Impairments
Plans
Disorders and Disabilities
Programs, Support, and Help
Random
100

An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Hearing Impairment 

100

a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the Rehabilitation Act and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment. These accommodations and modifications must ensure that there is no discrimination because of the child’s disability.

504 Plan

100

 An out-of-date term that was previously used to describe children who have difficulty paying attention, but are not significantly impulsive or hyperactive.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

100

 A program, mandated by IDEA, that continuously searches for and evaluates children who may have a disability.

Child Find Program 

100

The gap between what a child with a disability knows and what his or her peers know, which widens as he or she advances to higher grades.

Widening Gap

200

An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

Visual Impairment

200

A written description of the assessments that will be used to evaluate a student’s strengths, weaknesses and progress and to determine his or her eligibility for special education services and the types of services that would help that student succeed.

Assessment Plan

200

 A condition that can make it hard for a person to sit still, control behavior and pay attention.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

200

An approach to eliminate challenging behaviors and replace them with pro-social skills.

Positive Behavior Support

200

Diagnostic measures for determining a child’s gross motor skills, fine manipulative skills and hearing, sight, speech and language abilities, administered by specialists such as a school speech pathologist or general practitioner.

Skill Evaluation

300

A communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment or a voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Speech or Language Impairment 

300

A proactive action plan to address behavior(s) that are impeding learning of a student or of others in his or her classroom.

Behavior Support Plan
300

a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others.

Autism 

300

technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. 

Assistive Technology 

300

Changes in educational environments that allow students with disabilities to participate in inclusive environments by compensating for learners’ weaknesses.

Adaptations 

400

Physical disabilities which could affect the academic process.

Orthopedic Impairment

400

A written treatment plan that maps out the early intervention services a child (age birth to his/her third birthday) will receive, as well as how and when these services will be administered. It details a child’s current levels of functioning, specific needs and goals for treatment (referred to as outcomes).

Individualized Family Service Plan

400

A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations.

Specific Learning Disability

400

A legal document that defines special education services between the school district and the parents.

Individualized Education Program

400

The team of qualified professionals made up of the parent, special education teacher, interpreter of test data, district representative, and general education teacher at a minimum. This group makes all decisions related to the instructional program of a child with special needs, including placement and services provided. In some states this team is called the admission, review and dismissal (ARD) team.

IEP Team

500

A disability category under IDEA that lists examples of health-related conditions that may qualify a child for special education: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia and Tourette syndrome.

Other Health Impairment
500

general term used to describe a change in a student’s school or program. A student who will turn 16 within the life of his or her individualized education program must have a transition goal and plan that outlines how he or she will transition to life beyond high school.

Transition Plan

500

A disorder characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

500

Sets of teaching procedures used by educators to help students who are struggling with a skill or lesson succeed in the classroom.  

Interventions 

500

Term used in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that is defined as specially designed instruction to increase the student’s chances for success.

Special Education