Special Education Disability Definitions, Accountability, And Compliance
Federal and State Department of Special Education Programs Handicapped Children Act (and its 1991 reauthorization as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
Practice of "inclusion"
Flexability - Waivers
March 2, 2012 Effort
to Strengthen Accountability for Students with Disabilities Moving from Compliance-Focused Approach to
One
Driven by Results
Right now, states can meet federal special education compliance standards,
even if "student proficiency is nowhere near where it should be for reading." (Find your
state's ratings here.) The
department's action comes at the same time the federal agency has given some states leeway
on
how they meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, disappointing advocacy groups.
They
worry that the waivers granted by the agency could make
it
easier for states to ignore lagging student performance for some groups, such as racial and ethnic
minorities, English-language learners, and students with disabilities.
Department's Office of Special Education Programs
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Since 1975 and the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (and its 1991 reauthorization as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) public schools in the United States have been legally required to educate all students in a "least restrictive environment." Essentially, this means that students with disabilities are to be afforded the same learning opportunities as students without disabilities, as far as possible. One strategy to accomplish this goal is the practice of "inclusion" -- educating all students in the same classroom, to the extent appropriate--with the support of special education teachers, aides, and other resources. The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures.
SPECIAL ED
FLEXIBILITY
On April 4, 2007 Secretary Spellings announced new regulations under the No Child Left Behind
Act
allowing states to assess certain students with disabilities using an alternate assessment.
Specifically, states may develop modified academic achievement standards based on grade-level content --
and
alternate assessments based on those standards -- for students with disabilities who are capable of
achieving high standards but who may not reach grade level in the same time as their peers. States may
count proficient and advanced test scores on these alternate assessments for up to 2% of all students
assessed when calculating Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the law. These regulations build on
flexibility already provided for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, where states
may
count up to 1% of proficient and advanced assessment scores based on alternate achievement standards
toward
the AYP calculation.
At the same time, the Secretary released
guidance on the implementation of the new regulations, offering recommendations on such issues as how
students with disabilities can be appropriately identified for this assessment. She also announced
$21.1 million in grants to help states develop new assessments for these students and a Special Education
Partnership for technical assistance (a July 2007 meeting with interested states, monthly teleconferences,
etc.).
Plus, the
Department's National Center on Education Statistics (NCES) has released a new issue brief on the
timing
of entry into special education and the primary grades in which students receive special services. About
12% of students receive special education in at least one grade: kindergarten, first-grade, and
third-grade,
including 16% of boys, 8% of girls, 18% of poor students, and 10% of non-poor students. Half of those who
begin special education in kindergarten are no longer receiving special education by third-grade.
Many children in special education classes may not belong there, the government
says.
A new policy 2007 is aimed at intervening early with intensive teaching to give struggling students a
chance
to succeed in regular classrooms and escape the ''special ed'' label. There are nearly
seven
million special education students in the United States, and roughly half have learning disabilities. Most
of those are reading related, such as dyslexia or problems in processing information. The Bush
administration, following passage of a broad special education law, issued rules in October that rewrote
the
way schools determine if a child has a learning disability. States have largely relied on a 1970s-era
method
that looks for disparities between a child's IQ and achievement scores. The diagnosis of a learning
disability is often made around 4th grade, reports the Associated Press. At younger ages IQ tests are seen
as less reliable, and it often takes that long for severe achievement problems to become apparent. But
that,
critics say, is a wait-to-fail approach. They point to research showing that intervening early can make it
easier for children to overcome their problems.
Jason McElwain Basketball Star & Hoop Hero Video happens to be Autistic. The autistic manager of his high school hoops team gets a chance to play ... and scorches the nets for 20 pts. Transcript and video. also USA Today story - MSNBC VIDEO
LINKS
Special Needs
FOR STUDENTS WITH IEPs AND /OR 504 PLANS
are
allowed to use their accommodations and modifications in testing situations.
EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/
LD Resources http://www.ldresources.com/
CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology)
http://www.cast.org/
BARKLEY AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION
http://aac.unl.edu/
ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
http://ericec.org/
SpEd section of the IDEA reauthorization, aka
A New Era:
Revitalizing Special Education for Children and their Families
The CEC document quotes each major portion of the Commission's report and lists their response.Voice
Recognition Systems.
Kurzweil Systems Educational Group
Millions of people around the world struggle with reading everyday. Whether due to blindness, learning
disabilities, or a reading difficulty such as dyslexia, access to printed word is now possible thanks to
the
reading software developed by L&H's Kurzweil Educational Systems Group. This solution is made
possible through the use of speech, language, and optical character recognition technology
Ray Kurzweil: A Career Summary
The Kurzweil Companies
Digital Divide issues, there is a substantial body of information on this issue on the Educational
Cyberplayground.
The Digital Divide
Special Education Dictionary
parentpals.com/
DEFINITIONS
abduction
moving the limbs away from the body
abberation
deviation from normal
activities of daily living (ADL)
Everyday skills the person needs to learn to function: eating,dressing, bathing, hygiene skills,
communication skills
acute
sudden onset and lasts a short period of time
adaptive development
How a child compares to other children the same age in regards to such things as motor development, speech
and language skills, daily living skills etc.
ADA-Americans With Disabilities Act
a civil rights law passed in 1990 that does not allow discrimination against people with disabilities in
employment, public service, and public accomodations
adaptive behavior
the individuals ability to act appropriately in social situations and to take care of their personal
needs
adaptive physical education
physical education programs specified to meet the needs of special education students
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) (ADD)
student exhibits poor attention, distractibility, impulsitivity, and hyperactivity
adduction
moving the limbs toward the midline of the body
age norms
the average performance of an individual in various age groups
adventitious
acquired after birth, accidental
advocate
a person who helps take action for someone else who is not able to
affect
an observable emotion; anger, sadness, happiness
age appropriate
within the child's chronological age
air -bone gap
decibel difference between the air-conduction thresholds and the bone-conductive thresholds in one ear
(usually 10 or more means there is a conductive problem)
akinesia
reduced voluntary movement
amblyopia
the child does not use her eyesight in one eye (lazy eye)
ambulatory
the ability to move around without assistive devices
amendment
a change made in a law
American sign language (ASL) (Ameslan)
most common sign language for deaf adults in North America. It has its own grammer.
amplifier
part of a hearing aid that increases the intensity or loudenss
amputaion
absence of a limb
anencephaly
absence of cerebral tissue
anomaly
irregular structure or function
anopthalmos
no eyeball
anoxia
a lack of oxygen to tissues which causes cell death or damage
annual goals
yearly goals documented in the Individualized Education Plan
antagonist
muscles resisting actions of others
anterior fonanel
the "soft spot" on the top of the head that usually closes over by 18 months.
anxiety
A feeling of panic which may cause palpitations sweating, and increased pulse rate
anxiety disorders
fear about people and places
anti-convulsants
medications to control seizures
APGAR score
score given to a newborn to identify infants at risk - coloring (appearance), heart rate, (pulse) muscle
tone (activity), breathing (respiration), and response to stimuli (grimace) are assessed.
apnea
short stoppage of breathing
appeal
request, usually written to make a change in a decision
appropriate
the most suitable situation possible
apraxia
difficulty controlling voluntary muscular movements with usually no motor or sensory impairment
articulation disorders difficulty with the production of speech sounds
aspiration
food or liquid entering the airway (trachea) below the level of the true vocal cords
aspiration pneumonia
inflammation to the lungs usually caused by food or liquid entering them
assessment testing and evaluation
used to decide if a person qualifies for special education services (may include social, psychological and
education evaluations)
assessment team
a team of people such as the psychologist, speech pathologist, teacher, etc. who test the child
assistive technology
technology used to help a person with disabilities
asthma
a breathing disorder
astigmatism
blurred visuion caused by uneven curvature of lens or cornea
asymmetrical
one side of the body is different from the other
ataxic
poor balance
athetoid
unwanted jerky repetitive movements
at risk
children who may or may not develop problems in their development that will affect their learning
process
atrophy
degeneration of the muscles
audiogram
the written results in a graph form of a hearing test measured in decibels (loudness) for each frequency
(pitch)
audiologist
a specialist that tests and remediates hearing problems
auditory brainstem respnse (ABR)
A hearing test usually used with babies or other hard to test patients. The patient is usually asleep or
lying very still.
Electrodes measure resting brain waves and when sound is made. Also specific medical problems that may
affect the persons hearing such as tumors may be discovered.
auditory discrimination
the ability to detect differences in sounds
auditory training
learning to optimize residual hearing by focusing on sounds in the persons environment
augmentative communication
special devices that provide an alternative for spoken language
baseline
the current level the child is functioning at before instruction
bilateral
affects both sides of the body
binocular vision
the use of two eyes to see a single image
braille
a pattern of raised dots that are felt with fingers to help the blind read
categorization
the ability to sort objects by function, color, size, group,
etc.
cause and effect
the ability to understand that a specific actions can make something happen
cataract
loss of vision due to a cloudy lens
central nervous system
the nerves that travel along the spinal cord to and from the brain
cerebral palsy
a disorder of the central nervous system which affects muscle movement
cleft palate
an opening in the roof of the mouth
congenital
present at birth
closed caption decoder
a device that makes captions appear on a television
closed captioning
the deaf/hearing impaired are able to watch the tv program, movie, or video by reading words printed out
on
the screen
cognitive
difficulty in learning in the areas of reasoning, comprehension and judgment
compulsion
a repetitive act that an individual can not consciously
control
conductive hearing loss
a temporary or permanent hearing loss which occurs when something interferes with the passage of sound to
the inner ear
confabulation
a person replaces memory loss by a fantasy
congenital
a condition that is present at birth
counseling
advice given by a professional
criterion referenced test
child is evaluated according to own performance, not in
comparison to others
defense mechanism
ways an individual protects himself from emotions that are too uncomfortable
decibel
the intensity level of sound, loudness level
deficit
a level of performance lower than expected for a child
delusion
the person has an irrational belief that is associated with paranoia
depth perception
what the person is able to visually perceive at different
distances
developmental disability
a condition that prevents a child from developing normally and often results in mental retardation or
autism
developmental history
a record of the childs growth in areas such as walking,
learning and talking.
developmental tests
tests that compare a child's development to others the same age
developmentally delayed
a child who acquires skills after the expected age
diagnosis
the problem identified after an evaluation
disability
a physical or mental problem that prevents someone from functioning at a normal rate
down's syndrome
a child born with chromosomal abnormalities which often results in mental retardation
due process
a procedure to help protect the rights of children with
disabilities
dyscalculia
a learning disability in which a child is unable to do math
problems
dysfluency
a break in the smooth flow of speech,stuttering
dysgraphia
a learning disability which impairs the childs ability to
write
dyslexia
learning disability which impairs the child's reading ability
early intervention services
identifying and treating children before the age of 3
echolalia
the child echos what ever is spoken
eligible
qualifies for services
electroencephalogram (EEG)
it measures the output of the brain
epilepsy
a brain disorder characterized by seizures or convulsions
equilibrium
balance
etiology
the cause
evaluation
a process used to determine if a child qualifies for special education services
field of vision
the area a person can see around them without moving their eyes or head
fetal alchohol syncrome (FAS)
child may be born with low birth weight, severe retardation and physical problems due to mother drinking
alcohol while pregnant
fine motor
hand and finger small muscle movement
finger spelling
hand shapes of the alphabet, a way for the deaf/hearing impaired to spell
free appropriate public education
a requirement that all school-aged children despite having a disability, be provided services in the
public
school system
frequency
It is measured in hertz - hz- the number of times a sound wave vibrates in a second
gait pattern
walking pattern
grandmal seizure
severe epileptic seizure which often resuls in a loss of
consciousness
gross motor
coordinated movements of all body parts
handicap
a physical or mental problem that prevents someone from functioning at a normal rate
hemiplegia
paralysis on one side of the body
hertz
hz, the pitch of a sound, the number of vibrations per second
homebound instruction
a teacher provided to students unable to attend school
hydrocephalus
enlargement of the head resulting from excess cerebral spinal fluid in the brain
hyperactivity
excessive motor activity or restlessness
hyperopia
farsightedness-difficulty seeing near objects
hypertonicity
increased muscle tone
hypotonicity
decreased muscle tone
inclusion
disabled children receive services in their home school and are placed in the same classroom with
non-handicapped children
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
a yearly education plan written by teachers, therapists,
psychologists, etc. and the child's parents for school age children with disabilities
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
an education plan written by teachers, therapists,
psychologists, etc. and the child's parents for a child birth through 2 years old with
disabilities
interdisciplinary team
various individuals from different disciplines that assess
children's needs (speech therapist, occupational therapist, nurse, psychologist, etc.)
interpreter
a person who helps with the communication between the deaf/ hard of hearing community and the hearing
community
juvenile diabetes
excessive sugar in the child's blood and urine which could cause visual impairments, coma, limb
amputation, and death if untreated
language impairment
difficulty understanding and/or using language
learning disability
a child with average or above average potential has
difficulty learning in one or more areas (such as reading or math) and exhibits a severe discrepancy
between
their ability and achievement
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
an educational setting which gives students with disabilities a place to learn to the best of their
ability
and also have contact with children without disabilities
legally blind
a visual field which is not greater than 20 degrees or visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye
after correction
light perception
ability to detect presence or absence of light
light projection
ability to tell where light is coming from
low vision
impaired vision but individual is able to read print with or
without magnification devices
mainstreaming
some or all of the child's day is spent in a regular
classroom
mental age
the level of intellectual functioning based on the average
for children of the same chronological age
mental retardation
the child's intellectual level is measured below the average range usually below 70 on IQ tests
microcephaly
development of a small head with retardation usually occuring
motor development
the ability to move effectively within the environment
muscle tone
the amount of tension in the muscles at rest
multidisciplinary
a team of specialists such as a speech and language
pathologist, psychologist, occupational therapist, used to help determine the students needs
multiple sclerosis
degeneration of the central nervous system due to a
progressive deterioration of the protective sheath
surrounding the nerves
myopia
nearsightedness-blurred vision with distant objects harder to see than near objects
muscular dystrophy
destroys muscle tissue which leads to a progressive
deterioration of the body
native language
the child's primary language
neologisms
a child makes up words that only have meaning to them
neonatal
period between onset of labor and several months after birth
norm referenced tests
a child's performance is compared to others the same age
nystagmus
jerking of the eyes that can't be controlled
object permanence
the child is aware that an object still exists even when it
is taken away
obsessions
a thought or action that a person does over and over again
occupational therapist
a therapist that focuses on daily living skills, sensory
integration, and fine motor skills
opthalmologist
a medical doctor that deals with diseases and conditions of the eye
optometrist
examines eyes and prescribes corrective lenses
orientation and mobility specialist
a certified teacher specializing in teaching the visually
impaired to travel safely and efficiently
otitis media
middle ear infection
otolaryngologist
an ear, nose and throat doctor
panic attack
symptoms of anxiety with no medical cause such as dizziness, palpitations, nausea etc.
paralysis
complete or partial loss of feeling or movement
paranoia
the person is extremely suspicious of others
paraplegia
the lower half of the body is paralyzed
partially sighted
individuals have sufficient vision to read print
peripheral vision
what the person sees outside of their field of vision by
moving their eyes, not their head
perinatal
the period of time at or immediately following birth
perseveration
repeating an activity to an extreme that it interferes with
other activities
petit mal seizures
a mild form of epilepsy with mementary lapse of consciousness
phobia
an irrational fear of something
physical therapist
provides evaluation and treatment of physical disabilities to help the person improve the use of bones,
muscles, joints, and nerves through exercise and massage
placement
the program that the team of specialists and parent decide is the most appropriate for the student
policy/policies
rules and regulations; as related to early intervention and special education programs, the rules that a
state or local school system has for providing services for and educating its students with special
needs
postnatal
period of time after birth
prenatal
period of time before birth
private agency
a non-public agency that uses public funds to provide
services for some children
private therapist a professional outside of the public school system or agency
prosthesis
artificial device that replaces a missing body part
psychologist
a specialist in the field of psychology
psychosis
person has difficulty differentiating between fantasy and
reality
public agency
supported by public funds and provides services to the public
Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 (now called IDEA-Individuals with Education Act)
a law passed in 1975 that requires public schools to provide a free and appropriate public education to
school-aged children ages 3-21 regardless of disability
Public Law (P.L.) 102-119, passed in 1991
an amendment to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide funds for states to
serve
infants and toddlers (ages birth through 2 years) with disabilities
quadriplegia
all limbs are paralyzed
range of motion
the amount a person is able to move their joints and limbs
receptive language
the understanding of spoken and written communication as well as gestures
related services
Other support services that a child with disabilities
requires such as transportation, occupational, physical and speech pathology services, interpreters, and
medical services
ect.
residual hearing
the amount of hearing that is left after a person has a
hearing loss
residual vision
the amount of vision that is left after the person has a loss of vision
resource room
a room that serves the children's needs to learn specific
skills within the least restrictive environment for part of
the day
seizure
a temporary burst of abnormal electrical activity in the
brain
self contained class
a classroom specifically for special education students
sensorineural hearing loss
a hearing impairment that is usally permanent results when the inner ear or nerves which carry the sound
waves to the brain are damaged
service coordinator
coordinator of an infant's or toddler's early intervention
program
sign language
using gestures instead of spoken words to communicate
signed English
sign language that follows English syntax and grammar
spasticity
tense contracted muscles usually seen in people with cerebral palsy
special education programs/services
programs and services for children over 3 years old with special needs at no cost to families
special needs
- a child who has disabilities or who is at risk of
developing disabilities that may require special education services
speech/language pathologist
a person qualified who improves and/or corrects communication problems
spina bifida
child is born with an open vertebrae in the spinal column
stuttering
disturbance in the fluency of speech
strabismus
crossed eyes
tactile defensiveness
child overreacts or avoids any kind of touch
tremor
consistent and uncontrolled movments usually seen in people with cerebral palsy
total communication
educating deaf students with a combination of speech and sign language
TTY/TTD
telephone service for the deaf/hearing impaired
tunnel vision
the visually impaired person has the feeling of looking
through a tunnel
vision specialist
a certified teacher who specializes in meeting the needs of children with visual impairment
visual discrimination
ability to detect differences in objects, forms, letters or
words
visual acuity
how well a person perceives an object or letter from 20 feet
visual impairment
eyesight which cannot be corrected to normal
visual memory
the ability to remember visual stimuli by significant
features on a short and long term basis
vocal abuse
screaming, yelling or overuse of the vocal folds