Glossary
Academic Accommodations: Modifications provided so that a student with a disability can participate in class, complete assignments, and share knowledge and ideas.
Advocacy: Speaking for or urging a cause, such as equal access to community services
Assistive Technology: Technology that helps people with disabilities to participate in activities as independently as possible. This can include a whole range of resources: timer, magnifiers, hearing aids, communication tools, APPs, Velcro, calculators, IPADs, wheelchairs, etc.
Benefits Counselor: A professional, often employed by a state agency, who assists Social Security Administration disability beneficiaries with making choices about work.
Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) Credential: A commencement credential available to all students in New York State (Except those who are eligible for alternate assessment) that signifies entry-level employability skills.
Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) Standards: A set of educational standards available in New York State that measure competencies and skills related to Career Development, Integrated Learning, Universal Foundation Skills, and Career Specific Skills.
CBI: Community Based Instruction: Integrating students into their community as part of their education.
Community-Based: Services provided in a non-institutional setting, preferably in individual’s home community.
Developmental Disability: A disability of a person which is attributable to intellectual disability,
cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological impairment, autism, or a similar disability that causes impairment in adaptive functioning that occurs before the age of 22 and is expected to last over the course of an individual’s life.
Disability/Accessibility Support Office: The office responsible for supporting students with
disabilities enrolled at a college.
Department of Labor: The federally/state funded agency that provides job support services, training opportunities, and guidance to job seekers.
Dual Enrollment: Enrolling in postsecondary education and secondary education simultaneously.
Usually done by high school students with disabilities to use local education funds to pay for
postsecondary education.
Eligibility: The qualifying status of an individual required by state agencies providing services to
individuals with disabilities. Each agency has a list of requirements which must be fulfilled in order to access their services.
Entitlement: A legal right, typically used when discussing a student's Individual Education Plan, or IEP. Depending on a student's age and where he or she attends school, the student may be legally entitled to services written in the IEP that are provided and/or monitored by the school system. In other cases, a student may be entitled to an IEP, but receiving services is not an entitlement (i.e., services are not guaranteed).
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): The federal law that states the requirements to provide a free and appropriate education to all students in the United States. It includes accountability measures for all state education agencies.
Fiscal Intermediary: An agent that provides administrative and billing support to a person who
chooses to access services through OPWDD with self-direction.
Full-time Student: A student enrolled for 12 or more semester credit hours (usually 4 classes, but it depends on the school).
Functional Vocational Assessment: Identifies an individual's vocational interests and potential using actual job tasks in a variety of environments.
Inclusive Higher Education (IHE): Specialized post-secondary programs at colleges or universities that provide integrated educational and experiential opportunities for students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Federal law mandating free and appropriate
public education for all students. Includes specific requirements for planning the transition from high school to adult life for students with disabilities.
Intellectual Disability: A disability characterized by significant limitations both in cognitive functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) A work, school, or living situation that allows individuals as much freedom of choice and independence as possible without endangering their health or physical safety.
Leisure-Time Skills Generally refers to skills such as developing hobbies, making choices about what recreational or social activities to attend, deciding how to spend free time, and putting the ideas into action.
Natural Supports: Helpful relationships among individuals with disabilities and those around them, including co-workers, classmates, activity participants, and neighbors. These relationships can help someone with disabilities succeed on the job or in the classroom.
Person Centered Planning: Planning that focuses on the individual and his/her interests, strengths, and needs. There are numerous models of this type of planning available (e.g. Whole Life Planning, MAPS, Essential Lifestyles Planning, COACH, etc.).
Postsecondary Education: Any type of school or training beyond the high school level (e.g.,
community college, four-year University, vocational training program).
Reasonable Accommodations: Changes in an environment to meet the access needs of an individual in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Section 504: Federal law guaranteeing individuals whose disability has a major life impact are
provided with the necessary accommodations. (Unlike an IEP, this is not specific to K-12 or the 13 classification categories).
Self-Advocacy The process of obtaining needed services for oneself. • Self-Determination A process in which the individual’s preferences, interest, abilities, and wishes are the focus of planning and implementing activities.
Self-Determination: Understanding and addressing one's wants and needs through decision-making, problem solving, and goal setting.
Self-Disclosure: The process through which an individual identifies or reveals that they have a
disability.
Service Learning: A type of work-based learning in which learning opportunities come from structured service activities connected to the academic curriculum.
Superintendent’s Determination for a Local Diploma: A graduation option available to students with current IEPs in New York State, with the request of a parent, that allows a Superintendent to review a collection of coursework in a required academic area in which a student cannot pass the corresponding Regents Examination to certify that they have met the commencement level academic standards in that subject area.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI): A federal benefits program, administered by the Social Security Administration. Helps people who are older, are blind, or have other disabilities, and also have little or no income. Provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
Support Broker: Provides guidance and oversight to the service budget allocated to an individual as part of the OPWDD self-direction option.
Supported Employment: Ongoing supports from an external source (e.g., a state agency) to an
individual in a paid, community-based setting, where the majority of the workers do not have
disabilities. Teaches the person specific job tasks as they occur.
Transition Planning: The ongoing process of articulating goals for life after high school and the steps necessary to achieve them. Transition planning is an important component of the educational program for all ages, but the first regulatory requirement in New York State related to Transition begins at age 12 for students with disabilities.
Transition Services: A coordinated set of activities for students as part of the IEP, designed to promote movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, related services, independent living, or community participation.
Triennial Review A complete review of the student’s special education eligibility status conducted every three years by the IEP team.
Vocational (Career) Assessment The systematic collection of information about the student’s
vocational aptitudes, abilities, expressed interests, and occupational awareness used in planning a transition to competitive employment or postsecondary education.
Universal Design for Learning: A method of teaching that takes into consideration various learning styles during the course development phase to ensure that all students are engaged in the material.
Vocational Rehabilitation: A set of services to individuals that are designed to provide the skills, resources, attitudes, and expectations needed to be successful in gaining competitive employment.
Commonly Used Acronyms (While not an exhaustive list, the following may be of assistance.)
ACCES-VR Adult Career and Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADL Activities for Daily Living
AIS Academic Intervention Services
AT Assistive Technology
AU Autism
BIP Behavioral Intervention Plan
BOCES Board of Cooperative Educational Services
CCLS Common Core Learning Standards
CCO Care Coordination Organization (OPWDD)
CDOS Career Development and Occupational Studies Learning Standards
COTA Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
CP Cerebral Palsy
CPSE Committee on Preschool Special
CSA Coordinated Set of Activities (in IEP)
CSE Committee on Special Education
CT Consultant Teacher
CTE Career and Technical Education
DB Deaf-Blindness
DD Developmental Disability
DF Deafness
DOH Department of Health
DOL Department of Labor
ED Emotional Disability
EI Early Intervention (Program)
ELL English Language Learner
ENL English as a New Language
ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act
ESY Extended School Year
FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education
FBA Functional Behavioral Assessment
FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
HI Hearing Impairment
HIPPA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
HLQ Home Language Questionnaire
HOH/HH Hard of Hearing
HSE High School Equivalency
ICT Integrated Cooperative Teaching
ID Intellectual Disability
IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IDEIA Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (December 2004)
IEE Independent Educational Evaluation
IEP Individualized Education Program
IESP Individualized Education Services Program
IFSP Individualized Family Service Plan
IHE Institution of Higher Education
IHO Impartial Hearing Officer
ILC Independent Living Center
IPE Individual Plan for Employment (used by ACCES-VR)
ISP Individual Service Plan (used by OPWDD)
IST Instructional Support Team
IQ Intelligence Quotient
LD Learning Disability
LEA Limited English Proficiency
LOTE Language Other Than English
LPT Language Proficiency Team
LRE Least Restrictive Environment
MAPS Management, Academic, Physical, Social (4 required areas in PLPs)
MD Multiple Disabilities
MPSG Measurable Postsecondary Goal
MSC Medicaid Service Coordinator (OPWDD)
MTSS Multi-Tiered System of Support
NCLB No Child Left Behind Act, 2002
NYSAA New York State Alternate Assessment
NYSABE New York State Association for Bilingual Education
NYSED New York State Education Department, Office of Preschool-12 Grade
NYSESLAT New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test
NYSITELL New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners
OCFS Office of Children and Family Services
OHI Other Health Impairment
OI Orthopedic Impairment
OMH Office of Mental Health
OPWDD Office for People with Developmental Disabilities
OT Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapy
Part 100 New York State Education regulations for all students
Part 154 NY State Education regulations on for English Language Learners
Part 200 New York State Education Special Education regulations
PBIS Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports
PCP Person Centered Planning
PD Professional Development
PDD Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PDD-NOS Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified
PINS Person In Need of Supervision
PLC Professional Learning Center
PPS Pupil Personnel Services (Directors of Special Education)
Pre-ETS Pre-Employment Transition Services (ACCES-VR)
PT Physical Therapist/Physical Therapy
PTA Parent Teacher Association
P.L.94-142 The Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
PLP Present Level of Performance (also PLEP or PLOP)
Pre-K Pre-Kindergarten
PWD Preschooler with a Disability
PWN Prior Written Notice
RBERN Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network
RR Resource Room
RT Recreational Therapist
RTI Response to Intervention
RTF Residential Treatment Facility
RS Related Service
RSE-TASC Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Center
SDI Specially Designed Instruction
SEA State Educational Agency
SED State Education Department
SEPTA Special Education Parent Teacher Association
SES Student Exit Summary
SI Speech/Language Impairment
SIFE Students with interrupted formal education
SIRS Student Information Repository System
SLP Speech Language Pathologist
SPOA Single Point of Access
SSA Social Security Administration
SSDI Social Security Disability Insurance
SSI Supplemental Security Income
SWD Student with a Disability
TA Teacher Assistant
TAC Technical Assistance Center
TASC Test Assessing Secondary Completion
TBI Traumatic Brain Injury
TESOL Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages
UDL Universal Design for Learning
UCPA United Cerebral Palsy Association
UPK Universal Pre-Kindergarten
USDOE United States Department of Education
VI Visual Impairment
VR Vocational Rehabilitation
WAIS Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
WBL Work Based Learning
WIOA Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
WISC Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
YES Youth Employment Services (ACCES-VR)
504 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112, Section 504); provides accommodations/modifications for students