Foothill SELPA

Accommodation: In an educational context, an adaptation that enables a student with a disability to participate in educational programming and facilitate an accurate demonstration of what the student knows or can do. These adaptations may affect format, response, timing, or scheduling. An accommodation does not alter in any significant way what the test measures or the comparability of scores.

Advocacy: The process of speaking up to obtain appropriate services for your child.

Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Everyday skills such as eating, dressing, and bathing, that an individual needs to learn in order to function independently.

Adapted Physical Education (APE): A modified program of instruction to meet the physical education needs of special students who need adaptations.

Advocate: An individual with special knowledge or training concerning the problems of children with disabilities, who represents parents and children in due process hearings and other non-judicial proceedings seeking enforcement of the education rights of students with disabilities.

Age Appropriate: Achievement or performance that is consistent with a child's chronological age.

Alternative Communication Device: A device the provides an alternative for spoken language.

American Sign Language (ASL): Most common form of sign language used by deaf adults in North America. It has its own grammatical structure.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The Americans with Disabilities Act gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunication.

Annual Goal: A general statement of reasonable expectations for a student with a disability to accomplish in the next 12 months. It is based on a need identified through an evaluation process. Annual Goals are included in the student's IEP and should help to direct the services and instruction the student receives.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): Briefly, Applied Behavior Analysis entails the specific and comprehensive use of principles of human learning, operant learning or learning theory. These principles are applied in order to enhance the development, abilities, and self-direction skills of individuals with disabilities. In the area of autism intervention, ABA has come to be misrepresented by terms for specific behavioral methods including discrete trial training, Lovaas training, and pivotal response training.

Appropriate Placement: A school placement in which the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of a student with a disability can be implemented.

Articulation: The production of distinct language sounds by the vocal cords.

Assessment/Evaluation: The testing and diagnostic process used to develop an appropriate, Individualized Educational Program (IEP), and appropriate placement for a student with a disability.

Assistive Technology (AT): Technology that enables a student with a disability to participate and benefit from his/her education.

Assistive Technology Device: Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

At Risk: A term that usually refers to infants or children with a high potential for experiencing future medical or learning problems.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): A psychiatric classification used to describe individuals who exhibit poor attention, distractibility, and impulsivity.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A psychiatric classification used to describe individuals who exhibit poor attention, distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Audiogram: A graph showing the results of a hearing test.

Audiology: Includes not only testing to determine the nature of the loss and usable range of hearing, but also considerations for language habilitation, speech reading, counseling and guidance of students, parents, and teachers about the specific needs of a child with a hearing impairment.

Autism Spectrum Disorder: A developmental disability that typically begins before 30 months of age and is characterized by an inability to relate appropriately to people, events, and objects; an absence, disorder, or delay of language, speech, or meaningful communication; an unusual or inconsistent response to sensory stimuli; and an insistence on sameness or routines as seen in repetitive movements or abnormal preoccupation.

Average Daily Attendance (ADA): A per pupil accounting of student attendance. The state of California pays districts based on total ADA for all students.

Baseline: The current level of an individual's functioning before instruction or intervention.

Behavior Intervention Case Manager (BICM): A designated professional trained and certified to conduct or supervise the development of the behavior support process.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP): Integrating strategies for teaching and maintaining adaptive behavior and reducing or eliminating problem behaviors.
Behavior Modification: A method of teaching designed to change behavior in a precisely measurable and accountable manner.

Bilateral: Affecting both sides of the body.

Braille: A pattern of raised dots that are felt with the fingers to help individuals with blindness to read.

California Children's Services (CCS): A state funded agency who provides services to children with specific conditions, ie: Cerebral Palsy. They provide financial assistance for medical bills, hospitalization and durable medical equipment if you and your family meet certain criteria. CCS also provides physical and/or occupational therapy for your child, depending on his or her diagnosis, and regardless of your financial status.

Case Manager: The chosen person or agency who helps a family to identify, coordinate and obtain services needed for their disabled child.

Cerebral Palsy (CP): A disorder of the central nervous system that affects muscle movement.

Charter School: A public school created by a formal agreement (or charter) between a person or group of people and a local school district, county or state. The Charter School is exempt from most state education regulations and local school district rules in exchange for agreeing to meet certain accountability requirements.

Chronological Age (CA): Age determined in years and months by one's birth date.

Cognition: The process of knowing. Cognitive skills include reasoning, concept, formation, and analytical or logical thinking.

Community Advisory Committee (CAC): Persons appointed to advise the SELPA on various aspects of the Local Plan.

Community-Based Instruction (CBI): Instruction that focuses on learning functional life skills and occurs primarily in real settings in the community rather than in artificial settings in the classroom.

Conductive Hearing Loss: A temporary or permanent hearing loss that occurs when something interferes with the passage of sound to the inner ear.

Deaf: A hearing loss so severe that the auditory channel is not the primary means of developing speech and language skills.

Decibel: The intensity or loudness level of sound.

Deficit: A level of performance lower than expected for an individual.

Designated Instruction and Services (DIS or Related Services): Educational services which are necessary to allow students with disabilities to benefit from their special education.

Developmental Assessment: A diagnostic test used to determine a child’s strengths and weaknesses in their overall development.

Developmental Delay: A condition resulting in development that progresses at a slower rate than most children. It is often seen as delayed achievement of one or more of a child's milestones and can affect cognitive, social-emotional, communication, motor, physical, or adaptive development.

Developmental Disability - State (California) Definition: “…a disability which originates before an individual attains age 18, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial handicap for such individuals… this term shall include mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism. This term shall also include handicapping conditions found to be closely related to mental retardation or to require treatment but shall not include other handicapping conditions that are solely physical in nature.” (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4512 {a} )

Developmental History: A record of a child's growth or progress in areas such as walking, sitting, and talking.

Diagnosis: The label given to a problem that is identified as a result of an evaluation.

Disability: A physical or mental problem that prevents someone from functioning within normal limits.

Distractibility: Difficulty maintaining or focusing attention.

Down's Syndrome: A condition diagnosed at birth, which is caused by chromosomal abnormalities that often result in mental retardation.

Due Process: The legal procedural safeguards of IDEA and related state laws and regulations assuring parental informed consent regarding special education programs ; provides for mediation and state hearings to resolve major disagreements.

Dyslexia: A learning disability that impairs an individual's ability to read.

Early Childhood Education (ECE): Instruction or intervention that precedes traditional schooling in order to aid the educational success of children who have been identified as having a disability.

Early Intervention Services: Services that may be necessary for at-risk students in preschool, Kindergarten, and grades 1 and 2 to achieve school success and meet the expectations of state standards. These services are designed to prevent students from being retained in a grade, failing in school, or being placed in remedial programs in later years.

Echolalia: A condition where the individual repeats whatever is spoken to him in lieu of meaningful conversation.

Educational Records: Any item of information directly related to an identifiable student, other than directory information, that is maintained by a school district, whether recorded by handwriting, print, e-mail, tape, film, microfilm, and microfiche or other means. These records do not include informal notes related to a student that are compiled by a teacher for his or her own personal use or for use by a substitute.

Eligible: Meets certain specified criteria and, therefore, qualifies for services.

English Language Learner (ELL): The most current and appropriate term for students with limited English proficiency, which includes students who do not posses sufficient English language proficiency to participate fully in general education classes.
Epilepsy: A disorder of the brain characterized by seizures.

Etiology: The origin or cause of a disease or disorder.

Evaluation: See Assessment.

Expressive Language: The skills used to communicate with others ie: speaking, gesturing, writing.

Extended School Year (ESY): Special education programming which meets the state standards and extends beyond the days of the regular school year as stipulated in the student's IEP. This may take place during the summer or during intersession.

Field of Vision: The area around an individual that he is able to see without moving his eyes or head.

Fine Motor Skills: Relating to the use of the small muscles of the body, such as those in the face, hands, feet, fingers, and toes.

Finger Spelling: A method of communication for hearing impaired individuals in which hand shapes are used to represent letters of the alphabet for the purpose of spelling words.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): Special education and related services which are provided at public expense and without charge.

Functional Analysis Assessment (FAA): A complex assessment that occurs when the IEP team finds that the instructional/behavioral approaches specified in a student's IEP have been ineffective. The assessment must include: (1) systematic observation of the maladaptive behavior; (2) ecological analysis of the settings in which the behavior occurs most frequently; (3) review of records to determine health and medical factors that may influence behavior; and (4) review of behavioral history including effectiveness of past interventions. The assessment must determine the immediate antecedent events associated with the behavior in question and the consequences of that behavior in an effort to determine the function the behavior serves for the student. A written report following the FAA includes: (1) a description of the nature and severity of the targeted behavior; (2) a description of the antecedents and consequences that maintain the targeted behavior across all settings in which it occurs; (3) alternative behaviors along with their antecedents and consequences; and (4) recommendations for consideration by the IEP team. Upon completion of the FAA, the IEP team meets to review the results and, if necessary, develop a behavior intervention plan, which should provide detailed descriptions of the interventions to be used, schedules for recording the frequency of use of the interventions, how the intervention will be phased out, those interventions to be used at home or in other non-educational settings, and dates for plan review. An FAA is NOT equivalent to a functional behavior assessment.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): An assessment for the purpose of analyzing retrospectively the function a specific behavior, often having occurred only once, may have served for a student. It is conducted for behavior that has resulted in disciplinary suspension beyond 10 cumulative days in a school year, when an interim alternative educational setting or involuntary change in placement is being considered in a disciplinary context, and whenever a manifestation determination in response to a violation of a rule or code of conduct is occurring. It is uniquely designed for the individual and the behavior being addressed and utilizes review of records and interviews. It may also include behavior assessment scales and observation of students behavior and/or environmental conditions. It is NOT equivalent to a functional analysis assessment, although both may result in a behavior intervention plan.

General Education: The education of typical students; not special education.

Gross Motor Skills: Relating to the use of the large muscles of the body, such as those in the legs, arms, and abdomen.

Group Home: A residential living arrangement for individuals (often adults) who have disabilities, usually having full-time staff in the home.

Hyperactivity: Behavior that is characterized by excessive motor activity or restlessness.

Impulsivity: A tendency to take actions without considering consequences or without a planned purpose for the action.

Inclusion: The practice of educating a child with disabilities within the general education classroom (typically at the child's neighborhood school) with the special education supports and accommodations needed by that student in order to achieve the outcomes expected of all students.

Independent Educational Evaluation: An assessment completed by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the student.

Individual Transition Plan (ITP): Creates an orderly plan to prepare special education students beginning at age 14, for the passage from school to work, adult training, and community participation, with appropriate support services, following graduation. Identifies what special programs or training the school will provide, which adult services providers will be involved, and what support will be provided by these providers prior to graduation.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees the rights of children with disabilities to a free and appropriate public education with special education and related services provided in the least restrictive environment.

Individualized Education Program (IEP): Program developed for each student who qualifies for special education services, identifying the services to be provided and the educational goals and objectives of the special education student.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP): For children who are served from birth to 2.11 years of age, and their families. Services are provided by education or Regional Center depending on the nature of the child's disability.

Individual with Exceptional Needs (IWEN): Student whose educational needs cannot be met by a regular classroom even with modifications of the regular school program and who requires special education and/or services to benefit from his/her instructional program. Excluded are children whose needs are due solely or primarily to unfamiliarity with the English language or to cultural differences.

Interdisciplinary Team: Various individuals from different disciplines (for example, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, nurse, psychologist, teacher, etc.) who assess a child's needs, then meet to discuss an appropriate program for that child.

Interpreter: An individual who assists with the communication between the DHH community and the hearing community.

Juvenile Diabetes: A condition characterized by excessive sugar in a child's blood and urine which can cause visual impairments, coma, limb amputation, and death if left untreated.

Learning Center: One option of service delivery, combining special education and general education services.

Learning Disabled (LD): Students with specific learning disorders affecting educational performance.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): The requirement under Public Law 94-142 that children receiving special education must be made a part of the regular school to the fullest extent possible.

Licensed Children's Institution (LCI): A community care facility licensed by the California Department of Social Services. This includes a group home, foster family agency, and a community treatment facility.

Local Education Agency (LEA): Any local school district or Office of County Superintendent which has responsibility to provide special education services to eligible students.

Local Plan: Each Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) develops a plan for delivery of programs and services to meet the educational needs of all eligible individuals with exceptional needs.

Low Incidence Disability: A severe, disabling condition with an expected incidence rate of less than one percent of the total statewide enrollment in K through 12. The conditions are hearing impairments, vision impairments, severe orthopedic impairments, or a combination thereof.

Mainstreaming: The educational placement of a person in the setting that allows the most interaction with peers who do not have disabilities. Typically this requires the special education student to perform all the elements of the class that are required of general education students.

Medical Treatment Unit (MTU): Usually located at a public school or a special education school. Operated by CCS, the MTU is where therapy, clinic and orthotic/prosthetic services are provided in addition to schooling.

Multiple Disabilities (MD): Students having a combination of impairments such as mental retardation and blindness, or orthopedic impairments and deafness, which cause such educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in programs for any one impairment. This term does not include children who are deaf-blind.

Nonpublic Agency (NPA): Usually an individual or group certified by the State, to provide a specific education service but who is not an employee of the public school system

Nonpublic School (NPS): School which meets state standards to allow private placement of students for whom there is no appropriate public school placement available.

Objective: A specific skill, development, ability, or change within the goal area that the student is expected to achieve.

Occupational Therapy (OT): Treatment program that specializes in improving the development of fine motor and adaptive skills.

Orientation and Mobility (O&M): Orientation is knowing where you are, what is around you, where you want to go and what steps you must take to reach your destination. Mobility is purposeful, independent movement that gets one where he or she wants to go safely and efficiently.

Orthopedically Impaired (OI): Also called Orthopedically Handicapped (OH). Diagnosis of a health impairment or a serious impairment in locomotion or motor functions which adversely affects the individual’s education performance.

Other Health Impaired (OHI): A student with a chronic medical impairment, such as asthma which impairs the student's educational services.

Paraprofessional: A trained assistant who works with a classroom teacher in the education process.

Program Specialist (PS): A highly trained specialist who has advanced training and in-depth knowledge in special education services.

Protection and Advocacy Inc. (PAI): A private, nonprofit organization that protects the legal, civil and service rights of Californians with disabilities. PAI provides a variety of advocacy services, including information and referral, technical assistance, and direct representation.

Physical Therapy (PT): Treatment program designed for promoting self-sufficiency primarily related to gross motor skills such as walking, sitting, and shifting positions.

Physically Handicapped (PH): A child who is blind, partially seeing, orthopedically handicapped, or has other health impairments.

Receptive Language: The ability to receive and understand information from others.

Regional Center (RC): A state funded agency that may provide funding and/or services if your child meets certain categories or conditions which usually do not overlap with CCS.

Related Services: Educational services which are necessary to allow the individuals with disabilities to benefit from their special education.

Resource Specialist (RS): The Resource Specialist (RS) responsibilities include assessing student progress, revising IEP’s, coordinating services and consulting with parents and staff.

Resource Specialist Program (RSP): Provides special education instruction, materials and supplemental services to students with disabilities who are assigned to general education classroom teachers for the majority of the school day.

Sensory Integration: The neurological process that organizes sensation (what we feel, see, hear, touch and smell) from one’s own body and from the environment, and makes it possible to use the body effectively.

Severely Disabled (Severely Handicapped - SH): A student with a disability who requires intensive instruction and training in programs serving students with the following profound disabilities: autism, blindness, deafness, severe orthopedic impairments, serious emotional disturbances, severe mental retardation and individuals who would be eligible for enrollment in a developmental center.

Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED): Students who display one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time: (a) inability to learn which cannot be explained by ability, health, vision or hearing deficits; (b) problems in relating to other children and adults; inappropriate behaviors or feelings (eg., extreme anger reactions); (d) severe depression or unhappiness; (e) tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears about personal or school problems.

Special Day Class (SDC): Instructional settings in which students with disabilities receive special instruction more than 50% of the day.

Speech Therapy: Treatment program that specializes in improving speech and language skills, as well as to improve oral motor abilities.

Special Education: Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individuals with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met with modification of the regular instruction program, and related services, at no cost to the parent, that may be needed to assist these individuals to benefit from specially designed instruction.

Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA): One or more districts of sufficient size and scope to provide a comprehensive range of special education programs and services for students with disabilities

Student Study Team (SST): A function of the regular education program to assess the strengths and needs of each student, determine appropriate curriculum adaptations and modifications to utilize prior to referral to special education.

Transition: An education process and/or plan designed to help students with disabilities move from school to employment and adult life.

Unilateral Placement: The enrollment of an individual with a disability in a private school or facility without the involvement of public school officials.

University Affiliated Program (UAP): University programs that receive funding from the federal administration on Developmental Disabilities to develop educational and/or training curricula and programs for professionals who work with people who have developmental disabilities.