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ADD/ADHD: attention deficit
disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention Deficit
Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
are diagnoses applied to children and adults who consistently
display certain characteristic behaviors over a period of time.
The most common behaviors fall into three categories: inattention,
hyperactivity, impulsivity . People who are inattentive may have
a hard time keeping their mind on any one thing, and may get bored
with a task after only a few minutes. People who are hyperactive
always seem to be in motion. They can't sit still, are typically
unorganized, and may feel constantly restless. People who are
overly impulsive seem unable to curb their immediate reactions
or think before they act. If these students don't qualify for
special education services, a 504 plan may be appropriate.
Administrative placement:: The placement of a special education
student in a special education program or service comparable to
one he or she attended in the last school of residence. Such a
placement can last no more than 30 days before an IEP meeting
is held to develop new goals and objectives or recommend a different
setting.
Affective: pertains to feelings or emotions.
Aphasia: a weakening or loss of the ability to send and/or
receive verbal and/or written messages; not connected with diseases
of the vocal cords, eyes, or ears.
Aptitude test: a test which measures someone' s capacity or
talent for learning something.
Assessment/evaluation: assessment encompasses all those functions
in the testing and diagnostic process leading up to a development
of an appropriate, individualized educational program and placement
for a handicapped child.
Attention span: the extent to which a person can concentrate
on a single task.
Audiological exam: a test of a person's hearing ability.
Auditory comprehension: the ability to understand what one
hears.
Auditory discrimination: the ability to detect subtle differences
between sounds (cap-cup, tap-tup).
Auditory memory: the ability to remember what is hears (words,
numbers, stories).
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Behavioral objectives: objectives
which are written to describe what a child will be able to do
as a result of some planned instructions. Behavioral objectives
are usually interpreted as objectives that can be measured in
some definitive or quantitative way. e.g. "Given a list of
ten three letter words, Johnny will orally read eight of the ten
words correctly within 90 seconds."
cognitive: the act or process of knowing. Analytical or logical
thinking.
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Community advisory committee (CAC): a
group of parents, community members and school staff that advises
the responsible local agency (school district or county) in the
development and implementation of the local comprehensive plan
for special education. It also assists in parent education, review
of programs, and public involvement in the development of the
comprehensive plan.
Coordination, fine motor: pertains to usage of small muscle
groups (writing, cutting, etc.).
Coordination, gross motor: pertains to usage of large muscle
groups (jumping, running, etc.).
Coordination, visual motor: the ability to relate vision with
movements of the body or parts of the body.
Clinical observations: opinions about, or interpretations
of behavior, made by the person assessing the student, which are
based on professional experience and expertise. The interpretations
may relate to behaviors not tested directly during the assessment--such
as "fear of failure," or "desire to please."
Criterion referenced testing: measures which answer the question,
"What can this student do?." not "How does this
student perform compared to other students?" Individual performance
is compared to an acceptable standard (criterion)--- such as "Can
he correctly name letters of the alphabet" --- not to the
performance of others as in norm-referenced testing.
Culturally appropriate assessment: assessment tools and methods
which are "fair" to the student in the sense that they
are: given in his native language; given and interpreted with
reference to the child's age, socioeconomic, and cultural background;
given by trained persons; and appropriate, even if the child had
a physical, mental, speech, or sensory disability. This has come
to mean an assessment must be fair to students of all language
and cultural backgrounds.
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Deaf: a student with a hearing
loss so severe that it inhibits language processing and affects
education performance.
Decoding: ability to change sounds or symbols into ideas.
Directionality: awareness of the two sides of the body and
the ability to identify them as left and right, and to project
this correctly into the outside world, as in knowing which
is the right hand of a person facing you.
DIS--Designated Instruction and Services: services provided
by specialists that are not normally provided in regular and special
class programs or in resource specialist programs. These services
may include, but should not be limited to:
- language/speech assessment, development, and remediation
- audiological services
- aural rehabilitation, including auditory training and speech reading
- mobility instruction
- instruction for the visually handicapped
- instruction in the home or hospital
- adaptive physical education
- coordination and/or provision of physical therapy and occupational therapy
- specialized driver training instruction
- career preparation, work-study, occupational training
- counseling and guidance, behavior management
- parent education
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Emotionally Disturbed (ED): this
term is used to describe students who display one or more of the
following characteristics over a long period of time:
- inability to learn which cannot be explained by ability, health, vision, or hearing deficits
- problems in relating to other children and adults
- inappropriate behaviors or feelings (e.g. extreme anger reactions)
- severe depression or unhappiness
- tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears about personal or school problems
Evaluation, psychological: an assessment to determine the level of functioning
through the use of group and/or individual tests. The tests determine
the level of functioning in three areas:
- cognitive -- how much one knows in certain areas, how one thinks
- affective -- pertains to feelings or emotions
- perceptual-motor-control -- control, coordination, and appropriate responses from all parts of the body
Expressive language skills: skills required to produce language for communicating
with other people such as speaking and writing.
Eye-motor coordination: the ability to relate vision with
movements of the body or parts of the body.
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FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education): by federal law, every disabled child is entitled
to an education which meets his individual needs, whether in a
public school setting or in a private school at public expense,
if a public program is not available or appropriate.
Fine-motor coordination: development and control of small
muscles such as those used to cut, hold a pencil, etc.
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Goals and objectives, IEP: refers
to the step by step plan built into the IEP which sets out specific
skills the team believes the student should attain and the strategic
steps to attaining those goals.
Grade equivalent: the score a student obtains on an achievement
test, translated into a standard score which allows the individual
student's score to be compared to the typical score for students
in his grade level. A "grade equivalent" score of 6.0
means the score that the average beginning sixth-grader makes;
a "grade equivalent" score of 6.3 means the score that
the average student who has been in sixth grade for three months
makes.
Gross motor coordination: the development and awareness of large
muscle activity. Coordination of large muscles in a purposeful
manner such as walking or jumping.
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Health impaired: students who
have persistent medical or health problems such as heart conditions,
epilepsy, diabetes, etc. which adversely affect their educational
performance.
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IEP (Individualized Educational Program):
a written statement, developed by the assessment team [school
administrator, child's special education teacher, child's general
education teacher(s), parent(s), child's DIS professional(s),
and child] translating the child's evaluation and information
into a practical plan for instruction and delivery of services.
ITP (Individualized Transition Plan): a yearly plan designed
for every child receiving special education services from age
14 on, which supports that child's growth from one stage of his
educational placement to the next, i.e. from high school to post
high school activities. This plan is centered around the child
and his desires for the future. Several factors are routinely
addressed in the ITP: vocational interests, educational plans,
and cultural and social concerns.
Informal assessment: assessment procedures such as classroom
observations, interviewing, or teacher-made tests which have not
usually been tried out with large groups of people, and which
do not necessarily have a standard set of instructions for their
use and interpretation.
Integrated program: refers to participation by students
in a general education classroom for specified amounts of time
during the school day. Also known as "mainstreaming".
Intelligence test: a standardized series of question and/or
tasks designed to measure mental abilities --- how a person thinks,
reasons, solves problems, remembers, learns new information. Many
intelligence tests rely heavily on the use or understanding of
spoken language.
I.Q. -- intelligence quotient: the score obtained on a
test of mental ability; it is usually found by relating a person's
test score to his age.
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Language, expressive: speaking
and writing.
Language, receptive: listening and reading.
LD (Learning Disability): a disorder in one or more of
the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or
in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself
in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell, or to do mathematical calculations.
Least restrictive environment (LRE): the concept that each
disabled child is to be placed in a learning environment that
most closely approximates the learning environment of his/her
non-disabled peers (general education classrooms) AND provides
for the most appropriate educational opportunities for the disabled
child.
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Mainstreaming: a term in popular
usage that refers to educating disabled children in regular classes.
Additional help may be provided in the general education classroom.
MR: Mental Retardation An individual is considered to have
mental retardation based on the following three criteria: intellectual
functioning level (IQ) is below 70-75; significant limitations
exist in two or more adaptive skill areas; and the condition is
present from childhood (defined as age 18 or less) (AAMR, 1992).
Modality: a way of acquiring sensation; visual, auditory,
tactile, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory are the common
sense modalities.
Motor perception tests: test of eye and hand coordination.
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Neurological examination: tests
to determine disease of, or damage to, the nervous system.
Norms: information, provided by the test-maker, about "normal"
or typical performance on the test. Individual test scores can
be compared to the typical score made by other persons in the
same age group or grade level.
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Objectives and goals, IEP: refers
to the step by step plan built into the IEP which sets out specific
skills the team believes the student should attain and the strategic
steps to attaining those goals.
Occupational therapy (OT): treatment provided by a therapist
acting on a a physician's prescription, trained in helping the
patient develop mental as well as physical well-being in all areas
of daily life, e.g., self-care, pre-vocational skills, etc.
Operations: processes involved in thinking:
- cognition -- comprehension or understanding
- memory -- retention and recall of information
- convergent thinking -- bringing together of known facts
- divergent thinking -- use of knowledge in new ways
- evaluation -- critical thinking
Orthopedically handicapped: students with physical impairments resulting from disease, conditions such as cerebral palsy, or from amputations or birth defects which are so severe as to interfere with their educational performance.
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Percentile: a point on the test
score scale used to divide a group into sections. For example,
the 75th percentile point separates the top quarter from the rest
of the group.
Percentile rank: is a number, between 0 and 100, that tells
what percentage of individuals in a group got scores below a certain
score. A percentile rank of 78 says that the person scored higher
than 78% of the group and lower than the other 22%.
Perception: the process of interpreting sensory information.
the accurate mental association of present stimuli with memories
of past experience.
Perceptual-motor test: a test that requires the person
to use his skill in receiving and interpreting sensory information
in responding to tasks that require actions such as drawing a
line between two given lines, copying a circle, etc.
Perseveration: continuing to behave or respond in a certain
way when it is no longer appropriate. Difficulty in shifting from
one task to another.
Physical therapy: treatment of disorders of bones, joints,
muscles, and nerves. With the prescription of a physician, the
therapist applies treatment to the patient in the form of heat,
light, massage, exercise, etc.
Phonetics: study of all the speech sounds in the language
and how these sounds are produces.
Phonics: use of phonetics in the teaching of reading. Relating
the sound (phoneme) of the language with the equivalent written
symbol.
Psychomotor: refers to muscle responses including development
of fine-motor small muscles (cutting, etc.) and large muscles
(walking, jumping, etc.)
Public Law 94-142: the Education for all Handicapped Children
Act. Passed by Congress in 1975, it guarantees a free and appropriate
education to school-aged children with disabilities.
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Receptive language: receiving
and understanding spoken or written communication. The receptive
language skills are listening and reading.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 504 of this act contains
the requirements of PL 94-142 (except the individualized education
plan),. It also requires that schools make their programs accessible
to disabled persons and prohibits job discrimination of the disabled.
Schools that do not comply with 504 can lose all federal funds.
Resource Specialist Teacher (RST): a credentialed teacher
with advanced training in special education. The resource specialist
can do the following: provide educational assessment of students,
do individual and small group instruction, develop instructional
materials and teaching techniques for the classroom teacher, assess
pupil progress, and coordinate recommendations in the student's
IEP with parents and teachers.
Resource Specialist Program (RSP): a special education
setting including a credentialed teacher and an instructional
aide, who provide instruction and services to special education
students, consultation and materials to regular education teachers
and parents and coordination of special education services with
regular school programs for special education students. Students
are placed in a RSP by the IEP team for less than 50% of their
day.
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School psychologist: a person
trained to give psychological tests, interpret results, and suggest
appropriate educational approaches to students with learning or
behavioral problems.
Service provider: refers to any person or agency providing
some type of service to children and/or their families.
SH Severely Handicapped: those students who require intensive
instruction and training such as developmentally disabled, autistic,
emotionally disturbed.
Special Education Local Plan Action (SELPA): a plan, developed
by schools and the community, that describes how the responsible
local agency will implement the California Master Plan for Special
Education.
Special Day Class (SDC): a special education program for
students with similar needs and more intensive educational needs
than students in the Resource Specialist Program. Special Day
Classes most commonly serve students who are severely disabled,
or communicatively disabled. Students are placed in this program
by the IEP team for more than 50% of their day.
Special Education: refers to a set of education programs
and/or services designed to meet the individual needs of exceptional
individuals whose needs cannot be met in the regular classroom
without some support.
Specific Learning Disability (SLD): refers to problems
in academic functioning, such as writing, spelling, doing math,
or reading, which cannot be explained by ability, vision, hearing,
or health impairments.
Speech Pathologist or Speech Therapist: persons trained
to provide analysis, diagnosis, and therapy for speech and language
disturbances.
Standardized Achievement Test: a series of questions designed
to measure facts and information a student has learned in school.
Some achievement tests are given to one person at a time and are
called Individual Achievement Tests; others (Group Tests) may
be given to several persons at once. All standardized tests have
sets of instructions which the person giving the test must follow
exactly.
SST (Student Study Team): a team of school personnel who
assess a child referred to them who is experiencing difficulties
in school. Referral can be made by any professional at the school,
the child's parent, or an outside professional connected to the
child.
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Test of Auditory Perception: a
test that tells how well a youngster perceives or hears specific
sounds.
Test of Social Maturity: measure s how well the person
looks after his everyday needs (eating, dressing, etc.) and takes
responsibility (goes to the store, does chores, etc.) as compared
to other persons in his age group.
Test of Visual Acuity: an eye examination which tells how
well a child can see and recognize symbols in comparison to other
children.
Transition Plan, Individualized (ITP): a yearly plan designed
for every child receiving special education services from age
14 on, which supports that child's growth from one stage of his
educational placement to the next, i.e. from high school to post
high school activities. This plan is centered around the child
and his desires for the future. Several factors are routinely
addressed in the ITP: vocational interests, educational plans,
and cultural and social concerns.
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Validity: the extent to which
a test really measures what it is intended to measure.
Visual Perception: the identification, organization, and
interpretation of data received through the eye.
Visually Handicapped: students who are blind or who have
partial sight and who, as a result, experience lowered educational
performance.
Vocational Aptitude (or interest) Test: a test designed
to give an indication of a person's potential to succeed in a
particular job or career. The test is usually a questionnaire
which asks the individual to describe his own characteristics
and preferences.
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Word attack skills: the ability
to analyze words.
IEP Individualized Education Program:
The IEP is a written agreeement
between the parents and the school about what the child needs
and what will be done to address those needs. In accordance with
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, formerly
PL 94-142), IEPs must be drawn up by the educational team for
the exceptional child and must include the following:
The student's present levels of academic performance.
504- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 is a civil rights statute which provides that: "No
otherwise qualified individual with disabilities in the United
States . . . shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be
excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of,
or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity
receiving federal financial assistance or activity conducted by
any executive agency or by the United States Postal Service."
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
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ADA: Americans
with Disabilities Act
ADD/ADHD: attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
APE: Adaptive Physical Education
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CEC: Council
for Exceptional Children
CP: Cerebral Palsy
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DI: Direct
Instruction
DHH: Deaf and Hard of Hearing
DOE: Department of Education
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ED: Emotionally
Disturbed
ECE: Early Childhood Education
EH: Emotionally Handicapped
EHA: Education for all Handicapped Act, Public Law 94-142
ERIC: Education ClearingHouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
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FAPE: Free
& Appropriate Public Education
FC: Facilitated Communication
FTE: Full Time Equivilancy
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HI: Hearing Impaired
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IDEA: Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act
IEP: Individualized Education Program
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JTPA: Job Training Partnership Act
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MH: Department
of Mental Health
MR: Mental Retardation
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NASP: National
Association of School Psychologists
NICHCY: National Information Center for Children and Youth
with Disabilities
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OHI: Other
Health Impairments
OSEP: Federal Office for Special Education Programs
OT: Occupational Therapy/Therapist
OCR: Office of Civil Rights
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PIAT: Peabody
Individual Achievement Test
PT: Physical Therapy/Therapist
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REI: Regular
Education Initiative
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SLD: Specific
Learning Disability
SL: Speech and Language Impaired
SED: Severely Emotionally Disturbed (now called ED)
SPL: Speech and Language Pathologist
SST: Student Study Team
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VI: Visually
Impaired
VR: Vocational Rehabilitation (or VOC Rehab)
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WISC-III: Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition
WRAT: Wide Range Achievement Test
WJ-R: Woodcock-Johnson, Revised Test
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