Special Education

Terms and Definitions

Explanations of commonly used words and phrases in the special education program

• ADA    Americans with Disabilities Act
  Civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
• AIS    Academic Intervention Services
  
• DDD    Division of Developmental Disabilities
  Public agency that offers various services to qualified individuals with disabilities.
• ELL    English Language Learners
  
• ESY    Extended School Year Services
  ESY is the special education and related services provided to students beyond the regular 180-day school year to maintain a student’s learned skills/behavior, not the teaching of new skills/behaviors. The IEP team decides whether or not the student requires ESY services and the location of these services.
• FAPE    Free Appropriate Public Education
  Legal requirement for school districts to provide free appropriate public education to qualified students with disabilities, regardless of disability.
• IAES    Interim Alternative Educational Setting
  
• IDEA    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  Federal law ensuring services to children with disabilities. Governs how states and public agencies provide education to youth with disabilities.
• IEP    Individualized Education Program
  Personalized education program for students with disabilities.
• LD    Learning Disabled
  
• LRE    Least Restrictive Environment
  Requirement to educate special needs children with children who are not disabled, to the extent appropriate.
• NCLB    No Child Left Behind
  
• NYSAA    New York State Alternative Assessment
  
• OPWDD     Office of People with Developmental Disabilities
  
• OT    Occupational Therapy
  Focuses on daily living, fine motor skills and sensory integration.
• PLP    Present Level of Performance
  
• PT    Physical Therapy
  Evaluation and treatment of physical disabilities to improve the use of bones, muscles, joints and nerves through exercise.
• PTA    Parent Teacher Association
  Advocacy organization that promotes the improvement of health, welfare and education of children.
• Related Services
  Specialized services provided by the district for qualified students, such as physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT).
• SDI    Specially Designed Instruction
  Appropriate instructional adaptations that meet the needs of eligible students.
• Section 504    
  Part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability. Allows for accommodations and/or modifications so that children with disabilities can participate in the general education classroom with access to general education curriculum.
• SEIT    Special Education Itinerant Teacher
  
• SLP    Speech Language Pathology
  Therapy that focuses on improvement of communication problems.