiring only pointing or minimal verbal responses. It yields scaled scores, a standard score, percentile ranks, and age equivalents (PRO-ED, n.d.-e). It is a good partner for the SASP when you want a motor free check.

The SASP's advantage over all three is its link to a leveled curriculum; its weakness is the lack of standard scores and the age of its data.

Bottom line

The SASP is a short spatial copying test with a matching intervention program. It works best as a planning tool that shows where a young student's spatial skills break down and where to start teaching. It is not a strong stand alone eligibility measure. Report the raw score, age equivalent, and level accurately, keep the motor demand in mind, and pair it with a current standardized test when you need normative scores.

References

Buros Center for Testing. (n.d.). Spatial Awareness Skills Program [Test review listing]. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. https://marketplace.unl.edu/buros/test-reviews/alphabetical-list/spatial-awareness-skills-program.html

Pearson. (n.d.). Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Sixth Edition. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Motor-Sensory/Beery-Buktenica-Developmental-Test-of-Visual-Motor-Integration-%7C-Sixth-Edition/p/100000663.html

PRO-ED. (n.d.-a). SASP: Spatial Awareness Skills Program, complete kit. https://proedinc.com/products-8865.html

PRO-ED. (n.d.-b). SASP preface [Sample PDF]. https://proedinc.com/Downloads/8865Preface.pdf

PRO-ED. (n.d.-c). SASP Instrument Manual table of contents [Sample PDF]. https://proedinc.com/Downloads/8865TOC2.pdf

PRO-ED. (n.d.-d). DTVP-3: Developmental Test of Visual Perception, Third Edition, complete kit. https://proedinc.com/products-13700.html

PRO-ED. (n.d.-e). Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Fourth Edition (TVPS-4). https://www.proedinc.com/Products/14467/test-of-visual-perceptual-skillsfourth-edition-t.aspx

Rateau, F., Laumonier, B., & Hyndman, R. J. (2003). Normative data for the Rosner Test of Visual Analysis Skills on an Australian population. Optometry and Vision Science, 80(6), 431-436. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006324-200306000-00008

Richmond, J. E., Taylor, M., & Evans, S. (2014). Developing bilateral and spatial concepts in primary school-aged children: An empirical evaluation of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2(3), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1094

Rosner, J. (1999). Spatial Awareness Skills Program. PRO-ED.

Therapro. (n.d.). Spatial Awareness Skills Program SASP. https://www.therapro.com/Browse-Category/Visual-Perception-and-Visual-Skills/Spatial-Awareness-Skills-Program-SASP.html

Venter, L., Richmond, J., & Taylor, M. (2018). Convergent validity of the Richmond Reversal Rating in relation to visual-spatial perception as measured by the SASP. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, 48(3), 24-30. https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2018/vol48n3a5

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