Special Education professionals speak in sentences that sometimes sound like alphabet soup. For example, a teacher may receive an email containing this sentence:
“Jimmy is a student on caseload receiving FAPE in an LRE under IDEA as an eligible OHI student who receives SLP, OT, and RR support; has an AT plan, 1-1 TA and his MET is due next month, be sure to send PWN to his parents after you get consent at the REED.”
Take a look at the special education acronyms and definitions below to see if you can decode the sentence.
- ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act
- ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorder
- AT: Assistive Technology
- CI: Cognitive Impairment
- EBD/EI: Emotional-Behavioral Disorder/Emotional Impairment
- ECDD: Early Childhood Developmental Delay (special disability eligibility category for children under 8 years old)
- FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education
- HI: Hearing Impairment
- IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- IEP: Individualized Education Plan
- IFSP: Individualized Family Service Plan
- LRE: Least Restrictive Environment
- MET: Multidisciplinary Evaluation Report
- OHI: Other Health Impairment
- OT: Occupational Therapy
- PI: Physical Impairment
- PT: Physical Therapy
- PWN: Prior Written Notice
- REED: Review of Existing Evaluation Data
- RR: Resources Room
- Section 504 Plan: How do we even describe 504
- SLI: Speech and Language Impairment
- SLP: Speech and Language Pathologist
- SPED: Special Education
- SSW: School Social Worker
- SXI: Severely Multiply Impaired
- TA: Teacher Assistant
- TC: Teacher Consultant (these folks rock!)
Translation: “Jimmy is a student on caseload receiving a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as an eligible Otherwise Health Impaired (OHI) student who receives Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP), Occupational Therapy (OT), and Resource Room (RR) support; has an Assistive Technology (AT) plan, 1-1 Teacher Assistant (TA) and his Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) report is due next month. Be sure to send Prior Written Notice (PWN) to his parents after you get consent at the Review of Existing Evaluation Data (REED) meeting.”