Special Education Acronyms

Parents are often overwhelmed by the number of acronyms that are used in special education. Below are some of the most frequently used acronyms.

• Adaptive Behavior-AB
• Applied Behavioral Analysis-ABA
• American Disability Act-ADA
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-ADHD
• APE -Adapted Physical Education
• Autism Spectrum Disorder-ASD
• Assistive Technology-AT
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst-BCBA
• Community-Based Instruction-CBI
• Curriculum-Based Measurement CBS
• Code of Federal Regulations-CFR
• Child Protective Services-CPS
• Career Technical Education-CTE
• Deaf/Blind-DB
• Early Childhood Special Education-ECSE
• Emotionally Disturbed-ED
• Extended School Year-ESY
• Free Appropriate Public Education-FAPE
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act-FERPA
• Full-Time Equivalent-FTE
• Intellectual Disability-ID
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act-IDEIA
• Independent Education Evaluation-IEE
• Individualized Education Program IEP
• Individualized Family Service Plan-IFSP
• Local Educational Agency-LEA
• Limited English Proficient-LEP
• Least Restrictive Environment-LRE
• Memorandum of Understanding-MOU
• No Child Left Behind-NCLB
• Office of Administrative Hearings-OAH
• Office of Civil Rights-OCR
• Other Health Impaired-OHI
• Orthopedically Impaired-OP
• Office of Special Education Programs-OSEP
• Occupational Therapy-OT
• Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports-PBIS
• Physical Therapy-PT
• Prior Written Notice-PWN
• Related Services-RS
• Response to Intervention-RTI
• Speech Impairment-SI
• Speech Language Pathologist-SLP
• Traumatic Brain Injury-TBI
• Universal Design for Learning-UDL
• United States Department of Education-USDE
• Visually Impaired-VI