Swimming in a Sea of Educational Terms

Are you drowning in a sea of educational terms? When you read your child’s IEP, do you know what promotional mods really mean? Let’s take a look at some familiar educational terms that you may encounter in reviewing your child’s IEP, and keep your head above water!

Annual Review - This is the yearly review of the IEP. Generally, minor changes are made during this review, such as updating goals and adjusting related services, such as speech.

Triennial - Every three years, students with IEP’s are re-evaluated. This means that he or she will have new psychological testing, as well as any testing that related service providers do. This leads me to…

Related Services - These are the service providers who are available to help your child throughout the school day. It can consist of pull-out programs or push-in (where the service provider comes into the classroom for one to one assistance) programs. Related services can include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and/or counseling.

Mandated Services are those that are put officially on the IEP, so that your child must receive those services. At Risk refers to those services not officially on the IEP, but that your child may receive on a temporary basis with a “wait and see” attitude.

Testing Modifications - These are the modifications that your child can receive when taking standardized tests. There are many modifications that can be applied, but some of the more popular ones include having extended time to complete the exam, taking the test in a small group setting, and allowing the student to record his or her answers directly in the test booklet instead of using a bubble sheet. These modifications will not affect the score of the test, but may be important in giving your child the best possible environment for test taking.

Promotional Modifications - These are the modifications made that will allow children with disabilities to be promoted to the next grade even if they do not pass the standardized tests. Usually it is given in the form of a percentage. For example, instead of having to meet 100% of the math standards for a particular grade, your child may only have to meet 80% or 50% of the standards, depending on the type of class your child is in. Promotion also is dependent upon teacher observation, attendance, and successful participation in classroom activities.

I hope this sheds some light on some of these educational terms that can be confusing to someone just entering into special education territory. Remember, too, that your child’s teacher is more than happy to explain or clarify anything to you. He or she can be a great resource in assisting you in staying afloat among the seemingly endless sea of specialized language that appears in the educational realm!

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The ABC's of Psychiatric Acronyms

ADHD, ODD, IEP, ??? Sitting in a meeting with educators and/ or mental health professionals can be intimidating, particularly when they are speaking about your child. How about when the acronyms are flying out of everyone's mouths, and everyone seems to understand this new language except you? The DSM-IV is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders put out by the American Psychiatric Association. It contains the standard classifications of mental disorders that is used for diagnosis by mental health clinicians. Acronyms are often used as a shortcut language and is very common among clinicians today. Unfortunately it is so common that the professionals often forget that the "lay person", namely the parent, does not necessarily know what the acronyms stand for. I facilitate a parent group where many of the children have a diagnosis. It is amazing how even the parents in this group speak in acronyms. Everyone seems to understand each other, however, on occasion, another parent will interrupt and ask what a particular acronym stands for and means. I feel it is important to publish some of the common acronyms used today and a brief definition, according to the DSM-IV, of each. ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: clinical features include the following: difficulty sustaining attention, often does not seem to listen, easily distracted frequently interrupts, talks excessively, difficulty following directions, fidgets in seat. AS-Aspergers Syndrome: severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, and the development of repetitive, restricted patterns of interests, activities and behaviors. IEP-Individualized Education Plan- a plan devised to meet the specific and unique educational needs of one child. IQ- Intelligence Quotient: general intellectual functioning as assessed with one or more standardized intelligence tests (such as Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, Stanford-Binet, Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children). LD- Learning Disability: achievement on individualized standardized tests in mathematics, reading or written expression is significantly below what is expected in relation to age, schooling and intelligence level. MR- Mental Retardation : significantly subaverage intellectual functioning., with marked limitations in various areas of adaptive behavior as well. IQ is defined as 69 or below. OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: recurrent obsessions or compulsions that are time consuming or cause significant impairment. Obsessions are recurring thoughts, images or impulses, (ie: hand washing) that cause anxiety or stress. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts (counting, repeating words silently) which occur in an attempt to reduce anxiety or stress. ODD- Oppositional Defiant Disorder: defiant and negative behaviors such as being persistently stubborn, unwilling to compromise, deliberately tests limits, argumentative, verbal aggression, lasting about six months, without serious violation of the basic rights of others. PDD Pervasive Developmental Disorder: this category is used when there is significant impairment in the development of social skills, or verbal and nonverbal communication skills, or when there are stereotyped behavior, interest and activities. (also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Achieving Our Goals

We all have goals, whether they are personal, financial, educational or professional. Some people seem to achieve all they set out to. Others seem to constantly dream and hope, yet never accomplish a thing. It is healthy to set goals, but we must follow certain guidelines to better ensure successful completion of such goals.

First of all, our goal must be conceivable. We must be able to identify what might be a first step. Most of our long term goals need to be broken down into smaller steps. Our focus should be on one step at a time, as to not feel overwhelmed. This technique also gives us a place to start and a specific end in sight. As each step is accomplished, you will feel success, and encouragement to continue.

Our goals should also be believable. We must truly believe we can accomplish the goal.

Goals should be achievable. We should be realistic in our expectations. For example, it would NOT be achievable for a person with no training to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

Our goals should be controllable. This means that the goals should be made with regard to what is in control of each individual. The goal should involve your own behavior and not be contingent on the behavior of others. For example, a goal to marry into royalty would require the agreement of another party and therefore is not controllable.

Goals should be measurable in both time and quantity. For example, it is better to set a goal of cleaning the bathroom and kitchen by Saturday than to say you want your whole house clean. It is easier to accomplish the goal if it is for a specific time and quantity than general. Again, break your goal into measurable steps.

Goals should be desirable. Our goals should reflect what we want to do as opposed to what we feel we have to do.

Goals should have no alternatives. This means the goal should be simply stated with no “I will do -------------OR --------------. Usually when an “or” is involved, the person ends up doing neither.

Most importantly, goals should always be for our growth, and not destructive to ourselves, others or society. Keep a positive attitude, keep focused on the goal, and you will feel successful in no time!