| Applied Behavioral Analysis(ABA) |
Is a commonly used autism treatment based on behaviorist theories stating that behaviors can be taught through a system of rewards and consequences. Different methods of ABA are used to help your child learn to respond with appropriate behaviors. Dr. Barbara Firestone Ph.D., Vice Chair of the CA Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism defined ABA as, “behavioral intervention strategy to help children use or distinguish certain behavior.” |
| Adenotonsillar hypertrophy |
Excessive development or thickening of the adenoids and/or tonsils. |
| Amblyopia |
Called “lazy eye” a permanent weakening of vision in an eye with strabismus |
| Aspirating his food (Aspiration) |
Accidental sucking in of food particles or fluids into the lungs, may lead to aspiration pneumonia |
| Ataxia |
A lack of muscle coordination. |
| Attachment relationship |
A relationship that develops between an infant and the parent or primary caregiver |
| Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) |
An impaired ability to regulate activity level (hyperactivity), attend to tasks (inattention), and control behavior (impulsivity). |
| Attention span |
The duration of time a person can stay focused on an object or activity |
| Audiologists |
A professional trained in assessing a child’s hearing. In a developmental assessment of an infant or young child, an audiologist would look for signs of whether or not there are any hearing impairments or loss, usually by placing earphones on a child through which sounds are transmitted at various frequencies |
| Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) |
A neurological disorder that impairs social interaction and communication and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, generally starting before a child is 3 years old |
| Blind |
Lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors |
| Cause-and-Effect Relationships |
The ability to understand the relationships between actions and reactions, ex: If I push the button, the toy will light up. If I dump the blocks out of the bin, I will have to pick them up. |
| Cerebral Palsy |
A condition caused by brain damage around the time of birth, and marked by lack of muscle control. |
| Children with intellectual disabilities |
Significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills |
| Clubfoot (talipes equinovarus) corrections |
In severe cases, surgical intervention is necessary to realign bones and to adjust ligaments and tendons to bring the foot into a weight-bearing position |
| Complaint |
A violation of rights under the law, such as the school’s failure to provide adequate assessments, timelines, or services. |
| Conductive Education |
A very intensive educational approach to therapy with direct manual guidance of movement; specific verbal input about activities; and fixed scheduling of movement, socialization, and cognitive training throughout the day |
| Congenital hypotonia |
Decreased muscle tone or decreased muscle contraction present when the person is at rest |
| Conjunctiva |
The transparent mucous membrane that lines the inner surfaces of the eyelids and covers most of the dense outer coating of the eye |
| Cooperative play |
(social interaction with a peer) |
| Cortical (Cerebral) Vision Impairment (CVI) |
A temporary or permanent visual impairment caused by the disturbance of the posterior visual pathways and/or the occipital lobes of the brain |
| Craniosacral therapy (CST) |
A method of bodywork involving gently working with the spine, skull, and other structures to ease restrictions in nerve passages, realign bones, and optimize movement of cerebrospinal fluid |
| Developmentally delayed |
the physical and or mental impairments which impact activities such as language, mobility, learning, self-help and independent living. Examples include autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other neurological conditions |
| Developmental disability |
The physical and or mental impairments which impact activities such as language, mobility, learning, self-help and independent living. Examples include autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other neurological conditions. |
| Dietary supplements |
Consult a registered dietitian to see if nutritional supplements are needed. Children with CP may have trouble chewing and swallowing food, which can result in low calorie intake. Older children with CP may become overweight because of limited activity |
| Down syndrome |
A congenital birth defect that results in mental retardation and a variety of other features |
| Due process issue |
A disagreement over what the school is offering for the IEP; a belief that the IEP is insufficient for the child to make progress |
| Early Childhood Special Educators |
A professional trained in young children’s typical and atypical development. An early childhood special educator would assist with developing plans and implementing intervention services based on the outcomes of the evaluation/assessment |
| Early intervention |
Services given to very young children with special needs, generally from birth until the child turns three. |
| Edwards’ syndrome |
An abnormality that causes structural malformations in the fetus |
| Electroencephalogram |
EEG a painless procedure that uses small flat metal discs (electrodes) attached to your scalp to detect electrical activity in your brain |
| Expressive vocabulary |
Words the child can communicate himself |
| Failure to thrive |
children whose current weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex |
| Feldenkrais Method |
A system of movement used to increase self-awareness and reduce pain or limitations in movement |
| Fine motor |
Use of hands to manipulate objects |
| Food aversions or food jags |
When a child will only eat an extremely limited variety of foods meal after meal |
| Gastroenterologists |
Physicians who treat infants and children with diseases of the digestive system |
| General education teachers |
Staff with an Early Childhood teaching certificate or its equivalent |
| Gross motor |
Use of large muscles to move |
| Hand-over-hand techniques |
Placing your hands over a child’s hands, so your child is the one who is touching the materials and your hands guide her as she manipulates the materials to complete the activity |
| Hand-under-hand techniques |
Placing your hands under your child’s hands to complete an activity |
| Hemophilia |
A hereditary genetic disorder where the blood fails to clot |
| Hippotherapy |
Use of a horse’s movement to help children with CP improve balance, posture, and upright movement |
| Hypertonic |
High, or stiff, muscle tone, resulting in movements that are jerky and not smooth. |
| Hypotheses |
Proposed explanations based on what is observed |
| Hypotonic |
Low, or ‘floppy’, muscle tone, requiring more effort to maintain posture against gravity |
| Hypotonicity (low muscle tone) |
Decreased muscle tone or decreased muscle contraction present when the person is at rest |
| Infantile cataracts |
A clouding of the eye’s lens, present at birth |
| Intellectual Disabilities |
Significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills |
| Joint Hypermobility |
Greater than normal range of motion in a joint |
| Karyotype |
The chromosomal characteristics of a cell; also: the chromosomes themselves or a representation of them which shows the number and character of the chromosomes |
| Learn incidentally |
Learn naturally without assistance |
| Low vision |
Vision impairment that is not corrected by standard eyeglasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery and that interferes with the ability to perform everyday activities |
| Ligament laxity |
Tissues that connect bones to each other have decreased tension and joint instability may result |
| Macroglossia |
A congenital disorder where the tongue is larger than normal due to an increase in the amount of tissue.), their underlying hypotonia |
| Magnetic resonance imaging |
An imaging technique that uses electromagnetic radiation to obtain images of the body’s soft tissues |
| Mature rotary chew |
A smooth, circular motion while the jaw opens and closes to chew |
| Mediation |
Where parents and a representative from the school district meet again to negotiate further |
| Mental representation |
Ability to mentally “see” ideas or images |
| Milestones |
Steps children take as they grown and learn |
| Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBSS) |
Moving X-rays are used to take pictures of a child’s swallow. The child sits in a special support chair. He or she is given food that is mixed with barium, a substance that outlines the structures inside the mouth and throat, so a specialist can view them by X-ray. |
| Motor skills |
Using muscles to move a part of the body |
| Muscular Dystrophy |
A hereditary disease of the muscular system, marked by weakness and wasting of skeletal muscles |
| Myelotomy |
Selective cutting of nerve fibers in the spinal cord to decrease spasticity in muscles and chronic pain |
| Neurodevelopmental disorder |
A disorder that impairs the growth and development of the brain and central nervous system and may affect an individual’s emotional development, learning, and memory |
| Neurectomy |
Removal of all or part of a nerve to spastic muscles to increase mobility |
| Neurologist |
A physician skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of disease of the nervous system |
| Nocturnal oximetry |
Measurement of the blood’s oxygen saturation by means of an oximeter while the child is asleep. |
| Nutritionists |
Professionals with specialized training in the dietary needs of infants to support growth and development, including changes in organ function and body composition |
| Object Permanence |
An understanding that objects that are not visible still exist |
| Obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) |
An anxiety disorder characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead one to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). |
| Occupational Therapists |
A professional who has specialized training in helping an individual develop mental or physical skills that aid in daily living activities, with careful attention to enhancing fine motor skills (hand and finger skills, eye-hand coordination and sensory integration) |
| One-to-one correspondence |
The ability to match numbers to objects such as accurately counting five blocks or matching one sock to one shoe |
| Oral-motor tone |
Ongoing contraction and state of the muscle at rest and sensitivity and increasing the strength of the oral-facial muscles |
| Oral structures |
Lips, tongue, breathing and swallowing |
| Orthopedist |
A physician concerned with the correction or prevention of skeletal deformities |
| Orthotist |
A person who designs, fits, or services orthoses, devices designed to help correct a disability or support someone with a disability |
| Osteotomy |
Cutting a bone to realign, shorten, lengthen, or reshape it to improve function and decrease pain |
| Paraprofessionals |
Non-certificated trained staff who support the learning of preschool students and are supervised by a certified teacher |
| Parallel Play |
Playing side-by-side with a peer |
| Pathologist |
A professional who is trained in assessing and treating problems in communication including: articulation (pronunciation of sounds), receptive language (understanding and processing what is communicated by others), expressive language (the ability to communicate to others), fluency (including stuttering) and voice problems (including pitch and intonation.) A speech and language pathologist also is trained to work with oral/motor problems such as swallowing and other feeding difficulties |
| Patau’s syndrome |
An often fatal syndrome that causes severe physical and mental impairment |
| Pervasive developmental disorder |
A group of disorders causing impairment in several areas of development |
| Phonemic Awareness |
The awareness that language is composed of small sounds and the ability to manipulate these sounds |
| Phonics |
The relationship between letters and sounds |
| Physiatrist |
Rehabilitation physicians who are nerve, muscle, and bone experts treating injuries or illnesses that affect movement |
| Physical Therapists |
A professional trained in assessing and providing therapy to treat developmental delays, disease and injury using methods such as exercise |
| Polysomnography |
The technique or process of using a polygraph to make a continuous record during sleep of multiple physiological variables such as breathing, heart rate, and muscle activity. |
| Postural control |
Control of the position of the body, the attitude or carriage of the body as a whole, or the position of the limbs (the arms and legs) |
| Progressive metabolic disorder |
A disorder involving a change in the normal metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, or other substances. |
| Prone position |
Lying face down on the stomach |
| Psychologists |
Professionals with specialized training addressing physical, cognitive, social, and emotional functioning and development as they relate to health |
| Receptive vocabulary |
Words the child understands when others are communicating |
| Retinopathy of prematurity |
A disease of the eye that can affect infants who are born prematurely; can be mild to severe, resulting in scarring and retinal detachment, and sometimes blindness. |
| Rhizotomy |
Selective cutting of spinal nerve roots to decrease spasticity |
| Self-regulation |
An individual’s ability to identify, manage, and respond to his or her emotions, impulses, and needs) |
| Sense of Self |
A child’s internal sense of who she is; recognition that she is distinct from others |
| Sensory integration |
Taking in, organizing, and responding to a multitude of sensations, feelings, and experiences |
| Sight words |
Common words that a reader should recognize on “sight.” Some examples of these important words are a, is, the, of, and, that, in, you, I, and to. |
| Sleep apnea |
A condition in which breathing stops for more than 10 seconds during sleep; a major cause of daytime sleepiness |
| Social Stories |
Developed by Carol Grey; short narratives of social situations with examples of appropriate communications |
| Soft tissue |
Muscles and tendons |
| Special education teachers |
Staff with a Special Education credential issued by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing; typically they have a BA plus 30-60 units of graduate work and/or a MA |
| Speech and language pathologists |
Specialist who evaluates and treats communication disorders and swallowing problems. Speech pathologists usually have an MA or doctorate in their specialty, as well as a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) earned by working under supervision. Some states in the US also require a state license. |
| Spina bifida |
A birth defect where the tissue surrounding the developing spinal cord doesn’t close the right way |
| Spinal fusion |
The procedure often requires insertion of rods or stabilization devices. |
| Stereoscopic vision |
The single perception of a slightly different image from each eye, resulting in depth perception |
| Strabismu |
A condition where eyes are not properly aligned; one or both eyes may turn in, out, up, or down |
| Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) |
Sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year |
| Temperament |
Individual differences in emotional and behavioral processes which emerge early in development |
| Thalamotomy |
Destruction of part of the brain’s thalamus, which is used mainly for children with excessive involuntary movements or severe tremors |
| Therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES) |
Enhancement of muscle function by sending a gentle, controlled electrical stimulation through electrodes placed on the skin.) Studies do not show significant improvement. TES does not cause the muscles to contract. Often given at night, TES must be coordinated with physical or occupational therapy. Another form of electrical stimulation is neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NES). This causes actual muscle contraction. Some research indicates that it increases muscle strength. |
| Tourette syndrome (TS) |
A neurological disorder in which one displays unusual movements or make sounds over which one may have little or no control (tics). Examples include repeatedly blinking eyes, shrugging shoulders or jerking head. |
| Tracking |
Ability to follow the movement of an object with the eyes |
| Tripod grasp |
Holding a pen or crayon in a writing position |
| Vision |
The ability of the eyes to take in information and the brain to make sense of it |
| Visual fixation |
Maintaining visual gaze on a location |
