Terms to Know For Your Journey Through Special Education.

The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) has listed numerous 'key terms' that parents or guardians should be familiar with as they find their way through the educational system. You will hear and get to participate in these; sometimes they can be trying and tiresome but very necessary; working with people who have a great interest in your child it will seem easy. Make sure people listen to you; I have heard horror stories from some parents but have found when you deal with your child's teacher, speech and occupational therapists, physical therapists if needed, social worker, school nurse, etc, as long as everyone realizes that they are there for your child (not you or them) by keeping it on the child people are more open to listening. Some parents think they have to fight (loud and almost emotionally) to get what they want; parents have to realize they cannot always get what they want when they want it (you don't know the school system and what the parameters are). What I found best was to keep asking periodically, try to demonstrate why your child needs what they need - show them a new task they have learned or what they seem to keep falling back on. Remember YOU, the parent, have to be trying to teach as well - it isn't the teachers who have to teach; you need to reinforce what your child

needs to learn at home. Most of all -- do it nicely. Screaming and yelling do not have much of an effect.

Anyway back to the terms. For a more involved description please see NICHCY website.
** IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. "it guides how special education and related services are provided to children with disabilities in the United States. States develop their own special education policies and procedures based on what IDEA requires. They are allowed to go beyond what IDEA requires–and frequently do, because the law leaves a great many things to state and local discretion–but they are not permitted to have policies or procedures that are not consistent with IDEA’s provisions."
** Child with a disability. Generally speaking "means a child evaluated in accordance with §§300.304 through 300.311 as having an intellectual disability**, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this part as ‘‘emotional disturbance’’), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services."
** FAPE. Free Appropriate Public Education. special education and related services that are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge; meet the standards of the SEA, including the requirements of this part; include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved; and are provided in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP) that meets the requirements of §§300.320 through 300.324.
** IEP. Individualized Education Plan. This means "a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting", usually held yearly. This gets involved with many facets like measurable goals, what the child will or will not participate in, alternate assessments, adaptive technology, etc., so please read about it on the site.

To learn more terms, go here.