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
Scatter
Variability in an individual’s test scores.
Schizophrenia
A severe behavior disorder characterized by loss of contact with one’s
surroundings
and inappropriate affect and actions.
School Phobia
A form of separation anxiety in which the child’s concerns and anxieties are
centered on school issues and as a result he/she has an extreme fear about
coming to school.
School Psychologist
A person who specializes in problems manifested in and associated with
educational systems and who uses psychological concepts and methods in programs
which attempt to improve learning conditions for students.
School Social Worker
Professional who provides individual and group counseling, consultation to
teachers, and other services which help students cope with their disabilities;
in addition, these professionals also collaborate with community agencies and
provide case management for students and families requiring multiple services.
Sclera
The tough white outer layer of the eyeball that protects as well as holds the
eye’s contents in place.
Scoliosis
A weakness of the muscles that results in a serious abnormal curvature of the
spine. This condition may be corrected with surgery or a brace.
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome
An oversensitivity to certain frequencies and wavelengths of white light that
affect the way printed materials are perceived visually.
Screening
A procedure in which groups of children are examined and/or tested in an effort
to identify children who are most likely to have a disability; identified
children are then referred for more intensive examination and assessment.
Section 504
Section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that guarantees the civil rights
of disabled children and adults. It also applies to the provision of services
for children whose disability is not severe enough to warrant classification,
but could benefit from supportive services and classroom modifications.
Selective Attention
The ability to selectively attend, through conscious effort, to a particular
aspect of a stimulus under discussion.
Selective Mutism
Speaking normally in some settings or situations and not speaking in others.
Self-Concept
The perception that one has of oneself.
Self-Contained Classroom
A special classroom, usually located within a regular public school building,
that includes only exceptional children; these students typically spend the
majority of their day in the self-contained classroom.
Self-Monitoring
A metacognitive instructional technique that requires children to repeatedly
ask themselves whether they were acting appropriately in order to increase the
frequency of the behavior; this method can be used to improve attention span,
hyperactivity, etc.
Self-Stimulatory Behavior
The repetitive movement of one’s body or of objects; typically observed in
students with developmental disabilities. Also called Stereotypy.
Semantics
The meaning or understanding given to oral or written language.
Semicircular Canals
The three canals within the middle ear that are responsible for maintaining
balance.
Sensorimotor
Relationship between sensation and movement.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
A hearing loss caused by damage to the auditory nerve or the inner ear.
Sensory Acuity
The ability to respond to sensation at normal levels of intensity.
Sequence
The detail of information in its accustomed order.
Sequential Memory
The ability to recall a series of information in proper order.
Severe Disabilities
Term used to refer to challenges faced by individuals with severe and profound
cognitive impairment, autism, and/or physical/sensory impairments combined with
marked developmental delay.
Shaping
A process for teaching new behavior through reinforcement of successive
approximations of targeted performance.
Sheltered Workshops
A transitional or long-term work environment for disabled individuals who
cannot, or who are preparing for, work in a regular setting; within this
setting, the individual can learn to perform meaningful, productive tasks and
receive payment.
Short-Term Memory
The ability to hold a stimulus in brief memory capacity; generally measured in
less than ten seconds.
Shunt
Tube that diverts fluid from one part of the body to another; often implanted in
people with hydrocephalus to remove extra cerebrospinal fluid from the head and
send it directly into the heart or intestines.
Sight Words
Words a child can recognize on sight without aid of phonics or other word-attack
skills; also see Dolch Sight Words.
Sight Word Approach
An approach to reading instruction in which students are trained to recognize
whole words in context without regard to individual letter sounds.
Simple Partial Seizure
A type of seizure characterized by sudden jerking motions with no loss of
consciousness;
may occur weekly, monthly, or only once or twice a year.
Slingerland Method
A highly structured, multisensory teaching method designed for group instruction
of persons with specific learning disabilities; named for its developer, Beth
Slingerland.
Snellen Chart
A chart used to test visual acuity; developed by a Dutch ophthalmologist in
1862 and still used today.
Social Competence
The interaction, in an individual, between self-concept, positive relationships
with others, the absence of maladaptive behaviors, and effective social skills
that indicate one’s overall social aptitude.
Social Isolation
The level of active peer rejection or dislike.
Social Perceptions
The ability to interpret stimuli in the social environment and appropriately
relate such interpretations to social situations.
Social Rejection
The active social rejection of students, generally based on some offensive
behavior
or extremely unpleasant style of social interaction.
Social Skills
Skills such as listening, conversation, and interpretation of nonverbal cues
that facilitate social interactions.
Social Validity
A desirable characteristic of the objectives, procedures, and results of
intervention, indicating their appropriateness for the learner.
Socialized Aggression
A group of behavior disorders, including truancy, gang membership, theft, and
delinquency.
Socio-Cultural
Combined social and cultural factors as they affect the development of a child
in all areas of life.
Soft Neurological Signs
Neurological abnormalities that are mild or slight and difficult to detect, as
contrasted with the gross or obvious neurological abnormalities.
Sound Blending
The ability to combine smoothly all the sounds or parts of a word into the
whole.
Spasticity
A type of cerebral palsy characterized by tense, contracted muscles.
Spatial Orientation
The understanding of visual or auditory perceptions of distance and objects in
relationship to one another in space.
Spatial Relationships
The ability to perceive the relationships between oneself and an object or the
relationships between more than one object.
Special Education
Instruction specifically designed for handicapped children characterized by the
systematic use of research-based instructional methods, the application of
which is guided by frequent measures of student performance.
Specific Language Disability
Difficulty in some aspect of learning how to read, write, spell, or speak; also
referred to as Specific Language Learning Disability.
Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
Difficulty in a specific area of learning, as contrasted with a general learning
disability (difficulty in all areas of learning); see Learning Disability.
Speech
A system of using breath and muscles to create specific sounds for
communicating.
Speech and Language Specialist
Professional that identifies and provides services for children with
articulation problems, as well as expressive and/or receptive language problems.
Speech Audiometry
Tests a person’s detection and understanding of speech by presenting a list of
two-syllable words at different decibel (sound volume) levels.
Speech Reception Threshold (SRT)
The decibel (sound volume) level at which an individual can understand half of
the words during a speech audiometry test; the SRT is measured and recorded for
each ear.
Speechreading
Process of understanding a spoken message by observing the speaker’s lips in
combination with information gained from facial expressions, gestures, and the
context or situation.
Spina Bifida
A congenital malformation of the spine in which the vertebrae that normally
protect the spine do not develop fully; may involve loss of sensation and severe
muscle weakness in the lower part of the body.
Spina Bifida Occulta
A type of spina bifida that usually does not cause serious disability. Although
the vertebrae do not close, there is no protrusion of the spinal cord and
membranes.
Splinter Skills
The tendency of students with learning disabilities to have specific skills that
are dramatically more advanced than their delayed skills.
Standard Celeration Chart
Chart for graphically displaying a student’s learning progress from day to day
in terms of changes in the frequency of correct and incorrect responses per
minute.
Standard Deviation
A descriptive statistic that shows the average amount of variability among a set
of scores.
Standard-Score Discrepancy
The calculation of an ability-achievement discrepancy based on intelligence
tests and achievement tests that have a common calculation for obtaining the
standard scores; this is typically used to diagnose a learning disability.
Standardized Test
A test that compares a child’s performance with the performance of a large group
of similar children; also called a Norm-Referenced Test.
State Anxiety
Anxiety that is experienced as a result of exposure to a particular environment.
Stereotype
An overgeneralized or inaccurate attitude held toward all members of a
particular group, on the basis of a common characteristic such as age, sex,
race, or disability.
Stereotypy (Stereotypic Behavior)
See Self-Stimulatory Behavior
Stimulus Control
Occurs when a behavior is emitted more often in the presence of a particular
stimulus than it is in the absence of that stimulus.
Strabismus
A condition in which one eye cannot attain binocular vision with the other eye
because of imbalanced muscles.
Structure
The consistent use of rules, limits, and routines.
Structural Analysis
Using syllabication, prefix, suffix, and root word clues to read or spell a
word.
Stuttering
A complex fluency disorder of speech, affecting the smooth flow of words; may
involve repetition of sounds or words, prolonged sounds, facial grimaces,
muscle tension, and other physical behaviors.
Substitution
In reading, spelling, or math, the interchanging of a given letter, number, or
word for another.
Supported Employment
Providing ongoing, individualized supports to persons with disabilities to help
them find, learn, and maintain paid employment at regular work sites in the
community.
Suppression
The act of consciously inhibiting an impulse, affect, or idea.
Surrogate Parent
A person other than the child’s natural parent who has legal responsibility for
the child’s care and welfare.
Survival Skills
Minimal skills needed for a student to cope with everyday society.
Symptom
Any sign, physical or mental, that identifies something an underlying condition.
Syntax
The system of rules governing the meaningful arrangement of words in a
language.
Syndrome
A set of symptoms that indicate a specific disorder.
Systematic Replication
A strategy for extending and determining the generality of research findings by
changing one or more variables from a previous study to see if similar results
can be obtained.
*See
Reference Information
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