Special Education Definitions,
Acronyms, Glossary of Terms
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Advocate
One who pleads another's cause or in support of an individual.
A special needs advocate primary responsibility is to represent the
best interests
of the student in the educational process.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder - ADHD or AD/HD, or
ADD
Is a neurological condition related,
in part, to the brain's
chemistry and anatomy. ADHD manifests itself as a persistent pattern of
inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity
that occurs more frequently and more severely than is typically
observed in people at comparable levels of development. ADHD begins in
childhood and can persist into adulthood as well. While some children
outgrow ADHD, about 60% continue to have symptoms into adulthood.
According to the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), the symptoms of ADHD fall into three categories:
inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, and combined. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), used to
be it's own variety of ADHD, and
now we have one diagnose and 3 categories.
Activities of Daily Living - ADL
Activities of daily living are
activities related to personal care and include bathing or showering,
dressing, getting in or out of bed or a chair, using the toilet, and
eating. Provided by an Occupational Therapist,
Registered, Licensed (OT/L) and
Certified Behaviorist are
assigned to the goals and with the use of Applied Behavior Analysis - ABA.
Auditory Processing Disorder - APD
Is
a term used to describe what happens when your
brain recognizes and interprets the sounds around you. We hear when
energy that we recognize as sound travels through the ear and is
changed into electrical information that can be interpreted by the
brain. The “disorder” part of auditory processing disorder means that
something is adversely affecting the processing or interpretation of
the information. APD goes by many other names. Sometimes it is
referred to as central
auditory processing disorder (CAPD). Other common names are auditory
perception problem, auditory comprehension deficit, central auditory
dysfunction, central deafness, and so-called “word deafness.”
(See definition below for CAPD)
Applied Behavior Analysis - ABA
Is the process of systematically
applying interventions based on the principles of learning theory to
improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree (Baer,
Wolf & Risley, 1968/1987; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991).
Specifically, ABA refers to a systematic approach to the assessment and
evaluation of behavior, and the application of interventions that alter
behavior. Applied" means practice, rather than research or
philosophy.
"Behavior
analysis" may be read as "learning theory," that is, understanding what
leads to new skills. (This is a simplification:
ABA is just as much
about maintaining and using
skills as about learning.). The word
"behavior" when talking about learning to talk, play, and live as a
complex
social animal, but to a behaviorist all these can be taught, so long as
there are intact
brain functions to learn and practice the skills. (the deficits of
autism
result largely
from a learning or 'blockage,' which can be overcome by intensive
teaching.)
Apraxia - Childhood Apraxia of Speech -CAS
or Developmental Apraxia of Speech - DAS
Is a specific motor speech disorder. Children with apraxia have great difficulty
planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series
of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for
intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech may also be called verbal
apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. "Developmental Apraxia of
Speech is a neurological disorder that affects the planning and
production of speech (Davis, Jakielski, & Marquardt, 1998).
(Although there is a technical
difference between "dyspraxia" and "apraxia", the terms are often used
interchangeably. See Dyspraxia definition).
Ataxia
Comes from the Greek word, “a taxis”
meaning
“without order or incoordination”. The Medline plus Merriam-Webster
Medical Dictionary defines ataxia (a-tak-se-a) as, “An inability to
coordinate muscular movements that is symptomatic of some nervous
disorders.”
Ataxia is often used to describe a symptom of incoordination
which
can be associated with infections, injuries, other diseases, or
degenerative changes in the central nervous system. Ataxia is also used
to denote a group of specific degenerative diseases of the nervous
system.
Behavior
Intervention Plans - BIP, Behavior
Management Invention - BMI
or Behavior Management
Plan -BMP
Behavior plans
and strategies document
skills the students need in order to behave in a more appropriate
manner, or plans providing motivation to conform to required
standards. The plan should be proactive, positive intervention
plans that teach new ways of behaving, and address both the source of
the problem, by serving the same function, and the problem itself.
Curriculum
Accommodation Plan - CAP
Is
a plan for the purpose of assisting teachers and school
principles ensuring that all efforts have been made to meet students'
needs in regular education. (Concord Public Schools old term was a
Regular Education Plan).
Central Auditory Processing
Deficit or
Central
Auditory Processing
Dysfunction
- CAPD
Central Auditory processing is a term used to describe what happens
when your
brain recognizes and interprets the sounds around you. Humans hear when
energy that we recognize as sound travels through the ear and is
changed into electrical information that can be interpreted by the
brain. The “disorder” part of auditory processing disorder means that
something is adversely affecting the processing or interpretation of
the information. CAPD goes by many other names. Sometimes it is
referred to as just
auditory processing disorder (APD). Other common names are auditory
perception problem, auditory comprehension deficit, central auditory
dysfunction, central deafness, and so-called “word deafness.”
Cognitive
Disorder - CD or Cognitive
Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified - CDNOS
Both terms are used
in the DSM IV manual (see DSM).
Cognitive refers to the ability
to think and process
information. Cognitive disorders are conditions that cause
difficulty with this processing, leading to problems with memory,
reasoning, judgment, perception or awareness. Some examples of CD
are Multiple
Sclerosis (MS), Epilepsy, Parkinson's disease (PD), various dementias,
vascular disorders and
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI).
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Development
Disorder or Developmental
Disabilities - DD
Children aged 3 through 9
experiencing developmental delays. Who are experiencing developmental delays, in one or more of the
following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication
development, social development, emotional development, or adaptive
development.
Developmentally
Handicapped - DH
(See above
definition for DD)
Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified - DD-NOS
Term used
in the DSM IV manual (see DSM).
Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM
Manual
published
by The American Psychiatric Association, the latest published was
fourth
edition, Referred to as DSM-IV approved in 1994. A manual
of
classification of psychiatric disorders,
often found in Psychiatrist offices.
The DSM IV Manual, does not have a diagnostic category for NLD.
The "official" diagnosis will likely be one of the following, Not
Otherwise Specified
(NOS): DD-NOS,
Developmental Disorder, CD-NOS,
Cognitive Disorder, or LD-NOS,
Learning Disorder.
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"Dys" like most medical terminology
stems
from Latin meaning
bad or impaired. Which can be derived from the
Greek "dus" meaning
bad or trouble or difficult. Dys, before
anything usually means having challenges with some area or with words:
dysfunction, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia,
Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyskinesia and
Dysthymia. (See the definitions below)
Dyscalculia
Causes people to have problems doing arithmetic and grasping
mathematical
concepts. While many
people have problems with math, a person with dyscalculia has a
much more difficult time solving basic math
problems than his or her peers.
Dysgraphia
A writing disorder that causes people to have difficulty forming
letters or writing within a defined space.
People with this disorder need extra time and effort to write
neatly.
Despite their efforts, their handwriting may be almost illegible.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is an often-misunderstood,
confusing term for reading problems. The word dyslexia is made up of
two different parts: dys meaning not or difficult, and lexia meaning
words, reading, or language. So quite literally, dyslexia means
difficulty with words (Catts & Kamhi, 2005).
Dyslexia is a specific learning
disability that is
neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with
accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and
decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit
in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in
relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective
classroom instruction. (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003, p. 2)
Dyspraxia
Problems with new motor skills and activates. They are often
viewed as clumsy and awkward. Is a problem with the body's system
of motion that interferes with a person's ability to make a controlled
or coordinated physical response in a given situation. Some
behaviors
that can be observed are: very poor fine motor skills such as
handwriting,
very poor gross motor skills such as kicking, catching, throwing balls,
difficulty imitating movements such as "Simon Says", trouble with
balance,
sequences of movements and bilateral coordination. Also see Apraxia, that is also refer
to as Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD)
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Dyskinesia
Difficulty or distortion in performing
voluntary movements, as in tic,
chorea, spasm, or myoclonus.
Dysthymic Disorder - DD (DD is
also used for Development Delay)
Is chronic low-grade depression.
To qualify for the diagnosis of dysthymic disorder, a person must have
been feeling depressed for at least two years. Dysthymic disorder
can be thought of as a paradoxical disorder. Though its symptoms
are fairly mild on a day-to-day basis, over a lifetime DD is actually a
severe disorder that can lead to high rates of suicide, work
impairment, and social isolation. In fact, the risk of suicide is
higher with dysthymia than major depression. Another aspect of
the paradox is that because people think of dysthymia as mild they
often do not seek treatment. Or if they do seek treatment, it is
with types of medicine or therapy that are unlikely to help them feel
better. The main symptoms of DD include: depressed mood (lasting
2 or more years); feelings of hopelessness; poor concentration or
difficulty making decisions; low self-esteem; low energy or fatigue;
poor sleep; and poor appetite or overeating.
Executive
functioning
- EF
Although the definition of executive function is still evolving, most
researchers agree that the term should be used to refer to brain
circuits that prioritize, integrate and regulate other cognitive
functions. Executive functions, then, manage the brain's cognitive
functions; they provide the mechanism for “self-regulation” (Vohs &
Baumeister, 2004). Two
main functions are Task-management skills and Self-regulation.
Task-management includes the
ability to appreciate task demand, organize complex information,
inhibit
impulsive responses, generate solutions, and think
flexibly. Self-regulation
involves the ability to modulate emotional responses, arousal level and
attentional focus appropriately (Dr. Anne Helmus,
2005). Sara Ward, MS, CCC-SLP, breaks the functions into three
main areas: Self Regulation, Organization and Integration and Higher
Order Reasoning Skills.
Free
Appropriate public education -
FAPE
Special
education and related
services are provided at public expense in the least restrictive
environment, under public supervision and direction and at no cost to a
a parent, except for incidental fees which are normally charged to a
student without a disability or the parent as a part of the regular
education program; meet the standards of the department; include
preschool, elementary, or secondary school education; and are provided
in conformity with an individualized education program. See IDEA
regulation: §300.13
FAPE-Free appropriate public education.
Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act - IDEA
Is
the Federal regulations
published in the "U.S. Department of Education Federal
Register "
Individual
Education Program - IEP
A
written education plan for a
school-aged child ages
3
through
21 years) with
disabilities. Your child's IEP is a formal agreement about the
services that the school will provide for your child's special
education needs.
The plan is developed by a team of professionals
(teachers, therapists, school
administrators, etc.)
and the child's parents; (know as Team). Your child's is reviewed
and updated
yearly and describes how the child is presently doing, what the child's
unique learning
needs are, and what services the child will need. Each
IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized
document. Each child who receives special education tutoring,
therapy and related
services must have an IEP. The IEP is a contract between you and the
school. As with any contract you
should make sure you fully understand the terms to which you are
agreeing and
make certain that everything that was agreed to verbally is written in
the
contract. The IEP
is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a
disability.
(for child 2 and under, see IFSP below).
Individualized Family Service
Plan - IFSP
A
written statement for an infant
or toddler (ages birth through 2 years old) developed by a team of
people who
have worked with the child and the family; the IFSP must describe the
child's
development levels; family information; major outcomes expected to be
achieved
for the child and family; the services the child will be receiving;
when and
where the child will receive these services; and the steps to be taken
to
support the transition of the child to another program; the IFSP will
also list
the name of the service coordinator assigned to the child and his/her
family.
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Language-Based Learning
Disabilities - LBLD
Interfere with age-appropriate language
in these three areas reading, spelling, and
writing. Often
related to specific language problems.
Learning
Disability - LD
A person with this disability
exhibits unexpected discrepancy between potential and actual
achievement.
Performs poorly because of difficulty in one or more of the following
areas:
listening, speaking, reading, written expression, mathematics, or
reasoning.
Has an average to above average intelligence. Learning
disabilities are
caused by a difference in brain structure that is present at birth, is
often hereditary.
Learning Disorder Not
Otherwise
Specified - LD-NOS
Term used in the DSM IV
manual
(see DSM).
Local Education Agency - LEA
According to IDEA, U.S. Department of
Education Federal Register, §300.28 Local educational agency:
"The public board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control or
direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary
or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or
other political subdivision of a State, or for a combination of school
districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an administrative
agency for its public elementary or secondary schools." Commonly
referred to as the school district. See
IDEA
regulation: §300.28
Least Restrictive Environment - LRE
According to Mass. Special Education
Regulations, 603 CMR 28.06(c): "The school
district shall ensure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children
with disabilities are educated with children who do not have
disabilities, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other
removal of children with special needs from the general education
program occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such
that education in general education classes with the use of
supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily." See Mass. Special Education
Regulations, 603 CMR 28.06(c).
No
Child
Left
Behind - NCLB
The NCLB
Act, of 2001 is a Federal law that incorporates the principles and
strategies
proposed by President Bush.
These include increased accountability for States, school districts,
and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly
those attending low-performing schools; more flexibility for States and
local educational agencies (LEAs) in the use of Federal education
dollars; and a stronger emphasis on reading, especially for our
youngest children.
NonVerbal
Learning Disorder - NVLD
or NLD
A person with this disability
exhibits unexpected discrepancy between potential and actual
achievement. The three primary categories of dysfunction
present themselves:
(1)
motoric (lack of coordination, severe balance problems and/or
difficulties with fine graphomotor skills),
(2)
visual-spatial-organizational (lack of image, poor visual recall,
faulty spatial perceptions, and/or difficulties with spatial
relations), and
(3) social (lack of ability to comprehend nonverbal
communication, difficulties adjusting to transitions and novel
situations, and/or
significant deficits in social judgment and social
interaction).
by Sue Thompson, MA, CET
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Occupational Therapist
- OT/L or OTR/L
Occupational Therapist, Licensed or Registered, Licensed.
Occupational Therapies help with handwriting issues, and sensory
experiences including touch, movement, body awareness, sight, sound,
and
the pull of gravity.
Occupational Therapy - OT
Activities focusing on fine motor skills, visual motor integration,
visual processing, visual memory, visual perceptual abilities that
assist
in improving physical, and social development and Sensory
Integration
(SI).
Pervasive
Developmental Disorders - PDD
All types of PDD are neurological
disorders that are usually evident by
age 3. In general, children who have a type of PDD have difficulty in
talking, playing with other children, and relating to others, including
their family. According to the definition set forth in the DSM-IV
(American
Psychiatric Association, 1994), Pervasive Developmental Disorders are
characterized by severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of
development: social interaction skills, communication skills, or the
presence of stereotyped behavior, interests, and activities. (p. 65) PDD-NOS
Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Not Otherwise Specified
(PPDNOS), used
in the DSM-IV manual
(American
Psychiatric Association, 1994).
(see DSM).
Phonemic Awareness
- PA
Involves the explicit awareness of the individual phonemes (sounds)
and the manipulation of these sounds. It involves such task as
rhyming,
segmenting sounds, blending sounds, and manipulating sounds (deleting
and
substituting sounds). It's meta-linguistic. Children learn
how
to think about the sound structure of language and are given strategies
to both process and manipulate the sound structure in order to learn to
read and spell.
(See definition below for Phonological
Awareness )
Phonemes
Are letter or letter commendations of sounds
Phonics worksheets
Worksheets have pictures and vowels, constants and blends, these
worksheet can be
completed by the student whether or not they have the understanding of
the
sound
relationship to letters.
Phonological
Awareness - PA
Involves the explicit awareness of sound structure of language at
the word, syllable and sound levels and the ability to manipulate
(segment,
blend, play with) that sound structure. (See definition above for Phonemic
Awareness )
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Processing
Disability
Describes problems people have in understanding or remembering words
or sounds because their brains fail to understand language correctly.
This
can often be mistaken by parents and doctors as a hearing problem but,
in fact, an individual with this disability is unable to process or
memorize
information (Auditory Processing or Memory Processing).
Program
Quality Assurance - PQA
Is the group within the Massachusetts
Department of Education (MASS DOE) that manages the Problem
Resolution System.
PQA is set up to quickly resolve
disputes over noncompliance with special education law and to see that
schools obey the law.
Section 504
It is a plan
designed to accommodate the unique needs of an individual with a
disability, as
required by the American with Disabilities Act. Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is the first civil rights law guaranteeing
equal
opportunity for more than 35 million Americans with disabilities.
Children who
have disabilities, but whose disabilities do not interfere with their
ability
to progress in general education are not eligible for special education
services, may be entitled to a 504 Accommodation Plan. School
districts must ensure that students
with disabilities have meaning full opportunities to participate in all
aspects
of school on an equal basis with students without disabilities.
Sensory Avoiding
Children who are overly responsive to sensation.
They have nervous systems that feel sensation too easily or too
much.
Some behaviors that can be observed are: responding to being touched
with
aggression or withdrawal, Afraid of, or becomes sick with
movement
and heights, very cautious and unwilling to take risks or try new
things,
uncomfortable in loud or busy environments such as sports, events,
malls
or very picky eater and/or overly sensitive to food smells.
Sensory Integration - SI
Sensory Integration develops in the course
of ordinary childhood activities. Motor planning ability is a natural
outcome
of the process, as is the ability to adapt to incoming sensations. But
for some children, sensory integration does not develop as efficiently
as it should. When the process is disordered, a number of problems in
learning,
development, or behavior may become evident.
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Sensory Integration Dysfunction - SID
Is a problem in processing
sensations which causes difficulties in daily life. It is a
neurological
disorder, manifested by difficulty detecting, modulating,
discriminating
or integrating sensation adaptively. Children with this issue can
be seen two ways, either process sensation from the environment or from
their bodies in an inaccurate way, resulting in "sensory seeking" or
"sensory
avoiding" patterns or 'dyspraxia," a motor planning problem.
Sensory Seeking
Children who seek out more intense or longer duration
sensory experiences. They have nervous systems that do not always
process that sensory input is "coming in" to the brain. They are
under-responsive
to sensation. Some behaviors that can be observed are:
Hyper-activity
as they seek more and more movement input, Unawareness of touch
or
pain, or touching others too often or too hard (may seem
aggressive),
engaging in unsafe behaviors, such as climbing too high, enjoying
sounds
that are too loud, such as TV or radio volume.
Sensory Integration and Praxis Test - SIPT
Was published in 1989 author is A.J. Ayres, Ph.D., OTR. The test
measures the sensory integration processes,
helps pinpoint specific problems associated with learning, functional
disabilities and behavioral problems.
It shows how children organize and respond to sensory input, visual,
tactile, kinesthetic perception and motor performance.
The test takes approximate 2 hours (often over two sessions). It
is
distributed
by Western Psychological Services.
If used after someone name, as
a
certification means; Certified for the Administration of the Sensory
Integration and Praxis
Tests.
The SIPT test is for children ages 4yrs to 8yrs 11 months (may be used
with the older child to describe difficulties).
Team or IEP Team - Individual
Education Plan Team is a group of
people,
that include school staff, parents, and others that either the school
staff
or parents choose to include, who have knowledge about the child.
See IDEA
regulation: §Sec.
300.321 IEP Team.
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Additional references:
Wrightslaw
Definitions, Glossary of Special Education and Legal Terms
