Acronyms & Abbreviations Related to Disabilities & Special Health Care Needs
Professionals frequently use abbreviations to form acronyms to describe terms. The disability field is no exception.
These are some of the more commonly used acronyms and the term each describes. These terms cover the areas of disabilities and health conditions, and services and related medical terms. This information is designed especially for parents of children with disabilities and professionals serving those families.
Part One – Definitions & Requirements.
Part Two – Common Misconceptions & Benefits.
Part Three – Being on The Child’s Team
List of Medical Conditions & Disorders
List of National Organizations & Resources
List of Frequently Asked Questions
ABA Applied Behavior Analysis
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
ADC Adult Disabled Children; Aid to Dependent Children (more commonly called AFDC)
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADL Activities of Daily Living
AHCA Agency for Health Care Administration
APD Agency for Persons with Disabilities
APE Adapted Physical Education
APR Annual Performance Report
ARC Association for Retarded Citizens
ASD Autism Spectrum Disorders
ASHA American Speech/Language Hearing Association
ASL American Sign Language
AT Assistive Technology
ATEN Assistive Technology Educational Network
AU Autism
AUT Autistic
AWI Agency for Workforce Innovation
AYP Adequate Yearly Progress
BD Behavior Disorders
BEESS Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services
BIP Behavioral Intervention Plan
BPD Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
CA Chronological Age
CAN Child Abuse and Neglect
C.A.R.D. Center for Autism and Related Disabilities
CAT Scan Computerized Axial Tomography (sometimes referred to as CT Scan)
CBC Complete Blood Count
CCITC Child Care Information Training Center
CCR&R Child Care Resource & Referral
CD Cognitive DelayCDB Childhood Disability Benefit
CDH Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
CEC Council for Exceptional Children
CF Cystic Fibrosis
CF Child Find
CHADD Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder
CHD Congenital Heart Disease
CHRIS Children’s Registry & Information System
CHS Children’s Home Society
CIFMP Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring Process
CMS Children’s Medical Services
CMV Cytomegalovirus
CNS Central Nervous System
COTA Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant
CP Cerebral Palsy
CPAP Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
CPHU County Public Health Unit
CPI Crisis Prevention Intervention
CS Cesarean Section
CSF Cerebrospinal Fluid
CSPD Comprehensive System of Personnel Development
DAC Disabled Adult Child
DAP Developmentally Appropriate Practices
DB Deaf-Blindness
DBS Division of Blind Services
DCF Department of Children and Families
DCS Department of Child Services
DD Developmental Disabilities
DD Developmentally Delayed
DDC Developmental Disabilities Council
DEI Developmental Evaluation and Intervention
DHR U.S. Department of Human Resources
D/HOH Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing or D/HH
D&E Diagnosis and Evaluation
DOE Department of Education
DOH Department of Health
DPH Due Process Hearing
DPHO Due Process Hearing Officer
DS Developmental Services
DSI Dual Sensory Impaired
Dx Diagnosis
ECG Electrocardiogram
ECMO Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
ED/EH Emotional Disorder/Emotionally Handicapped
EEG Electroencephalogram
EI Early Intervention
EIP Early Intervention Program
EMR/EMH Educable Mentally Retarded/Handicapped
ENT Ear, Nose and Throat
EPSDT Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment
ESE Exceptional Student Education
ESY Extended School Year
FAAST Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology
FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education
FAS Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
FASD Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
FBA Functional Behavior Assessment
FCC Family Care Councils
FERPA Family Education Rights &and Privacy ActFHR Fetal Heart Rate
FM Focused Monitoring
FND Family Network on Disabilities
FRS Family Resource SpecialistF/T Full Time
FTE Full Time Equivalency
FTT Failure to Thrive
GI Gastrointestinal
GP Gifted Program
HH Hospitalized/Homebound
HHSB Health and Human Services Board
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act
HI/HH Hearing Impaired/Handicaps
HMO Health Maintenance Organization
HRAC Human Rights Advocacy Committee
Hx History
IBC Infant Bioethics Committee
ICC Interagency Coordinating Council
ICF Intermediate Care Facility
ICRC Infant Care Review Committee
ID Immune Deficiency
IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act
IDT Interdisciplinary Team
IEP Individual Educational Plan
IEP Individualized Education Program
IFSP Individualized Family Service Plan
IFSP Individualized Family Support Plan
IH Infantile Hydrocephalus
IHP Individualized Habilitation Plan
I&O Intake and Output
IQ Intelligence Quotient
I&R Information & Referral
IS Infant Stimulation
ISP Individual Service Plan
ISS In School Suspension
ITP Individualized Transition Plan
IUGR Intrauterine Growth Retardation
IVH Intraventricular Hemorrhage
IV Intravenous
LA Lead Agency
LBR Legislative Budget Request
LBW Low Birth Weight
LD Learning Disability
LEA Local Education Agency
LICC Local Interagency Community Collaboration
LP Learning Plan
LRE Least Restrictive Environment
LT Language Therapy
MA Mental Age
MBD Minimal Brain Dysfunction
MCH Maternal and Child Health
MD Multiple Disabilities
MD Muscular Dystrophy
MDT Multidisciplinary Team
MH Mental Health
MR Mental Retardation
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MS Multiple Sclerosis
NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children
NCLB No Child Left Behind
NDSS National Down Syndrome Society
NE Natural Environment
NEC Necrotizing Enterocolitis
NECTAC National Early Childhood and Technical Assistance Center
NICHCY National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
NICU Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
NORD National Organization for Rare Disorders
NPND National Parent Network on Disabilities
NPO Nothing by mouth
NSVD Normal Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery
NTD Neural Tube Defect
OCR Office for Civil Rights
OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
ODD Oppositional Defiant Disorder
OEL Office of Early Learning
OH Orthopedically Handicapped
OHI Other Health Impaired
OI Osteogenesis Imperfecta
OI Orthopedic Impairment
OM Otitis Media
O&M Orientation & Mobility
OSEP Office of Special Education Programs
OSERS Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services
OT Occupational Therapy/Therapist
P & A Protection and Advocacy
Part B Special Education – School-Aged Children, ages 3 through 21
Part C Special Education – Birth to 36 months
PASS Plan for Achieving Self-Support
PCA Personal Care Attendant
PDD Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PE Physical Education
PH Physically Handicapped
PI Physically Impaired
PICU Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
PKU Phenylketonuria
PMR/PMH Profoundly Mentally Retarded/Handicapped
PPA Per Pupil Allocation
PPEC Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care
PR Progress Report
PRN Whenever Necessary
PSC Primary Service Coordinator
PT Physical Therapy/Therapist
P/T Part Time
PTA Parent Teacher Association
PTP Parent To Parent Support Group
QA Quality Assurance
QI Quality Initiative
RDS Respiratory Distress Syndrome
RPC Regional Policy Council
RPICC Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Center
R&R Resource and Referral
RRC Regional Resource Center
RS Resource Specialist
RS Related Services
RT Recreational Therapy
Rx Prescription
SA Self-Assessment
SAC School Advisory Committee
SBAA Spina Bifida Association of America
SC Service Coordinator
SCAN Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect
SD Severe Disability
SE Special Education
SEA State Education Agency
Section 619 Special Education – ages 3 to 5
SED Severely Emotionally Disturbed
SEDNET Service Network for Children who are Severely Emotionally Disturbed
SGA Small for Gestational Age
SI Sensory Integration
SID Sensory Integration Disorder
SIDS Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
SIG State Improvement Grant
SIP State Improvement Plan
SL Speech Language
S/LI Speech/Language Impaired
S/LT Speech/Language Therapy
SLD Specific Learning Disabilities
SLP Speech Language Pathologist
SLP Student Learning Plan
SPP State Performance Plan
SSDI Social Security Disability Income
SSI Supplementary Security Income
ST Speech Therapy
STEPS Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools
STO Short Term Objective
TA Technical Assistance
TANF Temporary Assistance For Needy Families
TASH The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps
TATS Technical Assistance and Training System Project
TBI Traumatic Brain Injury
TDD Telecommunications Device for the Deaf
TMR/TMH Trainable Mentally Retarded/Handicapped
TP Temporary Placement
TPN Total Parental Nutrition
TEACCH Treatment and Education of Autism and Related Communication Handicapped Children
TS Tourette Syndrome
T-TA Training and Technical Assistance
Tx Treatment
UCP United Cerebral Palsy
URI Upper Respiratory Infection
USDE United States Department of Education
UTI Urinary Tract Infection
VE Varying Exceptionalities
VI/VH Visually Impaired/Handicapped
VLBW Very Low Birth Weight
VR Vocational Rehabilitation
VS Vital Signs
VPK Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
WIC Women, Infants and Children Program
WT Welfare Transition Program
Back to Part One – Definitions & Requirements
Back to Part Two – Misconceptions & Benefits
Back to Part Three – Being on The Child’s Team
List of Medical Conditions & Disorders
List of National Organizations & Resources
List of Frequently Asked Questions
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