GT-Special Acronyms

GT-Special Acronyms

This list of acronyms is applicable to "twice exceptional" children who face learning disabilities in addition to being gifted. For a more general list of terms and acronyms dealing with giftedness, check out our GT Glossary Page. A list of commonly used Internet Slang Abbreviations is at the bottom of this page.

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

5-HTP

Serotonin

ABA

Applied Behavioral Analysis

ABI

Adaptive Behavior Inventory

ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act (Section 504)

ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder

AD/HD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

AIT

Auditory Integration Therapy

Advanced Placement - College-level courses for high school students.

APD

Auditory Processing Disorder

APE

Adaptive Physical Education

ARD

Admission, Review, Dismissal (used in Texas)

Asperger Syndrome

ASD

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

BBRS

Burks' Behavior Rating Scale

Behavioral Disorder

BD/ED

Behavior Disordered / Emotionally Disturbed

BIP

Behavior Intervention Plan

BOE

Board of Education

Bi-Polar (formerly manic-depressive)

Chronological Age

CAPD

Central Auditory Processing Disorder

CARS

Childhoold Autism Rating Scale (diagnostic and evaluation tool)

Conduct Disorder

CNS

Central Nervous System

COTA

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant

Cerebral Palsy

CPS

Child Protective Services

CSE

Committee on Special Education (called "MDT" in some states)

CST

Child Study Team

CTY

Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University with Summer Programs, Family Academic Programs, Distance Education, and other resources to help gifted children.

CTD

Center For Talent Development at Northwestern University- Midwest Talent Search for grades 5-9, Saturday Enrichment Programs, Conferences and more - Evanston, IL.

CVI

Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment

DAS

Differential Abilities Scales

DCD

Development Coordination Disorder (DSM IV 315.4)

DHS

Department of Human Services

DOE

Department of Education

DRA

Developmental Reading Assessment

DSI

Sensory Integration Dysfunction, also referred to as SID

DSM-IV

Diagnostic Statistical Manual (4th Edition)

DX or Dx

Diagnosis

ECE

Early Childhood Education

ECG

Electrocardiogram

Emotionally Disturbed

EEG

ElectroEncephaloGram (basically, a graph of brain-wave activity)

EF/EFD

Executive Function/Executive Function Disorder

Extremely gifted (in the Moderately Gifted - Highly Gifted - Extremely Gifted - Profoundly Gifted spectrum)

Early Intervention

EKG

ElectroCardioGram (a graph of the heart's electrical activity)

EOBP

Early Onset Bipolar Disorder (pediatric bipolar disorder)

EPGY

Educational Program for Gifted Youth, distance learning program administered by Stanford University for grades K-college in mathematics, physics, and expository writing.

ESD

Educational Service District

ESE

Exceptional Student Education (special education)

ESL

English as a Second Language

ESY

Extended School Year

FAPE

Free Appropriate Public Education

FAS

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

FERPA

Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act

FIQ

Full Scale IQ (not a meaningful number if there's a large discrepancy between the Performance and verbal IQs)

FOIA

Freedom Of Information Act

GAF

Global Assessment of Functioning scale (used in psychiatric evals to assess level of functioning)

GDC

Gifted Development Center

HFA

High Functioning Autism (defined as autism occurring without mental retardation)

Highly Gifted (in the Moderately Gifted - Highly Gifted - Extremely Gifted - Profoundly Gifted spectrum)

Hearing Impaired

HTP/5htp

Serotonin

IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

ICDM

Similar to the DSM-IV, a book used by health insurers for billing purposes to assign codes to medical diagnoses

IDEA

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, latest version is IDEA 2004

IEE

Independent Educational Evaluation

IEP

Individualized Education Plan

-J-

-K-

Learning Disability

LEA

Local Education Agency

LRE

Least Restrictive Environment

M-D

Manic Depression (bipolar disorder)

MDD

Major Depressive Disorder

MDT

Multi-Disciplinary Team (called "CSE" in some states)

Moderately Gifted (in the Moderately Gifted - Highly Gifted - Extremely Gifted - Profoundly Gifted spectrum)

MPD

Multiple Personality Disorder

MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

NAMI

National Association for the Mentally Ill

NICHCY

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

NIH

National Institutes of Health

NIMH

National Institute of Mental Health

NOD

Not Otherwise Diagnosed

NOS

"Not Otherwise Specified," often seen in PDD-NOS

Neurotypical/Neurologically Typical

NLD or NVLD

Non-Verbal Learning Disability

OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCR

Office of Civil Rights

ODD

Oppositional-Defiant Disorder

OHI

Otherwise Health Impaired

OSEP

Office of Special Education Programs

OSERS

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapy

OVR

Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

P&A

Protection & Advocacy, a U.S. network of Congressionally mandated, legally based disability rights agencies

PDD

Pervasive Developmental Disorder

pdoc

Psychiatrist

PDR

Physician's Desk Reference (contains detailed information on medications)

PET

Positron Emission Tomography

Profoundly gifted (in the Moderately Gifted - Highly Gifted - Extremely Gifted - Profoundly Gifted spectrum)

PIQ

Performance IQ

PLEP

Present Levels of Educational Performance

PLOP

Present Levels of Performance

Physical Therapist/Physical Therapy

PTI

Parent Training and Information center

PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

-Q-

Prescription

SAD

Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka "Winter Depression")

SB-LM

Stanford-Binet, Form L-M (IQ test)

School District

SEA

State Education Agency

SED

Severe Emotional Disorder/Severely Emotionally Disturbed

SELPA

Special Education Local Plan Area

Sensory Integration

SID

Sensory Integration Dysfunction, also referred to as DSI

SIPT

Sensory Integration and Praxis Text

SLD

Specific Learning Disability

SLP

Speech and Language Pathologist (speech therapist)

Sped

Special Education

SSD

Special School District

SSRI

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (class of antidepressant medications that includes Prozac, Zoloft, Praxil, Luvox)

tdoc

Therapist

TEACCH

Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Disorders

TIP

The Duke University Talent Identification Program identifies gifted children and provides resources to nurture their development.

Tourette Syndrome

-U-

-V-

VIQ

Verbal IQ

Visual Impairment/Visually Impaired

WAIS

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (IQ test)

WIAT

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

WISC

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (IQ test)

WJ-R

Woodcock-Johnson Revised (a psycho-educational test, has both IQ and achievement components)

WPPSI

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale in Intelligence (IQ test)

-X-

-Y-

-Z-

In addition to the above list, there's an excellent Dictionary for Parents of Children with Disabilities (in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat to read it) at University of South Dakota's Center for Disabilities website. There's a shorter Glossary and Guide to Acronyms (also in PDF) by Leslie Packer, Ph.D.

A Guide to Some Internet Slang

This list is an edited subset of the various Internet Slang Terms found on the Wikipedia site, and commonly used on the list.

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

{{{ }}}

Hugs

AFAIK

As far as I know

BTDT

Been there, done that

BTW

By the way

-C-

Dear (or dratted, depending on mood) daughter

Dear (or dratted, depending on mood) husband

Dear (or dratted, depending on mood) son

Dear (or dratted, depending on mood) wife

-E-

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - a list of frequently-asked questions with their answers.

FIL

Father-in-law

FWIW

For what it's worth

<g>

Grin

HTH

Hope this helps

IANAL

I am not a lawyer (usually used before a non-lawyer gives legal advice, as a disclaimer.)

IIRC

If I recall correctly/If I remember correctly

IME

In my experience

IMO

In my opinion

IMHO

In my humble opinion

IMNSHO

In my not so humble opinion

IOW

In other words

IRL

In real life

IYKWIM

If you know what I mean

JME

Just my experience

JMO

Just my opinion

Laughing out loud

Mother-in-Law

Oh my G*d/goodness!

Original poster

Off-topic

OTC

Over the counter (items that can be bought without a prescription)

OTOH

On the other hand

PITA

Pain in the [rear end]

POV

Point of view

-Q-

Real life (as opposed to on-line)

ROFL/ ROTFL

Rolling on the floor laughing.

ROFLOL

rolling on floor laughing out loud

<s>

smile

Thanks in advance

Very wicked grin

Wicked grin

WRT, w/rt

With respect to, with regard to...

-X-

YMMV

Your mileage may vary (used as a disclaimer to indicate that the preceding statement is your experience and what works for you or your child may not work for someone else.)

-Z-

Please send any additions or corrections to mwarshaw@alum.mit.edu

Modified March 4, 1999 by Valerie Bock, and again on March 4, 2006 by Sarah Wayland