Accommodations - Supports or services provided to help a student access the general curriculum and validly demonstrate learning.

Achievement/ability discrepancy - A criterion often used to determine whether a child has a learning disability. It asks, is the child working up to expectations? One 'formula' for determining the presence of a discrepancy has been promulgated by the Illinois State Board of Education. Some school districts have developed their own.

Adaptations - Any procedure intended to meet an educational situation with respect to individual differences in ability or purpose.

Adaptive behavior - A sort of 'practical intelligence.' It is usually measured by scales that identify how well a person manages within his or her own environment.

Administrative Claiming - Provides reimbursement to schools for costs associated with performing medically-related administrative activities necessary to support Medicaid-funded health services .

Advocate - An individual who is not an attorney, but who assists parents and children in their dealings with school districts regarding the children's special education programs.

Affective - Refers to emotions and attitudes.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC): A state-based federal assistance program that provided cash payments to needy children (and their caretakers), who met certain income requirements. AFDC has now been replaced by a different block grant program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).

All Kids - All Kids, the Illinois S-CHIP program, offers health care coverage to children and pregnant women and helps in paying premiums of employer sponsored or private insurance plans. Services for kids include doctor and nursing care, immunizations and preventive care, hospital and clinic care, laboratory test and X-rays, prescription drugs, medical equipment and supplies, medical transportation, dental care, eye care, psychiatric care, podiatry, chiropractic care, physical therapy, mental health and substance abuse services. Pregnant women receive prenatal care and other medical services. All Kids services are available at no cost or at low cost and are determined by family income.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - This law follows the principles established under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It provides protection from discrimination of persons with disabilities and allows claims for compensatory and punitive damages.

Annual goal - A statement in a student's IEP that describes what a child with a disability can reasonably be expected to accomplish within a 12-month period in the student's special education program. There should be a direct relationship between the annual goals and the present levels of educational performance.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) - An area of clinical practice that attempts to compensate (either temporarily or permanently) for impairment and disability patterns of individuals with severe expressive communication disorders.

Autism - A category for eligibility for special education services. Autism is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three.

Beneficiary: A person who is eligible for or receiving benefits under an insurance policy or plan.

Board of Education v. Rowley - Legal case that helped to define how a special education program may be determined to be 'appropriate.'

Brain injury - A disability category added for eligibility under IDEA.

Case study evaluation - A set of procedures specified within IDEA and expanded greatly in Illinois under 23 IAC 226.535 to determine possible special education eligibility.

Categorical placement - Special education programs in which students are grouped on the basis of their IDEA eligibility category. Alternative models include 'non-categorical' placement and 'cross-categorical' placement.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): Formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the federal agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP).

Chapter 100 - Department of Healthcare and Family Services policy and procedures handbook for all Medicaid providers.

Chapter U-200 - Department of Healthcare and Family Services policy and procedures handbook, specifically written to assist LEAs with the School-Based Health Services Fee-For-Service program.

Child Find - A public school program that locates and identifies children and young adults from two through 21 years of age who may be in need of special education and related services.

Code of Federal Regulations - The Federal regulations of the Medicaid program, derived from Title XIX of the Social Security Act, found primarily under Public Health, Volume 42.

Cognitive - Refers to reasoning or intellectual capacity.

Co-insurance - The percentage of a medical bill that a patient must pay that is not covered by a health policy.

Competencies - A learned student performance statement which can be accurately repeated and measured. Competencies function as the basis for building the instructional program.

Continuum of services - The range of services which must be available to the students of a school district so that they may be served in the least restrictive environment.

Cooperative - Voluntary association of school districts that band together to provide special education services using a shared administrative structure.

Co-payment - The part of the medical bill that is not covered by a patient's health insurance policy and must be paid by the patient. It is usually a flat amount, such as $10 for an office visit.

Cost Allocation Plan - A narrative description of the procedures that will be used in identifying, measuring, and allocating administrative costs to the programs or functions administered or supervised by a unit of government.

Counseling services - A short-term structured intervention with specific aims and objectives to promote that student's social, emotional, and academic growth within the school environment.

Curriculum - The subject matter that is to be learned. A curriculum is usually described in terms of its scope and sequence.

Curriculum-based assessment - A methodology of increasing importance in special education in which a child's progress in the curriculum is measured at frequent intervals