 Exceptional
Education: Getting Parents Involved
Glossary of Terms
in Exceptional Education
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:
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| 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,
andpersonality), 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.
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.
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 the 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.
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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