Special Education Acronyms & Terms

Special education is a complicated journey with countless issues for many families. Undoubtedly, parents will encounter many twists and turns along the way that require a lot of self teaching in order to participate in their child’s education. Often, parents are left feeling that these educational meetings and correspondences are being conducted in a foreign language: Which is not far from the truth when you consider all of the acronyms and terms that are frequently thrown around as if they are common knowledge.

As a parent of a child receiving special education services, I find that the more I understand, the better I become at advocating for my child.

Below is a quick reference list of frequently used acronyms and terms with definitions as they relate to special education:

Acronyms
BIP	Behavioral Intervention Plan	LRE	Least Restrictive Environment
CD	Conduct Disorder	NCLB	No Child Left Behind
DESE	Department of Elementary and Secondary Education	OCR	Office of Civil Rights
FAPE	Free Appropriate Public Education	ODD	Oppositional Defiant Disorder
FBA	Functional Behavioral Assessment	OHI	Other Health Impairment
FERPA	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act	OSEP	Office of Special Education Programs
IEP	Individual Education Program	OT	Occupational Therapy
IDEA	Individuals with Disabilities Education Act	SID	Sensory Integration Dysfunction
LD	Learning Disability	USDE	United States Department of Education
LEA	Local Educational Agency
Definitions
BIP	An individual plan developed with specific strategies to help children with certain types of disabilities refrain from unacceptable behaviors and learn acceptable ones.
CD	A group of behavioral and emotional problems that cause great difficulty in following rules and acting in socially acceptable ways.
Due Process	A formal process for resovling IEP disputes between parents and schools.
FAPE	The right to equal education benefits for children with disabilities, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
FBA	An analysis done to determine the cause of undesirable behavior for the purpose of developing a meaningful plan of intervention.
FERPA	A Federal law that protects the privacy of students education records.
IDEA	Federal laws that require states to ensure public education to all students with disabilities through services implemented by the Department of Special Education.
IEP	A plan designed to meet the individual needs of a child with a disability as defined by IDEA.
LD	A group of disorders that alter a students ability to speak, listen, read, write, spell, reason and process information.
LRE	Says that disabled students should have access and opportunity to be educated with non-disabled students, to the greatest possible extent.
NCLB	A federal law that designed to improve the performance of public schools by increasing their accountability.
ODD	A disorder characterized by uncooperative, defiant or aggressive behaviors to the extent that they interfere with a child’s ability to learn.
OHI	Limited strength or heightened alertness to stimuli due to health problems, such as asthma, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
OT	Programs that teach life skills to students who have difficulty managing daily activities because of a disability.
SID	A neurological disorder characterized by difficulties processing information received from our sense of sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, movement or position.
504 Plan	An education plan created to protect the civil rights of individuals with disabilities by providing equal access to participation in programs that receive federal funding, as required by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Print this list and keep it as a handy reference during your communications. Make note of other terms that you hear in your own situation.

Remember, the more you understand, the better you will become in advocating for your child, too.

This site needs an editor - click to learn more!

Related Articles
Editor's Picks Articles
Top Ten Articles
Previous Features
Site Map

Content copyright © 2023 by Diane Miller. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Diane Miller. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact BellaOnline Administration for details.