Glossary of Disability-Related Terms and Resources

Glossary of Terms

Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities. Source: Ableism 101: What it is and what we can do to fix it by Ashley Eisenmenger, Access Living.

Access barriers: Any obstruction that prevents people with disabilities from using standard facilities, equipment and resources. Source: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology

Adapted Physical Education (A.P.E.) Adapted Physical Education is physical education which has been adapted or modified, so that it is as appropriate for the person with a disability as it is for a person without a disability. Adapted versus Adaptive: Adapted physical education is the proper term, used in federal and state guidelines and in all current major texts, journals, and Internet sites in the field. The basic idea is that service delivery is adapted, while behaviors are adaptive. The program is adapted to meet the needs of each student through modifications and accommodations. The student is not required to adapt to the conditions of the program as would be implied with adaptive physical education refers to adapted behaviors. Source: Adapted Physical Education National Standards

American Sign Language (ASL): A visually perceived language based on articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the body. Non-manual markers such as facial expressions and movements of the body are also used. ASL is the dominant signed language in North America. ASL is not a universal language; many other countries have their own forms of sign language. Source: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology

Assistance Device: Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Source: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology

Co-Teaching: Co-teaching is the practice of pairing teachers together in a classroom to share the responsibilities of planning, instructing, and assessing students. Co-teaching is often implemented with general educators and special educators paired together as part of an initiative to create a more inclusive classroom. Source: What is Co-Teaching: An Introduction to Co-Teaching and Inclusion

Differentiated Instruction: Differentiated instruction consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile. These elements include Content, Process, Products and Learning environment. Source: What is Differentiated Instruction by Carol Ann Tomlinson

Discrimination: Discrimination is unfair treatment of one particular person or group of people. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) protects the rights of persons with disabilities, including students and parents, under two federal laws in the education context: Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under these laws, no person shall, solely by reason of their disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities, or be subjected to discrimination. Source: U.S. Department of Education

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): In general, all school age children who are individuals with disabilities as defined by Section 504 and IDEA are entitled to FAPE. Source: U.S. Department of Education Under the IDEA, FAPE requires that a school district offer eligible students an IEP that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances. Source: U.S. Department of Education Q&A on Endrew F. Case. For purposes of Section 504, FAPE refers to the provision of general or special education and related services that are designed to meet individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met. Source: U.S Department of Education OCR FAQ about Students with Disabilities.

General Education: The United States Department of Education defines the term to encompass classrooms and other settings in schools such as lunchrooms and playgrounds in which children without disabilities participate. Students with IEPs can receive specially designed instruction with supplementary aids and services in the general education classroom. The amount of time a child spends in the general education program is part of his/her/their Placement. General Education is the curriculum designed for all children which is meant to meet state standards. Source: Education Rights and Responsibilities: Understanding Special Education in Illinois and What is General Education? By Jerry Webster (2019).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) This federal law, enacted in 1990--and reauthorized in 1997--amends and renames the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA). The law ensures a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with one of thirteen disabilities. A portion of special education funding to schools is dependent upon compliance with this law and its subsequent amendments. Source: IDEA: What you need to know, Understood

Least Restrictive Environment: LRE is part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA says that children who receive special education should learn in the least restrictive environment. This means that to the maximum extent appropriate, they should have access to general education and spend as much time as possible with peers who do not receive special education. Special classes, separate schools or removal from general education should only happen when the nature or severity of a child’s disability is such that supplementary aids and services can’t provide the child with an appropriate education. The Least Restrictive Environment for each child is determined by the student's IEP team. Source: LRE: What you need to know (Understood)

Modification: Modifications are changes to what your child is taught or expected to do in school. Modifications may alter the curriculum and expectations of mastery. Modifications aren’t the same as accommodations, which are changes that allow your child to access the general education curriculum but do not alter the curriculum or expectations. Only students with an IEP or a 504 plan can have modifications. Source: Modifications: What You Need to Know (Understood)

Neurodiversity is broadly defined as an approach to learning and disability that suggests diverse neurological conditions appear as a result of normal variations in the human genome. Neurodiversity advocates promote support systems (such as inclusion-focused services, accommodations, communication and assistive technologies, occupational training, and independent living support) that allow those who are neuro-divergent to live their lives as they are, rather than being coerced or forced to adopt uncritically accepted ideas of normality, or to conform to a clinical ideal. Source: Disability World: What is Neurodiversity, Neurodivergent and Neurotypical?

Person First Language: People-first language emphasizes the individuality, equality and dignity of people with disabilities. Rather than defining people primarily by their disability, people-first language conveys respect by emphasizing the fact that people with disabilities are first and foremost just that—people. It is best to use people-first language when communicating about disability issues, whether verbally or in writing. It is important to note that many people with disabilities, particularly younger people, are choosing to use “identity-first” language such as “autistic” or “disabled.” How a person chooses to self-identify is up to them, and they should not be corrected or admonished if they choose not to use identify-first language. Source: Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion

Related Services: Related services help a child meet their educational goals, but they aren’t necessarily specialized instruction. Related services are typically part of a child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). Some students receive related services through a 504 plan. Common examples of related services include speech and language, occupational or physical therapy, and social work. Source: Related Services for Kids Who Learn and Think Differently: What You Need to Know

Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance, and set the stage for enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Section 504 works together with the ADA and IDEA to protect children and adults with disabilities from exclusion, and unequal treatment in schools, jobs and the community. Under this law, individuals with disabilities are defined as persons with a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. People who have a history of, or who are regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, are also covered. Major life activities include caring for one's self, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, performing manual tasks, and learning. Source: US Department of Health and Human Services 504 Fact Sheet

Self-Contained: The term “self-contained classroom” refers to a classroom, where a special education teacher is responsible for the instruction of all academic subjects. The classroom is typically separated from general education classrooms but within a neighborhood school. A self-contained classroom is a special education placement that falls near the middle of a continuum of program options that range in restrictiveness, where the general education classroom is least restrictive and a hospital or a homebound placement is most restrictive. Student-to-teacher ratios in self-contained classrooms are usually smaller than in general education classrooms and other less restrictive special education placements such as resource classrooms. Source: Understanding Self-Contained Classrooms in Public Schools

Universal Design: Designing programs, services, tools, and facilities so that they are usable, without modification, by the widest range of users possible, taking into account a variety of abilities and disabilities. Source: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology

Disability Categories Recognized in Illinois

Source: ISBE Special Education Disability Areas

​Autism is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. (A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age 3 could be diagnosed as having autism if the other criteria of this Section are satisfied.) Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.

Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

​Emotional Disability (includes schizophrenia but does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance) means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:​

• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;

• An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

• Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or

• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.​

Intellectual Disability means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

​Orthopedic Impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., Poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes ( e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).

​Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.​ In accordance with 23 Illinois Administrative Code 226.130, beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, Illinois districts are required to use a process that determines how a child responds to scientific, research-based interventions as part of the evaluation procedures to determine special education eligibility under the category of specific learning disability (SLD). While this requirement is specific to SLD, districts also have the option of using such a process as part of the evaluation procedures for other disability categories.

Traumatic Brain Injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; psychosocial functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Resources

Ableism 101: What it is and what we can do to fix it by Ashley Eisenmenger, Access Living

Inclusive Education: What it Means, Proven Strategies and a Case Study by Lilla McManis, PhD.

A Summary of the Evidence on Inclusive Education, Abt Associates

What is and isn’t covered Under FAPE?

Significant Disproportionality in Special Education, National Center for Learning Disabilities