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A B
C D E
F G H
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L M N
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Career Education
Instruction that focuses on the application of skills and content area
information necessary to cope with the problems of daily life, independent
living, and vocational areas of interest.
CAT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography Scan )
A radiological technique used to examine the structure of the brain. X-rays are
sent through the brain at different angles, and the images are computerized to
form a picture of the brain’s structure from any angle.
Cataract
A reduction or loss of vision that occurs when the lens of the eye becomes
cloudy or opaque.
Catastrophic Reaction
Extreme terror, grief, frustration, or anger without apparent cause that may be
triggered by changes in routine, unexpected events, or over stimulation.
Categorical
Special education classroom that serves children with only one type or category
of disability.
Catheter
A tube inserted into the body to permit injections or withdrawal of fluids or to
keep a passageway open; often used to remove urine from a person who does not
have effective bladder control.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder
A reduced or impaired ability to discriminate, recognize, or comprehend auditory
information.
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Bodily system which is comprised of the brain and the spinal column; it is the
first of the nervous systems to develop in the fetus.
Cerebellum
The part of the human brain that receives sensory input and controls most of the
motor nervous system.
Cerebral Cortex
The outer layer of the brain that controls thinking, feeling, and voluntary
movement.
Cerebral Palsy
Motor impairment caused by brain damage, which is usually acquired during the
prenatal period or during birth; ranging from mild to severe, it is neither
curable nor progressive.
Cerebrum
The largest part of the human brain, which controls higher thought and language
functions.
Channel
The routes through which the content of communication flows; including both the
modalities through which impression is received and the form of expression
through which the response is made.
Child Psychiatrist
Physician who specializes in the behavior and emotional aspects of infants,
children, and adolescents and may prescribe medication as necessary.
Child Study Team (CST)
Group of professionals who work together to plan and implement an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) for a child with disabilities; the CST is composed of a
special education administrator and school district personnel representative of
the disciplines involved in the conduct of the evaluation (i.e. psychologist,
educational diagnostician).
Choral Response
Type of classroom interaction where a group responds orally in unison to a
teacher prompt.
Chorion Villus Sampling (CVS)
A procedure for prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities that can be
conducted during the first eight to ten weeks of pregnancy.
Clarification
A reciprocal teaching strategy in which students are prompted to identify the
major points of a reading selection as well as any concepts that may be
difficult.
Cleft Palate
A congenital, reparable split in the palate that affects one’s articulation and
speech.
Clinical Psychologist
Professional who provides psychological and intellectual assessment and
addresses issues relating to an individual’s mental and emotional health.
Cloze Procedure
A procedure for the assessment of reading comprehension that requires the
student to complete a sentence by filling in the blank or providing a meaningful
word for the blank.
Cochlea
The main receptor organ for hearing located in the inner ear.
Cognition
The act or process of knowing; the various thinking skills and processes are
considered cognitive skills.
Cognitive Ability
Intellectual ability; thinking and reasoning skills.
Cognitive Mode
A measure of cognitive style that is described in terms of the preferred method
of learning (i.e. visually-based, language-based, etc.).
Cognitive-Processing Perspectives
A set of perspectives that dominated the study of learning disabilities during
the 1960s and 1970s, which postulated that a mental processing function
(i.e. perception, memory) was the basis for all learning disabilities.
Cognitive Psychology
The study of learning processes such as memory, associative learning, and
intelligence.
Cognitive Style
A person’s typical approach to learning activities and problem solving.
Committee on Preschool Special Education
(CPSE)
A multidisciplinary team that oversees the identification, monitoring, review
and status of disabled preschool children under the age of five.
Committee on Special Education (CSE)
A multidisciplinary team that oversees the identification, monitoring, review
and status of all disabled children residing within the school district.
Community-Based Vocational Training
Educational training of students with disabilities that is based on activities
taking place in the community.
Comorbidity
The coexistence of two or more different disabilities in the same child.
Compensation
Process in which a person is taught how to cope with a learning problem;
emphasis is placed on using the individual’s strengths.
Complex Partial Seizure
A type of seizure in which an individual experiences a brief period of
inappropriate or random activity; also called a Psychomotor Seizure.
Compulsion
A persistent, repetitive act that the individual cannot consciously control.
Conceptualization
The process of forming a general idea from what is observed.
Conceptual Disorder
Disturbances in thinking, reasoning, generalizing, memorizing.
Conductive Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by obstructions in the outer or middle ear or malformations
that interfere with the conduction of sound waves to the inner ear.
Confabulation
The act of replacing memory loss by fantasy or by some reality that is not true
for the occasion.
Configuration
The visual shape or form of words.
Congenital
Any condition that is present at birth
Consequence
The event that follows a behavior and controls the likelihood of future
occurrences
of the behavior.
Consultation
Method of servicing children with learning disabilities in which the learning
disabilities specialist does not take direct responsibility for teaching the
child, but rather provides consultation to the mainstream teacher on educational
strategies for the child.
Continuum of Services
The range of different educational placement options that a school district can
use to serve children with disabilities; range from least restrictive to most
restrictive.
Cooperative Instruction
The use of instructional techniques that require students to cooperate with
each other in order to complete a project successfully.
Coordination
The harmonious functioning of muscles in the body to perform complex movements.
Cornea
The transparent part of the eye that admits light to the interior.
Cranial
Refers to the cranial nerves that control facial movements, such as eye
movement, and sensory organs.
Cretinism
A congenital condition associated with a thyroid deficiency that can result in
stunted physical growth and mental retardation.
Cri-du-chat Syndrome
A chromosomal abnormality resulting from deletion of material from the fifth
pair of chromosomes, typically resulting in severe retardation.
Criterion-Based Assessment
Detailed assessments of academic achievement with specific objectives keyed to
each question or set of questions.
Cross-Categorical
Special education classroom in which a teacher services children with a number
of different disabling conditions.
Cross-Class Projects
A type of interactive school learning project in which students in different
classes, different schools, and/or different countries cooperate to complete the
work.
Cross Dominance
A condition in which the preferred eye, hand, or foot are not on the same side
of the body; also called Mixed Dominance.
Cued Speech
A method of supplementing oral communication through eight different hand
signals in four different locations near the chin.
Cultural Pluralism
The value and practice of respecting, fostering, and encouraging the cultural
and ethnic differences that make up society.
Culture
The established knowledge, ideas, values, and skills shared by a society.
Cumulative Deficit
The tendency for a deficit between achievement and grade placement to accumulate
over the years of school such that secondary students with disabilities
demonstrate much larger deficits than students in the lower grades with the same
disabilities.
Cumulative File
General file maintained by the school for any child enrolled in the school; when
applicable, the file will contain evaluations conducted to determine whether a
child is handicapped, as well as any other information related to special
education placement. Parents have a right to inspect the file and have copies of
any information contained in it.
Curriculum-Based assessment
Evaluation of a student’s progress in terms of performance on the skills that
comprise the curriculum of the school district or state.
Cyanosis
A lack of oxygen in the blood characterized by a blue discoloration of the skin.
Cystic Fibrosis
An inherited disorder that causes a dysfunction of the pancreas, mucus,
salivary, and sweat glands; also causes severe respiratory difficulties.
*See
Reference Information
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