Glossary of terms | Shared Courage

School, IEP & rights

IEP

Individualized Education Program

A written plan for a student who qualifies for special education. It lays out your child's goals, the services and supports they'll receive, and how progress is measured. Reviewed at least once a year.

504 Plan

Section 504

A plan that provides accommodations for a student with a disability who doesn't need specialized instruction. Lighter-touch than an IEP: think extra time or preferential seating rather than specialized teaching.

IDEA

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The federal law that guarantees eligible children a free, appropriate public education and the right to an IEP.

FAPE

Free Appropriate Public Education

Your child's right, under IDEA, to an education that meets their needs at no cost to you.

LRE

Least Restrictive Environment

The principle that children should learn alongside peers without disabilities as much as is appropriate for them.

Present Levels

PLAAFP

Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: the part of the IEP describing how your child is doing right now. Everything else in the plan builds on it.

Goals

The specific, measurable skills the team expects your child to work toward over the year, each with a starting point and a target.

Accommodations

Changes to how your child learns or shows what they know, without changing what they're expected to learn (extra time, a quiet room, text read aloud).

Modifications

Changes to what your child is expected to learn, such as fewer or different objectives. Different from accommodations.

Related Services

Support services that help your child access their education: speech, occupational, or physical therapy, counseling, or transportation.

Resource / Resource Room

A separate setting where a special education teacher gives targeted help, usually for part of the day.

Pull-out services

Support delivered by taking your child out of the regular classroom for a time, such as to a resource room or therapy.

Push-in services

Support delivered inside the regular classroom, where the specialist comes to your child.

Inclusion

also: Mainstreaming

Educating children with disabilities in the general classroom alongside their peers, with supports in place.

Service minutes

The exact amount of each service your child receives (for example, 30 minutes, twice a week). Worth getting in writing.

Paraprofessional

Para / Aide

A trained classroom assistant who supports a student or small group, sometimes one-on-one.

Evaluation

Eval

The testing and observation used to decide whether your child qualifies for services and what they need. You can request one in writing.

IEE

Independent Educational Evaluation

An outside evaluation you can request, often at public expense, if you disagree with the school's evaluation.

Prior Written Notice

PWN

A formal written notice the school must give you before it changes, or refuses to change, your child's identification, evaluation, or placement.

Eligibility

Whether your child qualifies for special education under one of IDEA's categories.

ESY

Extended School Year

Special education services provided beyond the normal school year, such as over the summer, when needed to prevent loss of skills.

Transition Plan

The part of the IEP, starting in the teen years, that plans for life after high school: work, further education, and independent living.

FBA

Functional Behavior Assessment

A look at why a behavior is happening, what sets it off, and what it accomplishes, used to build the right support.

BIP

Behavior Intervention Plan

A written plan, often built from an FBA, for preventing and responding to a specific behavior.

MTSS / RTI

Multi-Tiered System of Supports

A tiered way schools give increasing levels of extra help and track progress, often before or alongside special education.

Due Process

A formal route to resolve disagreements with the school about your child's services.

Mediation

A voluntary, less formal way to resolve disagreements with the school, with a neutral third party.

Early Intervention

Services for babies and toddlers, birth to three, with delays or disabilities.

IFSP

Individualized Family Service Plan

The early-intervention version of an IEP, for children under three, centered on the whole family.

Diagnoses & profiles

ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder

A developmental difference affecting communication, social interaction, and sensory experience, with a wide range of strengths and needs.

ASD Levels

Levels 1-3

Autism is described in three levels based on how much daily support a person needs, Level 1 the least and Level 3 the most. Levels can shift with context and over time.

ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

A difference in attention, impulse control, and activity level.

CAS

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

A motor speech disorder where the brain has trouble coordinating the precise mouth movements for speech, even when your child knows exactly what they want to say.

SPD

Sensory Processing Disorder

Difficulty taking in and responding to everyday sensory information like sounds, textures, and movement, which can lead to feeling overwhelmed or under-responsive.

ARFID

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

A feeding disorder where eating is limited by sensory aversions, low appetite or interest, or fear of choking or vomiting, rather than by body-image concerns. It can affect growth and nutrition.

Dyslexia

A learning difference that mainly affects reading and spelling.

Dysgraphia

A learning difference that affects writing: handwriting, spelling, and putting thoughts on paper.

Dyscalculia

A learning difference that affects working with numbers and math.

Developmental Delay

When a child reaches developmental milestones later than typical. “Global” means delays across several areas at once.

Intellectual Disability

Differences in reasoning, learning, and everyday skills that begin in childhood.

Gestalt Language Processing

GLP

A way of learning language in whole chunks, or “gestalts” (like a memorized phrase), before breaking them into single words. Common in many autistic children.

Echolalia

Repeating words or phrases heard from people or media. It often carries meaning and can be part of gestalt language development.

Hypotonia

Low muscle tone, which can make movement, posture, and coordination harder.

Neurodivergent

Neurodiversity

The idea that brains naturally vary. “Neurodivergent” describes a brain that works differently from what's considered typical, such as autism or ADHD.

Therapies & providers

ABA

Applied Behavior Analysis

A therapy approach that uses learning principles to build skills and support behavior. Common in autism care and sometimes debated, so it's worth understanding the specific approach your provider takes.

BCBA

Board Certified Behavior Analyst

A graduate-level professional who designs and oversees ABA programs and supervises RBTs.

RBT

Registered Behavior Technician

A trained paraprofessional who delivers ABA day-to-day under a BCBA's supervision.

SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Your speech therapist. Works on communication: speech sounds, language, social communication, and sometimes feeding and swallowing.

Occupational Therapist

Helps with the “occupations” of childhood: fine motor skills, self-care, handwriting, and sensory needs.

Physical Therapist

Helps with gross motor skills, strength, balance, and movement.

AAC

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Tools and methods that support or replace speech, from picture boards to speech-generating apps and devices.

Feeding therapy

Therapy, often from an OT or SLP, that helps children who struggle with eating, including sensory and motor feeding challenges.

Developmental Pediatrician

A pediatrician with extra training in evaluating and supporting developmental and behavioral differences. Often the quarterback of your child's care team: helping coordinate the specialists, therapies, and the big-picture plan so it works as one.

Sensory & the body

Sensory processing

How the brain takes in and organizes information from the senses in order to respond to the world.

Interoception

The sense of what's happening inside the body: hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, tiredness, and even emotions.

Proprioception

The sense of where your body is in space, from receptors in the muscles and joints. It supports coordination and feeling grounded.

Vestibular sense

The balance-and-movement sense, based in the inner ear. It tells the body about motion, head position, and gravity.

Sensory diet

A personalized set of sensory activities (movement, deep pressure, quiet) that helps a child stay regulated through the day. Designed with an OT.

Stimming

Self-stimulatory behavior such as rocking, flapping, or repeating sounds, which can help with regulation, focus, or expressing feeling.

Helpful concepts

Self-regulation

The ability to manage one's own emotions, energy, and attention.

Co-regulation

Calming with the help of a trusted adult's steady presence. It comes before, and builds toward, self-regulation.

Meltdown

An intense response to feeling overwhelmed, often sensory or emotional. Unlike a tantrum, a meltdown isn't goal-driven and isn't something a child can simply choose to stop.

Executive function

The brain's management system: planning, starting tasks, organizing, remembering steps, and shifting between activities.

No matches. Try a shorter word, or browse the categories above.

This glossary is a plain-language starting point to help you follow the conversation and ask good questions. It isn't a diagnosis, medical advice, or legal advice. Definitions are general; your child's team can tell you how each term applies to them.

Walk into the next meeting ready

Our free guide gives you ten questions to bring to your child's next IEP meeting.