Special Education Terms and Acronyms under IDEA
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IDEA Terms and Acronyms Defined

In the legal mandates of IDEA, there are a list of terms and acronyms including IDEA that need to be defined and demystified for the regular layperson. Below are the terms and the acronyms that will make IEP meetings a breeze for all of the stakeholders:

  • ADA - American with Disabilities Act
  • ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder
  • BD - Behavioral Disorder
  • BIP - Behavioral Intervention Plan based on the FBA
  • EDB - Emotional Behavioral Disorder
  • Case Law - court developed laws addressing special education issues
  • Competency - the ability to achieve a designated level of academic or behavioral performance
  • Consent - parent permission for schools to evaluate students for special education services
  • Disability - impairments that affect school performance defined under IDEA
  • EAHCA - Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
  • FAPE - Free Appropriate Public Education
  • FBA- Functional Behavioral Analysis - Analysis of students behavior for the behavioral intervention plan (BIP)
  • Full inclusion - mainstreaming special education students in regular education classes.
  • FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - related to student privacy acts and confidential laws
  • HCPA - Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986 - provides legal compensations and reimbursements for parents who have been successful in cases against agencies
  • IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  • IEP - Individualized Education Program, also known as Individualized Education Plan
  • LRE - Least restrictive environment which is known as mainstreaming special
  • LD - Learning disabled per diagnostic assessments
  • MR - Mentally retarded as medically diagnosed
  • Reasonable Accommodation or Modification - providing reasonable program or curriculum modifications for students with IEPs or 504 plans
  • Section 504 - Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that provides reasonable accommodations for students with defined disabilities
  • Transition services - a part of the IEP that provides activities and educational instruction for students transitioning into higher education or other defined settings under IDEA (Rothstein, L.F. (2000) pp 327-330.

This list is not a comprehensive list of the myriad of terms used in IDEA law and special education school communities, but it’s a start for those navigating the journey of special education services for students.

Resource

Rothstein, L.F. (2000). Special education law. (3rd ed.) New York: Longman.