Special Education Terms and Terminology

The terms used by special education professionals are drawn from several fields and from national legislation.

by Jennifer Gonya, ENC Instructional Resources

Acronyms and abbreviations used by people who work with children with special needs can seem incomprehensible to the lay person. Let's begin with some of the terms used in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The act defines a "child with a disability" as one who is eligible for membership in any of these 13 categories:

• Autism
• Deafness
• Deaf-blindness (DB)
• Emotional disturbance (ED)
• Hearing impairment (HI)
• Mental retardation (MR)
• Multiple disabilities or handicaps (MD or MH)
• Orthopedic impairment (OI)
• Other health impairment (OHI)
• Specific learning disability (SLD)
• Speech or language impairment (S/LI)
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Visual impairment, including blindness (VI)

Here are some other terms commonly used by special educators, along with their acronyms and brief definitions of each.

Intervention Assistance Team (IAT)

A group of teachers and specialists that offers intervention suggestions and assistance to classroom teachers and parents prior to referral for special education services.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

This legislation was designed to ensure that all children with disabilities "have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and independent living" (IDEA, p. 8).

In order to be eligible for federal funds to implement IDEA mandates, states must meet all of the following conditions among many others:

1. Provide a free and appropriate public education to all students with disabilities residing in the state "between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school" (p. 29).
2. Establish "a goal of providing full educational opportunity to all children with disabilities and a detailed timetable for accomplishing that goal" (p. 29).
3. "All children with disabilities residing in the State... who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated" (p. 30). Identification must be performed with informed parental consent. If consent is refused, the agency can pursue evaluation through proper due process procedures (p. 51).
4. Implementation of special education services is performed through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). IEP's must be "developed, reviewed, and revised for each child with a disability" (p. 30).
5. To the "maximum extent appropriate," children with disabilities must be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). "Special classes, separate schooling, or removal from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with appropriate accommodations cannot satisfactorily meet the needs of the disabled child" (p. 30).
6. Procedures must be in place to "ensure that testing and evaluation materials and procedures utilized for the purposes of evaluation and placement of children with disabilities will be selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory" (p. 30).
7. Procedural safeguards must be in place to ensure that the "mediation process is voluntary on the part of the parties, is not used to deny or delay a parent's right to a due process hearing, is conducted by a qualified and impartial mediator" (p. 60). Safeguards should include: independent evaluation opportunities, prior written notice before action is taken, informed parental consent, access to educational records, opportunity to present complaints, due process hearings and state-level appeals (p. 61).

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A written education plan for a student with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21. The IEP is developed by a team of professionals (teachers, therapists), the child's parents, and the child when appropriate. An IEP is based on a multidisciplinary evaluation of the child; it describes how the child is presently doing, what the annual goals for the child are, what the child's learning needs are, what services the child will need, and where the services will be offered. The IEP is reviewed and updated yearly. IEPs are required by IDEA.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

An educational setting or program that provides a student with disabilities the chance to work and learn to the best of his or her ability. The LRE provides the student with as much contact as possible with children without disabilities while meeting all the child's learning needs and physical requirements.

Multi-Factored Evaluation (MFE)

This evaluation must assess the child in all areas related to the child's suspected disability. The evaluation results will be used to decide the child's eligibility for special education and related services and to make decisions about an appropriate educational program for the child. If the parents disagree with the evaluation, they have the right to take their child for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). They can ask that the school system pay for the IEE.

Section 504 or §504

Section (§) 504 refers to a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This section states that no program or activity receiving federal funds can exclude, deny benefit to, or discriminate against any person on the basis of disability. It also requires access for people who are disabled to all public buildings.

Where to Turn for Help

A variety of agencies are ready and willing to provide relevant information and assistance to teachers, parents, and others. They include:

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY)
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www.nichcy.org

Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE)
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www.fape.org

ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education

www.ericec.org

Jennifer Gonya, is the senior science abstractor for ENC Instructional Resources. Email: .

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References

Families and Advocates Partnership for Education. (2001). Acronyms and Special Education. Facts-on-Hand. Retrieved October 25, 2002: www.fape.org/pubs/FAPE-14%20Acronyms%20Special%20Education.pdf.

Lovitt, T.C. (1982). Because of My Persistence, I've Learned from Children. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. (1999). Questions Often Asked by Parents About Special Education Services. NICHCY Briefing Paper. Retrieved November 7, 2002: www.nichcy.org/pubs/ideapubs/lg1txt.htm.

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. (2000). Guide to the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Retrieved November 7, 2002: www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/IEP_Guide/.

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. (2002). IDEA _97 Regulations. Retrieved March 11, 2003: www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/regs.html.

University of South Dakota Center for Disabilities (2002). Dictionary for Parents of Children with Disabilities. Retrieved November 1, 2002: www.usd.edu/cd/dictionary/dictionary.htm.