 Childhood
Disabilities: Early
Identification and Intervention
Glossary of Terms
These definitions are simplified for easier understanding and use.
Different professionals, agencies, school
districts and educators may use these words in somewhat different ways. You should
always feel free to ask for definitions of words being used to describe your child or your
child's communication, learning or social relating developmental delay or
disorder.
Select a letter to select that area of the glossary:
a | b |
c | d | e | f |
g | h | i | j | k |
l |
m | n | o |
p | q | r | s | t | u |
v | w | x | y | z
Academic: Having to do with subjects such as reading writing, math, social studies and science.
Accommodation: Learning to do things differently from other students because of a handicap,
impairment, or disability. An example of ''accommodation'' is the visually impaired
student who reads by listening to a recording of a textbook.
Annual Goal: A statement in an IEP of what an exceptional student needs to learn and should be
able to learn in his special program over the time period of a year.
Appeal: A written request for a Commissioner of Education or a court to change the decision of
a Hearing Officer.
Apraxia: Motor speech disorder characterized by inconsistent substitutions and a
significant breakdown in conversation.
Arthritis: Inflammation and pain in the joints.
Asperger's Syndrome: Severe impairment in social interaction and development of
restrictive repetitive patterns of behaviors. Unlike Autism there are no significant delays
in language or overall cognitive development.
Assessment: A way of collecting information about a student's special learning needs, strengths, and
interests. An assessment may include giving individual tests, observing the student,
looking at records, an talking with the student and/or his parents. Assessment
is also an ongoing process by which qualified professionals, together with families,
through standardized tests and observation, look at all areas of a child's development: motor,
language, intellectual, social/emotional and self-help skills, including dressing, toileting, etc. Both areas of strength and those requiring support and intervention are identified. Types of assessments include:
- Developmental assessment: An ongoing process of observing and thinking about a child's current competencies (including knowledge, skills, and personality), and the best ways to help the child develop further.
- Family assessment: A systematic process of learning from family
members their ideas about a child's development and their strengths, priorities, and concerns as they are related to the child's development.
- Multidisciplinary assessment: A
form of developmental assessment (see above) in which a group of
professionals with different kinds of training and experience work with a child and family, directly or indirectly. This type of assessment can be helpful because professionals with different kinds of training are skilled in observing and interpreting different aspects of a child's development and behavior.
- Play-based assessment: A form of developmental assessment that involves
observation of how a child plays alone, with peers, or with parents or other familiar caregivers, in free play or in special games. This type of assessment can be helpful because play is a natural way for children to show what they can do, how they feel, how they learn new things, and how they behave with
familiar people.
Assistive Technology: Are any equipment which will assist in making an accommodation for a person with a
disability such as use of computer for handwriting or speaking.
Ataxia: This describes the condition in which a child's balance and
depth perception are disturbed. This is a type of cerebral palsy.
Athetoid: This describe the condition in which the child has
involuntary and uncontrolled motion. This is a type of cerebral palsy.
Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):
ADHD is an exceptionality which is covered by the Section 504 Plan. The student with
ADHD is one who seems to have average or better ability, health, vision, hearing, and
intelligence, but is still unable to learn things as easily or quickly as most other students
his age due to a severe inability to stay on task or pay attention (distractibility) and/or
inability to control behavioral impulses (hyperactivity).
Audiologist: A professional trained in
assessing a child's hearing. In a developmental
assessment of an infant or young child, an audiologist would look for signs of
whether or not there are any hearing impairments or loss, usually by placing earphones on a child through which sounds are transmitted at various frequencies. Audiologists often work closely with speech and language
specialists to address problems in communication.
Auditory and Visual Processing Disabilities:
Processing/sensory disabilities is a learning disability in which a person has
difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing and vision.
Auditory Attention: The ability to maintain focus to sound over extended periods of time.
Auditory Discrimination: The ability to tell whether two sounds are the same or different.
Auditory Figure-Ground Discrimination: The ability to focus on sound when
background noise is present.
Auditory Segmentation: The ability to count the number of sounds and syllables in words.
Auditory Sequential Memory: The ability to remember sounds and words in sequential order.
Auditory Synthesis: The ability to blend sounds into syllables and syllables into words.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A word which describes a kind of sensory, motor planning, communications and
emotional exceptionality. The student with the autistic spectrum disorder may seem to
act, talk, think or behave very differently from other students his age. He may not like to
close to people.
Autistic: (Traditional Meaning) The autistic student may seem to act, talk, think or behave very differently from other students his age. He may not like to be close to people. In order to
be eligible for "autistic" programs and services, a student must meet all the requirements listed in the State Board of Education rules. Delay or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following three areas with onset prior to age
3: social interaction, language used in social communication and symbolic or imaginative play. These children have difficulty with peer relationships and lack of engagement with others. There may be a delay or total lack of
language, use of repetitive and idiosyncratic language. Other behaviors can include preoccupation with parts of objects, hand or finger flapping, and rocking.
Blind/Visually Impaired: The visually impaired student is one who has a loss of some or all of his ability
to see. This includes students who are blind or partially sighted. In order to be eligible for "visually impaired" programs and services, a student must meet all
the requirements listed in the State board of Education rules.
Brain Plasticity: The ability of the brain to change through experience of learning.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Abnormal development of the lungs and breathing
passages.
Central Auditory Processing: Refers to skills used to understand and store what is heard. Skills typically
develop in first five years of life along with receptive and expressive language.
Central Auditory Processing Disorders - CAPD: Difficulty in attending to,
discriminating, recognizing and understanding what is heard, even though hearing and intelligence are normal. CAPD creates difficulty in developing speech and language skills. These kids are often thought to have hearing problems. Diagnosis is by a
speech-language pathologist or audiologist. Treatment includes speech pathologist
intervention, adaptations in the environment and computerized therapy.
Cerebral Palsy: A general term for a group of permanently disabling symptoms caused by
damage to the developing brain before, during, or after birth. People with
cerebral palsy may have poor balance, difficulty in walking, movement, and speech impairment.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist: A psychiatrist who, in addition to medical and adult psychiatric training (social, emotional and behavioral concerns), has been trained and certified in working with children and
adolescents and can prescribe medication.
Child Development Specialist: A professional who is trained in infant/toddler
development and in identifying developmental delays and disabilities. In a developmental assessment, a child
development specialist would help identify a child's strengths and areas of concern, and suggest strategies to promote optimal social, emotional and intellectual development.
Child Find: A publicly funded program under IDEA (see below) intended to identify,
locate, and evaluate/assess infants and toddlers with potential developmental delays or disabilities. The program may have different names in
different communities (for example, "Community Screening") and may include public
education about child development and parenting.
Cleft Palate: Congenital groove in the roof of the mouth due to failure of the palate bones
to unite.
Clinical: Related to direct observation and treatment of an individual child, adult, or
family. For example, a "clinical interview" is a face-to-face conversation. An
"informed clinical opinion" is the judgment of a qualified professional, based on direct contact with a child, adult, or family.
Club Foot: Congenitally deformed foot in which the bones are twisted causing an
abnormal gait.
Confidential: School and agency records about an exceptional student are read or used only by school staff
members who need them to work with that student, or by other persons who have a
parent's written consent to read or use the school records.
Consent: Parents show that they agree to let the school take an action which affects their child's
education. Consent is usually shown by a parent signing his/her name on a form or
letter which describes the action the school wants to take.
Cystic Fibrosis: An inherited disease caused by an abnormal gene passed from both parents to
the child. This gene causes the child's exocrine glands to produce large amounts of thick mucus that clogs the lungs. The disorder is characterized by
the production of abnormal mucus, progressive lung damage, and impaired
absorption of fat and protein.
Deaf/Blind: A kind of exceptionality. A student who is deaf/blind has such severe problems with
both seeing and hearing that he cannot learn well in either a program for the deaf or a
program for the blind.
Development: The process of how a child acquires skills in the areas of social ,
emotional, intellectual, speech and language and physical development including fine
and gross motor skills (See Developmental Domains). Developmental stages
refer to the expected, sequential order of acquiring skills that children typically go through. For example, most children crawl before they walk, or use their fingers to feed themselves before they use utensils.
Developmental Domains: Term used by professionals to describe areas of a child's development, for
example: "gross motor development" (large muscle movement and control); "fine motor development" (hand and finger skills, and hand-eye coordination); speech and language/communication; the child's relationship to toys and other objects, to people and to the larger world around them; and the child's emotions and feeling states, coping behavior and self-help skills.
Developmental History: Term used by many professionals for the story of a child's development,
beginning before birth.
Developmental Milestone: Term frequently used to describe a memorable accomplishment on the part of a baby or young child
- for example, rolling over, sitting up without support, crawling, pointing to get an adult's attention, walking.
Developmental Pediatrician: A pediatrician with specialized training in children's social, emotional, and
intellectual development as well as health and physical growth.
Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia: A neurological speech disorder that affects the motor planning of speech.
Developmentally Delayed/Disabled: A term used to describe infants and toddlers who need early intervention
services because they: (1) are experiencing developmental delays, a term used when a child has not achieved skills and abilities which are expected to be
mastered by children of the same age. Delays can be in any of the following areas: physical, social, emotional, intellectual, speech and language and/or
adaptive development, sometimes called self-help skills, which include
dressing, toileting, feeding, etc. or (2) have a diagnosed physical or mental condition which has a high probability of resulting in a
developmental delay. Some examples include: chromosomal abnormalities; genetic or
congenital disorders; severe sensory impairments, including hearing and vision; inborn errors of metabolism; disorders reflecting disturbance of the development of
the nervous system; congenital infections; disorders secondary to exposure to toxic substances, including fetal alcohol syndrome; and severe attachment disorders.
Caution: the term developmental delay may be used loosely and occasionally is used incorrectly, giving a false impression that the child will "catch up."
Diagnosis: Term used to describe the critical analysis of a child's development in all the developmental domains, after reviewing all the assessment results, and the conclusion reached by such analysis. From this diagnosis,
professionals should offer parents a precise and detailed description of the characteristics of a child's development, including strengths and the ways in which a child learns.
Disability: A problem or condition which makes it hard for a student to learn or to do things in the
same ways as most other students. A disability may be short-term or permanent. See
Also "handicap'' or ''Impairment.''
Dismissal: A decision made by a Staffing group. It says that a child no longer needs a certain
Exceptional Student Education program or service.
Downs Syndrome: A mental
handicapping condition caused by the presence of an extra 21st chromosome at conception.
Characteristics include flattened facial features and mild to severe mental
handicap.
Due Process: A set of rights having to do with how decisions are made. These rights help to make
sure that exceptional students and their parents are treated fairly.
Due Processing Hearing: A meeting held to settle disagreements between parents and schools in a way that is
fair to the student, his parents and the school. The meeting is run by an impartial
Hearing Officer.
Duration: The length of time an exceptional student will need to have an Exceptional Student
Education program or service.
Dyscalcula - a mathematical learning disability in which a
person has a difficult time solving arithmetic problems and grasping math
concepts.
Dysgraphia - a writing learning disability in which a person
finds it hard to form letters or write within a defined space.
Dyslexia: is a a language-based learning disability in
which a person has trouble understanding words, sentences, or paragraphs. It is
also considered a specific learning disability in reading. People with dyslexia have
normal vision, but they have difficulty recognizing words. It can involve
difficulty in decoding, sounding out words and comprehension. Ranges from mild to
severe. There is also a small percentage who read words backwards.
Early Childhood Special Educator: A professional trained in young children's typical and atypical development.
An early childhood special educator would assist with developing plans and implementing intervention services based on the outcomes of the
evaluation/assessment. In a developmental assessment of an infant or young child, the early childhood educator might administer developmental tests looking at the child's developmental domains (see Developmental Domains).
Early Intervention: Refers to the range of services designed to enhance the development of
infants and toddlers with disabilities or at risk of developmental delay. These services should be offered, to the maximum extent possible, in a natural environment, such as the home or in community settings, in which
children without disabilities participate. Early intervention services that are under public supervision, must be given by qualified
personnel and require the development of an individualized family service plan (see
Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP)), developed in conjunction with the family, to guide the early intervention or therapeutic services given to a child. Early intervention
services should also enhance the capacity of families to meet the needs of their infants and toddlers with disabilities. Services may include but are not limited to: speech and language therapy, physical and/or occupational therapy, special education, and a range of family
support services. Early intervention is sometimes used to refer to any systematic effort to improve
developmental outcomes for young children.
Early Interventionist: General term used for a person who works with infants and young children,
who have developmental delays, disabilities, or are at risk of developmental
problems, and their families. Early Interventionists may have different kinds
of professional training (for example, in speech/language pathology or
nursing), but they all have work experience and special training in helping young children and their families.
Eligibility: Specific criteria of developmental delay that meets the eligibility level needed
for publicly funded services. This criteria is unique to each state's definition. Children who have a diagnosed physical or mental condition or are
experiencing developmental delays are "eligible" for services. In addition, states may choose to serve children who are "at risk" of developmental delay by making them eligible for publicly funded early intervention services.
Children who may be "at risk" of a developmental delay, may be provided services in some states. Risk factors include:
- established risk: a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high
probability of resulting in developmental delay
- biological/medical risk: significant biological or medical conditions, or events that give a child a greater chance of developing a delay
or a disability than children in the general population;
- environmental risk: care giving circumstances and current family situations that may place children at a greater risk for delay than the general population. Examples include: parental substance abuse, family social
disorganization, poverty, parental developmental disability, parent age, parental educational attainment,
and child abuse or neglect.
Eligible: A decision made by a Staffing group. It says that a student is exceptional and in need
of Exceptional Student Education Programs and services. The decision is based on
state and local school board rules.
Emotional Handicap (EH): A kind of exceptionality. A student with an emotionally handicap may seem to act
differently, think differently, or have different feelings than most other students his age.
This includes students who a ''severe emotional disorder (SED).''
Emotional Maturity: The student's ability to act, think and feel in ways very much like most other students
his age.
Etiology: The cause or origin of a disabling condition.
Evaluation: A way of collection information about a student's special learning needs, strengths, and
interests. It is used to help make decisions about whether a student is exceptional and
eligible for Exceptional Student Education programs and services. It may include giving
individual tests, observing the child, looking at records, and talking with the student
and/or his parents.The term Evaluation is often used interchangeably with "assessment." However, in the
context of services supported by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), evaluation refers to a procedure that is used to
determine a child's eligibility for early intervention services.
Evaluation Criteria and Procedures: A set of statements in an IEP which describe what a student will have to do how much,
how often, and in what ways to show mastery of the ''Short-term Instructional
Objectives.''
Evidence: Pieces of written material records, letters, notes, or work samples which are used by
parents or schools in a Due Process Hearing to help show that their point of view is the
right one.
Exceptional Student: A student who has special learning needs as described in state and local school board
rules. This includes students who have a handicap, a disability, or an impairment, as
well as those who are gifted. Children do not have to be in school to be ''exceptional
students.''
Exceptional Student Education (ESE): The name given to educational programs and services for students with special
learning needs. It is sometimes called ''special education."
Free Appropriate Public Education: The words used in the federal law, IDEA and PL 94142, to describe an exceptional
student's rights to a special education which will meet his individual special learning
needs, at no cost to his parents.
Gifted: A kind of exceptionality. The student who is gifted is one who is very, very bright or
smart and who learns things much more quickly than other students his age. In order to be eligible
for "gifted" programs and services, a student must meet all the requirements listed in the State board of Education Rules.
Handicap: A problem or condition which makes it hard for a student to learn or do things in the
same ways as most other students. A handicap may be short-term or permanent. See
also "disability'' and ''Impairment.''
Hearing Impaired: A kind of exceptionality. The student with a hearing impairment is one who has a loss of
some or most of his ability to hear. This includes students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Hearing Officer: A person who is in charge of a Due Process Hearing and who makes the decisions
after a Hearing. The Hearing Officer cannot work for the local school system. He cannot
know the student or be a friend or relative of the family. He is a person who is supposed
to be impartial fair to both sides, parents and school.
Homebound/Hospitalized: A kind of Exceptional Student Education for a student who must stay at home or in a
hospital for a period of time because of a severe illness, injury, or health problem.
Hyperlexia: a developmental disability characterized by precocious
reading ability or a fascination with letters, words or numbers, coupled with
significant problems in language, learning, and social skills. Children with
hyperlexia are visual learners – they understand what they see much better
than what they hear. Listening to people talk is like hearing a foreign language
to them.
Hypotonia: low muscle tone - describes the condition where the muscle
tone is very weak and it can impact both gross and fine motor coordination. Low
muscle tone can also impact the development of developmentally appropriate
communications and learning in children.
IDEA: An acronym for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which
provides grants to states and jurisdictions to support the planning of service systems and the delivery of services, including evaluation and assessment, for young children who have or are at risk of developmental delays/disabilities. Funds are provided through the Infants and Toddlers Program (known as
Part C of IDEA) for services to children birth through 2 years of age, and through the Preschool Program (known as
Part B-Section 619 of IDEA) for services to children 3 through 5 years of age.
IEP - Individual Educational Program : A written plan which
describes an exceptional student's special individual learning needs and the
Exceptional Student Education programs and services which will be given to that
student.
IEP Review: A meeting held at least once a year to look at,
study, and talk about an exceptional student's IEP. The purpose of the IEP
Review is to make decisions about changes in the IEP.
Impairment: A problem or condition which makes it hard for
a student to learn or do things in the same ways as most other students. An
impairment may be short-term or permanent. See also ''Disability'' and
"handicap."
Impartial: An impartial person is one who is not biased or
prejudiced toward one side or another.
Incidence: The frequency of occurrence of a problem at a particular point in time.
Independent Evaluation: An evaluation asked for by a
student's parents, and done by someone outside the schoo1 not a school staff
member. The person(s) doing the evaluation must be fully trained and qualified
to do the kind of evaluation being asked for.
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP):
A statement of the family's strengths and needs related to enhancing the
development of the family's child, including specific statements about outcomes, criteria, and time lines regarding progress, specific services, provisions for service coordination, and dates for initiation, duration and reevaluation process.
Informed Clinical Opinion: A term that describes professionals' use of qualitative and quantitative
information to assess a child's development, especially if there are not
standardized measures, or if the standardized procedures are not appropriate for a given age or development area. Informed clinical opinion makes use of a practitioner's training, previous experience with evaluation and assessment,
previous experience with children, sensitivity to cultural needs, and the ability to gather and include family perceptions as important
elements in order to make a judgment.
Initiation Date: The date, month, and year on which a
program or service will begin for an exceptional student.
Interview: In-depth conversation between a professional and a parent or family. In a
developmental assessment, a clinical interview may be a time in which parents or other family members have an opportunity to talk about their child, what it is like to care for him or her, and what their hopes and worries are, with the
professional asking questions as needed in order to understand more clearly.
A structured interview includes a series of specific questions for example, about
developmental history.
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome: It is an epileptic syndrome of childhood. It begins prior to the age of 6 with the
best prognosis is for those who have later onset. Most anti-convulsants have some effect in decreasing the seriousness for the epileptic attacks. Children
can have seizures during the day or night, which can often wake them, causing a sleep disturbance. The patients also seem to lose their hearing or receptive
speech with this being the early sign of regression. Patients with onset below 3 years often have autistic feature.
Language Learning Impairments: Language based learning disorders that affect
communication skills and academic performance. Typically, there are problems with receptive language
and affect up to at least 10% of children.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): The educational setting or program which helps the exceptional student to work and
learn to the best of his ability, and which allows him to spend as much time as possible,
anywhere from all to none, in a regular program.
Master: To reach a goal or meet an objective as measured by the "Evaluation Criteria and
Procedures.''
Mental Handicap: A kind of handicap or exceptionality. The student with a mental handicap is one who
may not be able to learn as quickly or as much as most other students his age. This
includes students who have an EMH ''educable mental handicap,'' TMH ''trainable
mental handicap,'' or SPH ''severe/profound handicap.''
Motor: Use of the large and small muscles to move different parts of the body. Examples of
motor skills are walking, holding and moving a pencil, or opening a door.
Multidisciplinary Team: A group of people with different kinds of training and experience working
together, usually on an ongoing basis. Professionals often use the word "discipline" to mean a "field of study," such as medicine, social work, or
education. Therefore, a multidisciplinary team might include a pediatrician, an occupational therapist, a social worker, and an early childhood educator.
Mutually Agreeable: The parents and the school both agree on an issue a time, date, and place for a
meeting, for example.
Norms: A pattern or average regarded as typical for a specific group.
Notice: A way of telling parents about an action the school plans to take that will affect their
child's education.
Occupational Therapist (OT): A professional who has specialized training in helping an individual developmental or physical skills that aid in daily living activities, with careful attention
to enhancing fine motor skills (hand and finger skills, eye-hand coordination
and sensory integration). In a developmental assessment, the occupational
therapist would assess the child's fine motor skills, coordination, and age-appropriate self-help skills (eating with utensils, dressing, etc.).
The OT would also look at how the child responds to and uses what he sees, hears, feels, tastes and smells.
Occupational Therapy (OT): Treatment for an exceptional student which helps him to develop mental or physical
well-being in areas of daily living such as self-care and pre-vocational skills, etc. This
treatment is given by a trained Occupational Therapist.
Participation: The act of sharing, joining, or working with others to make decisions, complete a task,
or write an IEP.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (ARPNP): A registered nurse with specialized, postgraduate training in providing
ongoing care for the child/patient in both health (well-child visits) and illness. Their training often includes significant attention to child behavior and
development.
Pediatric Psychologist: A psychologist who has specialized training in working with children and adolescents. In a developmental assessment of an infant or toddler, the child
and adolescent psychologist would assess a child's social, emotional and intellectual development.
A psychologist would likely administer some standardized tests that consist of presenting a variety of tasks, ranging from very easy to very challenging, in order to determine the full range of the child's skills.
The Psychologist may also observe the child during free play with
alone or with caregivers as
part of her assessment. (See Play-based assessment.)
Pediatrician: A medical doctor who has specialized training in caring for the physical health
and development of children.
Phonemic/Phonological Awareness: The ability to break words and syllables into their smallest units or phonemes.
New research indicates this is the core deficit in reading difficulties. Phonemic
awareness can be taught. Those who fall behind are likely to fall further
behind.
Physical: Having to do with the use or well-being or the body. An example of a physical skill is
being able to sit in a chair with good balance and posture.
Physical Therapist (PT): A professional trained in assessing and providing therapy to treat
developmental delays, disease and injury using methods such as exercise, heat, light and massage. In a developmental assessment, the physical therapist would assess the ability and quality of the child's use of her legs, arms, and
complete body by encouraging the display of specific motor tasks as well as observing the child in play.
Physical Therapy (PT): Treatment for an exceptional student which helps to maintain or improve his use of
bones, joints, muscles, and nerves. This treatment is given by a trained Physical
Therapist.
Physically Impaired: A kind of exceptionality. The student with a physical impairment is one who has a
severe illness, condition, or disability which makes it hard for him to learn in the same
ways as other students his age.
Pre-Academic: Having to do with skills a student needs to master before he is ready to learn academic
subjects, such as reading and math. Examples of Pre-Academic skills are knowing
colors and holding a crayon or pencil correctly.
Present Levels of Performance: Statements in an IEP that describe what a student can do or what he knows now.
Prevalence: The number or proportion of individuals in a community or population with a
given condition or problem.
Pre-Vocational: Having to do with skills a student needs to m aster before he is ready to learn
vocational or trade skills. Examples of Pre-Vocational skills are telling time, using a ruler
to measure, and following directions.
Profoundly Handicapped: An Exceptional Student Education program or kind of class for students who have very
severe handicaps. Students who have a ''severe emotional disorder,'' ''severe autistic
spectrum disorder,'' ''profound mental handicap,'' or '' severe deaf/blind condition'' may
be in this kind of program or class.
Public Health Nurse: Nurses who are specially trained to provide care, usually in the home, to
families. They often have a strong background in social work; and child and
family development.
Re-evaluation: To evaluate again. An exceptional student must be reevaluated every three years. See
"Evaluation.''
Referral: The act of telling a school or agency that a student may have special learning needs. A
referral can be made by a parent, a teacher, a doctor, or any person who has worked
with the student. Children do not have to be in school to be referred. It is
also the process of helping a child or family to access other services such as
getting a more in-depth assessment, or an organization that provides child care or early
intervention.
Related Services: Special help given to an exceptional student in addition to classroom teaching or
instruction. "Related Services'' are given so that a student can benefit from his teaching
or instruction. Examples of "Related Services'' are transportation, social services, job
placement, and readers for the blind.
Reliability: The extent to which a test is consistent in measuring whatever it measures.
Rett's Disorder: Occurs only in females with normal development until 5 months with onset
between 5-48 months with all the following characteristics: deceleration of head growth, loss of purposeful hand skills, loss of social engagement, poor coordination in walking and trunk movement, severe impairment in understanding and using language. Loss is persistent and progressive.
Spastic: This describes a child whose muscles are tight. This refers to
high muscle tone. It is characterized by tense, stiff, and contracted muscles.
It is a type of cerebral palsy.
Screening: A brief assessment procedure designed to identify children who should receive more intensive assessment. Screening is designed to identify children who are at risk for health problems, developmental problems, and/or disabling conditions, who may need to receive helpful intervention services as early as
possible. In schools it is a way of looking at or testing a group of students to find out if any of them need to be
referred for individual evaluation.
Self-help: Having to do with skills that allow a student to do things for himself. Examples of Self-help skills are a student being able to feed himself, dress himself, or cross the street
without help.
Sensory: Having to do with the use of the senses of hearing, seeing, touching (feeling), smelling,
or tasting as a part of learning. An example of a sensory skill is being able to see the
differences between letters of the alphabet.
Sensory Integration: The process of how a child (person) takes in information and processes it
based on their senses (touch, taste, smell, sound, sight). This may include
how a child perceives his body or the world around him, or how a child adapts himself to his world. According to the theory of sensory integration, the many parts of the nervous system work together so that a child can interact with the environment effectively and experience appropriate satisfaction. Having poor sensory integration may interfere with many activities necessary for daily
functioning, such as brushing teeth, playing on play equipment or even hugging.
Short-term Instructional Objectives: Statements in an IEP which describe small steps a student must learn or master before
he can reach the ''Annual Goals'' set for him.
Social: Having to do with a student's abilities to get along with other people family, adults, or
other children. An example of a social skill is a student being able to play well with other
children his age.
Sound-Symbol Correspondence: The ability to associate a sound with a letter.
Specific Learning Disabled (SLD): A kind of exceptionality. The student with a specific learning disability is one who seems
to have average or better ability, health, vision, hearing, and intelligence, but is still
unable to learn things as easily or quickly as most other students his age.
Speech and Language: Having to do with a student's ability to speak (talk), write, listen, or read. This includes
understanding others and making himself understood. An example of a speech and
language skill is being able to put words together into a good sentence.
Speech and Language Impaired: A kind of exceptionality. The student with a speech or language impairment is one who
has problems in talking so that he can be understood, sharing ideas, expressing needs,
or understanding what others are saying. Children with this type of impairment receive
speech therapy (ST).
Speech/Language Pathologist: A professional who is trained in assessing and treating problems in
communication including: articulation (pronunciation of sounds), receptive language (understanding and processing what is communicated by others),
expressive language (the ability to communicate to others), fluency (including
stuttering), and voice problems (including pitch and intonation.) A speech and language pathologist also is trained to work with
oral/motor problems, such as swallowing, and other feeding difficulties.
Staffing: A meeting at which a group of school staff members decide whether or not a student is
exceptional, what kind of exceptionality he has, and whether or not he is eligible for
Exceptional Student Education programs and services. Sometimes parents may be
asked to be at this meeting.
Temporal Processing: The rate at which auditory information is processed, also known as "rate of processing." Children with ADD, CAPD, Autism, and Learning Disabilities
often have difficulty processing quickly enough.
Tests:
- Achievement test: A test that measures the extent to which an individual has
acquired certain information or mastered certain skills
- Criterion-referenced test: A test that measures a specific level of
performance or a specific degree of mastery.
- Normed test: A pattern or average regarded as typical for a specific group.
- Psychometric test: Quantitative assessments of an individual's
psychological and other developmental traits or abilities.
- Readiness test: A test that measures the extent to which a child has acquired certain skills for successfully
undertaking some new learning activity.
- Standardized test: A systematic sample of performance obtained under prescribed conditions, scored
according to definite rules, which allows professionals to compare your child's performance to every other child who takes the same test.
Transitional Services: Program designed to make it easier for ESE students make the move from school into
the real world of work once they graduate from their respective school programs.
Validity: The extent to which a test or observation measures what it is intended to
measure.
Visually Impaired: A kind of exceptionality. The student with a visual impairment is one who has a loss of
some or all of his ability to see. This includes students who are blind or partially sighted.
Vocational: Having to do with skills that will allow a student to be successful in a job or trade.
Examples of vocational skills are typing and carpentry.
Witnesses: Persons who can make statements in a Due Process Hearing that will help to prove to
the Hearing Officer that a parent's or a school's point of view is the correct one.
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