Education of the Exceptional Learner Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the Exceptional Learner lecture notes covering foundational concepts, key historical figures, legal principles, and federal acts.

Exceptional Learner

A learner who requires special education and related services support, displaying a combination of special abilities or disabilities that differ in some way from the average student.

Disability

An inability or limitation in performing specific tasks, described as having an physical, mental, or sensory impairment.

Handicap

A disadvantage or limitation imposed upon an individual by social or environmental factors rather than the disability itself.

Special Education

Specially designed instruction, provided at no cost to parents, created to meet the unique educational needs of a child with a disability as defined under IDEA Sec. 602 (29).

Continuum of Service

The complete range of educational placement options available for students with special needs, ranging from general education classrooms with supplementary aids to residential or hospital settings.

Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard

A French physician known as the Father of the IEP, who worked with Victor ('the Wild Boy of Aveyron') and asserted that his condition stemmed from a severe lack of social contact.

Samuel Gridley Howe

Founder of the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston who created a tactile teaching system using raised letters to educate deaf-blind students such as Laura Bridgeman.

Anne Sullivan

An educator known as the 'Miracle Worker' who learned braille and provided foundational instruction to Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

An American author and educator (1880–1968) who lost vision and hearing from scarlet fever, learned braille, won a Pulitzer Prize, and became the first deaf-blind person to earn a college degree.

Haben Girma

An American disability rights advocate born in 1988 who became the first deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School and served as a board trustee for Helen Keller Services for the Blind.

Willowbrook State School Exposé

A 1972 investigative reporting effort by writer Burton Blatt and TV journalist Geraldo Rivera that exposed the harsh conditions inside state institutions for individuals with disabilities.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

A core special education principle establishing that all children, regardless of disability, are entitled to a publicly funded education tailored to their unique needs.

Nondiscriminatory Assessment

The requirement that educational evaluation tools and testing procedures used to identify students with disabilities must be free of racial or cultural bias.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

The mandate requiring students with disabilities to be educated alongside non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, utilizing alternative placements only when general education settings are unsuccessful.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A legally mandated written plan for a student with a disability that specifies current academic performance, annual goals, participation in general education, service timelines, and evaluation criteria.

Procedural Safeguards

Legal provisions that protect parental and student rights, including formal meeting notices and mechanisms for resolving disputes through mediation and due process hearings.

Legislation

Formally enacted statutes and laws passed by legislative bodies along with their accompanying interpretive administrative regulations.

Litigation

Legal court cases in which judicial authorities or juries interpret statutory law to resolve specific disputes.

Due Process

Fair, formalized procedural safeguards governing the assessment, identification, and educational placement of children receiving special education services.

Equal Protection

The constitutional principle mandating that states offer identical rights and access to educational opportunities, such as qualified teachers and extracurriculars, to disabled and non-disabled students alike.

PL 93-112, Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act of 1973)

Civil rights legislation barring discrimination against any individual with a disability in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

PL 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975)

Landmark legislation termed the 'Bill of Rights for students with disabilities' that guaranteed FAPE, due process, and IEPs, serving as the precursor to IDEA.

PL 99-457 (1986 Amendments)

Federal legislation extending special education mandates to children ages 3 to 5 and establishing early intervention programs for infants and toddlers from birth through age 2.

PL 101-476 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990)

Amended previous special education laws, formally renamed the statute IDEA, and required all IEPs to incorporate a statement of transition services.

PL 101-336 (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990)

Broad civil rights law prohibiting disability discrimination across employment, public accommodations, transportation, public services, and telecommunications.

Specific Learning Disabilities

The largest disability classification among students receiving special education under IDEA, comprising 32 percent of all special education students in 2022–23.