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A B
C D E
F G H
I J K
L M N
O P Q
R S T
U V W
X Y Z
Panic Attack
A serious episode of anxiety in which the individual experiences a variety of
symptoms including palpitations, dizziness, nausea, chest pains, trembling, fear
of dying, and fear of losing control; these symptoms are not the result of any
medical cause.
Paralysis
An impairment to or a loss of voluntary movement or sensation.
Paranoia
A personality disorder in which the individual exhibits extreme suspiciousness
of the motives of others.
Paraplegia
Paralysis of the lower part of the body, including both legs; usually results
from injury to, or disease of, the spinal cord.
Paraprofessional
Trained classroom aide who assists a teacher; may include parents.
Parasuicide
Actual suicide attempts that are unsuccessful.
Parietal Lobe
The portion of each hemisphere of the cerebrum that controls tactile sensations
from various parts of the body; located in the top rear of the head, between the
frontal and occipital lobes.
Partial Participation
Teaching approach that acknowledges that even though an individual with severe
disabilities may not be able to independently perform all the steps of a given
task or activity, he/she can often be taught to do selected components or an
adapted version of the task.
Pediatrician
Physician that provides medical services to infants, children, and adolescents;
trained in overall growth and development of these individuals and their motor,
sensory, and behavioral development.
Peer Nomination
A strategy of rating social competence that depends on the ratings of peers.
Peer Tutoring
A structured instructional system in which peers instruct each other in academic skills.
Perceptual Abilities
The abilities to process, organize, and interpret the information obtained by
the five senses.
Perceptual Impairment
A term formerly used to describe some conditions now included under the term
"specific learning disabilities"; refers to a difficulty in the
ability to process and organize as well as interpret information through the
senses.
Perceptual-Motor
Muscle activity resulting from information received through the senses.
Perceptual Speed
The speed of a specific sense in monitoring a stimulus that it receives,
determining the meaning of the stimulus, and conveying the perceived information
to the brain whereby generating a performed response.
Performance-Based Assessment
An assessment model that involves demonstration of knowledge and skills,
requiring students to think through and construct responses; these assessments
are used to examine a student’s ability to apply knowledge to a given situation.
Perinatal
Occurring at or immediately after birth.
Peripheral Vision
Vision at the outer limits of the field of vision.
Perseveration
The repeating of words, motions, or tasks.
Personality Disorder
A group of behavior disorders, including social withdrawal, anxiety, depression,
feelings of inferiority, guilt, shyness, and unhappiness.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder
(PDD)
Pervasive Developmental Disorders are characterized by severe and pervasive
impairment in several areas of development: reciprocal social interaction
skills, communication skills, or the presence of stereotyped behavior,
interests, and activities. The qualitative impairments that define these
conditions are distinctly deviant relative to the individual’s developmental
level or mental age. The term PDD encompasses Autistic disorder, Rett’s
Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Pervasive
Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. These disorders are usually
evident in the first years of life and are often associated with some degree of
mental retardation. PDD are sometimes observed with a diverse group of other
general medical conditions (e.g., chromosomal abnormalities, congenital
infections, structural abnormalities of the central nervous system).
Pervasive Developmental
Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
A severe and pervasive impairment in the development of reciprocal social
interaction or verbal and nonverbal communication skills, or when stereotyped
behavior, interests, and activities are present, but the criteria are not met
for a specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, Schizotypal
Personality Disorder, or Avoidant Personality Disorder. This category includes atypical
autism: presentations that do not meet the criteria for Autistic Disorder
because of late age at onset, atypical symptomatology, or subthreshold
symptomatology.
PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography Scan)
The use of radioactive isotopes injected into the brain through the bloodstream
while the flow of isotopes is recorded to investigate brain function.
Petit Mal Seizure
See Absence Seizure.
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
An inherited metabolic disease that can cause severe retardation; can now be
detected at birth and the detrimental effects prevented with a special diet.
Phobia
An intense irrational fear, usually acquired through conditioning to an
unpleasant object or event.
Phonemes
The smallest individual sounds that carry meaning; typically represented by
individual letters, digraphs, diphthongs, etc.
Phonics
Method of teaching literacy skills in which emphasis is placed on learning the
sounds which individual and various combinations of letters make in a word; the
student is instructed to sound out individual letters or letter combinations and
blend them to form a word.
Photophobia
Extreme sensitivity of the eyes to light; occurs most notably in albino
children.
Physical Therapist (PT)
A professional trained to help people with disabilities develop and maintain
muscular and orthopedic capability and make correct and useful movement.
Pidgin Sign English (PSE)
A visual-gestural language with its own rules of syntax, semantics and
pragmatics; the standard form of sign language used in the United Kingdom.
Play Audiometry
A method of assessing a child’s hearing ability by teaching the child to perform
simple but distinct activities.
Portfolio Assessment
A method of assessment involving a collection of student work (artifacts) that
demonstrates mastery of a set of skills and/or applied knowledge.
Positive Reinforcement
The implementation of a favorable consequence contingent on a specified behavior
that tends to increase the likelihood of future occurrences of that behavior.
Postlingual
Occurring after the development of language; usually used to classify hearing
losses that begin after a person has learned to speak.
Postnatal
Occurring after birth.
Prader-Willi Syndrome
A condition linked to chromosomal abnormality that is characterized by delays
in motor development, mild to moderate mental retardation, hypogenital
development, an insatiable appetite that often results in obesity, and small
features and stature.
Pragmatics
Study of the rules that govern how language is used in a communication context.
Precision Teaching
An instructional approach that involves: specifying the skills to be learned,
measuring the initial fluency with which the student can perform those skills,
establishing a goal for the child’s improvement, using daily measurement to
monitor progress made under an instructional program, charting the results of
those measurements, and changing the program if progress is not adequate.
Prelingual
Describes a hearing impairment acquired before the development of speech and
language.
Prenatal
Occurring before birth.
Prenatal asphyxia
A lack of oxygen during the birth process usually caused by interruption of
respiration; can cause unconsciousness and/or brain damage.
Present Level of Educational Performance (PLEP)
A statement summarizing a student’s accomplishments, knowledge and skills within
an academic area; must be included in the IEP as mandated by P.L. 94-142.
Prevalence
The number of people who have a certain condition at any given time.
Professional Improvement Plan (PIP)
A detailed plan listing professional activities that will be undertaken to
improve oneself as a professional teacher.
Program Specialist
Specialist with expertise in at least one specific disabling condition who
provides services of consultation, staff development, and program evaluation.
Projection
The disguising of a source of conflict by displacing one’s own motives to
someone else.
Projective Tests
Psychological tests that require a person to respond to a standardized task or
set of stimuli; responses are believed to be a projection of the test taker’s
personality and are scored according to the given test’s scoring manual to
produce a personality profile.
Prosthesis
Any device used to replace a missing or impaired body part.
Psychiatrist
A physician who treats behavioral or emotional problems; as an MD, the physician
may prescribe pharmacological interventions for specific conditions.
Psychological Examination
An evaluation by a certified school or clinical psychologist of the intellectual
and behavioral characteristics of a person.
Psychomotor
Pertaining to the motor effects of psychological processes (sensory or
perceptual motor coordination).
Psychomotor Seizure
See Complex Partial Seizure.
Psychosis
A serious mental disorder in which the individual has difficulty differentiating
between fantasy and reality.
Psychosocial Disadvantage
Category of causation for mental retardation that requires evidence of
subaverage intellectual functioning in at least one parent and, when
applicable, one or more siblings; often used synonymously with Cultural-Familial
Retardation.
Public Law (P.L.) 94-142
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act that became federal law in 1975.
P.L. 94-142 requires each state to provide free and appropriate public education
to all handicapped children from birth through age 21. The law also requires
that an Individualized Education Program be prepared for each handicapped child,
that parents must have access to their child’s school records, and are entitled
to a due process hearing if they are dissatisfied with the educational plan.
Pupil
The circular hole in the center of the iris of the eye, which contracts and
expands to let light pass through.
Pupils with Handicapping Conditions (PHC)
Children classified as disabled by the Committee on Special Education.
Pupils with Special Educational Needs (PSEN)
Children defined as having math and reading achievement lower than the
twenty-third percentile and requiring remediation; these students are generally
not considered disabled but are entitled to assistance to elevate their academic
levels.
*See
Reference Information
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