A Parent's Dictionary
Listed below are definitions to commonly used terms and acronyms used in special education. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with these terms to make the referral process easier.
Definition of Terms
Academic
Intervention Services
Student support services which supplement instruction provided in
the general curriculum and are designed to assist students in
meeting State learning standards. AIS are available to students with
special needs and shall be provided consistent with the student's
Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Advocacy – the act of supporting or defending a child’s interests
and rights.
Annual Review
An evaluation, conducted at least one time per year by the Committee
on Special Education, for each child with a disability for the
purposes of recommending the continuation, modification, or
termination of the special education program.
Assessment
Evaluation procedures used to identify a child’s needs and the
family’s concerns and priorities about their child’s development.
Assistive
Technology Devices and Services
Equipment and services that are approved to be used to improve or
maintain the abilities of a child to function including such
activities as playing, communicating, or eating.
Child with a
disability
A person under the age of 21 who is entitled to attend public
schools because of mental, physical, or emotional reasons can only
receive appropriate educational opportunities from a program of
special education.
Cognitive
A term that describes the process used for remembering, reasoning,
understanding, and making decisions. Your child’s cognitive
abilities will be assessed during the evaluation process.
Committee on
Special Education (CSE)
This is a decision-making committee appointed by the school board of
education to determine eligibility and the appropriate level of
services for children aged five to 21 years old. The CSE is a
multidisciplinary team established to conduct meetings to develop,
review, or revise the individual education program (IEP) of a
student with a disability.
Confidentiality
The right that personal information about a child and family is not
released without parent consent or only when permitted or required
by law.
Consent
The written approval a parent gives to the Committee on Special
Education to have their child evaluated and receive services.
Consent is always voluntary and a parent may revoke it at any time.
Developmental
History
Steps or stages of a child’s growth in such skills as sitting,
walking, and talking. This information is gathered as part of the
social history requirements.
Dominant
Language
The language or other mode of communication that the family normally
uses. Evaluations of your child are required to be administered in
the child’s dominant language.
Due Process
Procedures designed to protect a person’s rights. This includes
requirements for confidentiality, consent, and complaint mechanisms.
Educationally
Related Support Services (ERSS)
Services intended for students who are not eligible for special
education services yet eligible to receive speech and counseling
services.
Impartial
Hearing
A formal process at which a family’s complaints can be heard by an
impartial hearing officer who will resolve the dispute or complaint
regarding the child’s evaluation, IEP, or certain other issues.
Individualized
Education Program (IEP)
This IEP is a written plan developed by the CSE which specifies the
appropriate level of special education programs and services to be
provided to meet the unique educational needs of a student with a
disability.
Least
Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Means that placement of students with disabilities in special
classes, separate schools, or other removal from the regular
educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of
the disability is such that even with the use of supplementary aids
and services, education cannot be satisfactorily achieved.
Mediation
A method for solving a problem that uses persons trained in helping
people resolve their own problems. In mediation, the school district
and parent will try to reach an agreement with which both parties
are satisfied.
Occupational
Therapy (OT)
Services delivered by an Occupational Therapist that relate to
self-help skills, adaptive behavior and play, and sensory and motor
and postural development.
Parent Support
Group
Discussion and information-sharing meetings for parents of children
with disabilities.
Pendency
A due process right that the parent and child have that allows the
child and family to continue to receive services as described on the
current IEP while the parent works to resolve a dispute.
Physical
Therapy (PT)
Services provided by a Physical Therapist that relate to large
movement difficulties and related functional problems.
Psychological
Evaluation
Means a process by which a New York State-certified school
psychologist or licensed psychologist uses, to the extent deemed
necessary for purposes of educational planning, a variety of
psychological and educational techniques and examinations in the
student’s dominant language, to study and describe a student’s
developmental, learning, behavioral, and other personality
characteristics.
Reevaluation
Review
A reassessment of the child’s ability and achievement within a
three-year period.
Related
Services
Means support services such as speech therapy, physical therapy,
occupational therapy, psychological services, and counseling
services. These services can be delivered in an individual or group
setting.
Section 504
Accommodation Plan
An educational plan or modifications for a student suspected of a
disability who may not require special education services.
Social History
Preparing an assessment of the social and emotional strengths and
needs of the child.
Special
Education
Specially designed instruction that includes special services or
programs.
Special
Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT)
A preschool special education teacher who provides direct and
indirect service in regular programs or a child’s home for students
ages three and four.
Speech Therapy
(SP or ST)
Services provided by a Speech and Language Pathologist that relate
to delays in speech development and communication.
State Education
Department (SED)
Refers to the state agency that establishes education regulations
and provides support to counties and school districts.
Subcommittee
A decision-making committee appointed by the Board of
Education. May perform functions similar to CSE with some
exceptions.
Definition of Acronyms
ADA - American with Disabilities Act
ADD/ADHD - Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
APE - Adaptive Physical Education
AE - Age Equivalent
AIS - Academic Intervention Services
ASL - American Sign Language
AT - Assistive Technology
AU - Autism
BOCES - Board of Cooperative Educational Services
BOE - Board of Education
CPSE - Committee on Preschool Special Education
CSE - Committee on Special Education
DB - Deaf and Blind
DD - Developmental Disability
DHH - Deaf/Hard of Hearing
ED - Emotionally Disturbed
FAPE - Free and Appropriate Public Education
FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IEE - Independent Education Evaluation
IEP - Individualized Education Program
IH - Impartial Hearing
IQ - Intelligence Quotient
LD - Learning Disabled
LRE - Least Restrictive Environment
MD - Multiple Disabilities
MR - Mentally Retarded
OHI - Other health Impaired
OI - Orthopedically Impaired
OT - Occupational Therapy
PDD - Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PT - Physical Therapy
SED - State Education Department
SEIT - Special Education Itinerant Teacher Services
SETRC - Special Education Training Resource Centers
SI - Speech Impaired
TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury
TDD - Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf
TRE - Technology Resources for Education
VESID - Office of Vocational & Educational Services For Individuals with Disabilities
VI - Visually Impaired
VR - Vocational Rehabilitation
