ABCs of Special Education: Acronyms

Anyone who has ever taken a class on or read an article pertaining to special education knows that there are a lot of acronyms in the world of special education. I know that when I began my first special education class, I was not the only one who had trouble figuring the acronyms out. It seemed as though everyone had the same question that I had- what does this mean?

Here is a guide to the ABCs of special education in hopes that you will find it useful.

General

FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education

LRE Least Restrictive Environment

IEP Individualized Education Plan

PLOP Present Level of Performance

FBA Functional Behavioral Assessment

BIP Behavior Intervention Plan

BBSST Building Based Student Support Team

MDT Multidisciplinary Team

Legislation

ESEA Elementary and Secondary Education Act

EAHCA Education for All Handicapped Children Act

ADA American with Disabilities Act

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

NCLB No Child Left Behind

IDEA Disability Categories and Exceptionalities

MR/ID Mental Retardation/ Intellectual Disability

LD Learning Disability

EBD Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

OHI Other Health Impairment

OI Orthopedic Impairment

TBI Traumatic Brain Injury

SLI Speech Language Impairment

HI Hearing Impairment

VI Visual Impairment

ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

DD Developmental Delay

GT Gifted and Talented

Here are some websites that will also help:

http://www.ucp.org/uploads/Acronyms.pdf

http://www.fape.org/pubs/FAPE-14.pdf