Special Education Terminologies and Concepts

Exceptional Children: Students whose educational performance varies significantly from their abilities, necessitating specialized instruction, assistance, or equipment.
Learning Disability: A significant difficulty in learning despite having average or above-average potential intelligence, leading to a gap between ability and achievement.
Achievement vs. Ability: Achievement is the level of accomplishment on a knowledge test, while Ability Grouping involves placing students together based on achievement levels in specific areas.
Cognition: The processing or understanding of information.
Etiology: The origin or cause of a specific condition or problem.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): Mandated special education and services provided at public expense following the established Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Individualized Education Plan (IEP): A written document detailing a child's current performance, educational goals, services, and required modifications.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): The principle of educating students with disabilities alongside non-disabled peers to the greatest extent realistically possible.
Due Process: Legal procedures designed to protect the rights of children with disabilities.
Section $504$ : A civil rights provision that protects individuals with disabilities and ensures they receive needed support.
Declassification: The specific process of determining a student no longer requires special education services.

Inclusion and Mainstreaming: Practices of educating children with disabilities within regular classrooms.
Resource Rooms: Specialized settings (Categorical for same disabilities or Noncategorical for different disabilities) providing part-day support.
Self-Contained Class: A dedicated classroom specifically for children with exceptionalities.
Related Services: Supplemental support such as counseling, speech services, Occupational Therapy, or Physical Therapy.
Habilitation: Education focused on developing skills for successful adulthood, whereas Vocational Rehabilitation helps adults find and keep employment.

Norm-Referenced Tests: Assessments that compare a child’s performance against other people.
Criterion-Referenced Tests: Assessments measuring performance against specific standards or criteria.
Baseline Measure: The frequency or level of a behavior recorded before an intervention begins.
Screening: Checking children to identify those at risk or in need of further evaluation.
Age Norms and Mental Age: Standards based on average performance of different age groups and intellectual functioning levels.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Condition marked by impulsivity, distractibility, and hyperactivity.
Aphasia and Agnosia: Communication and recognition difficulties caused by brain damage.
Dysfluency: Difficulty with fluent speech production, including stuttering.
PINS Petition: A family-court referral for a Person in Need of Supervision under the age of $16$ exhibiting serious behavior or attendance patterns.

Dyscalculia: Difficulty with math ( $\text{Calculations}$ ).
Dysgraphia: Difficulty or inability to write ( $\text{Graphia} = \text{writing}$ ).
Dyslexia: Impacts reading ability ( $\text{Lexia} = \text{reading/words}$ ).
Dysorthographia: Affects spelling ability ( $\text{Orthography} = \text{spelling}$ ).