This dictionary is to give you a starting point in the world of special needs. You will certainly find much more detailed information elswhere - but hopefully these entries may help resolve some of the confusion.

ADD Attention Defecit Disorder

Also see hyperactivity

ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

Also see hyperactivity

Aphasia or Dysphasia.

Problems with the ordering of speech sounds, The Aphasic child can reverse sound in the spoken word, sometimes with funny results:
"Tot of pea" for "Pot of tea."
or Mrs. Malaprop's "allegory on the banks of the Nile."Slips of the tongue happen to everyone but they are noticeably more frequent for aphasics.
Stuttering is perhaps one form of aphasia but may be more 'nervous' than 'cerebral' in origin.

Asperger's Syndrome (sometimes seen spelt Asberger's)

A kind of "partial" autism where a person of adequate intelligence (as measured by a psychological test) has difficulties in appreciating others' points of view.

Auditory Memory

Short Term Auditory Memory the ability to remember a sequence of sounds can be a particular problem. In the WISC III the digit span test involves keeping information in short term auditory memory and repeating it back to the tester. This is one of the weak areas in the ACID profile - a sign of Dyslexia. Poor performance in digit span is often associated with poor performance in the Arithmetic tests during which the child may be attempting to store information in auditory short term memory. Children with short term auditory memory problems have difficulties in remembering a series of verbal instructions (they may only remember the last one). They may be easily distracted by any noise, hence their best work would be done in a quiet environment. In reading they would have difficulty keeping the sounds of letters, groups of letters, or words in their memory and so they will easily lose track when trying to sound out words or when trying to read a whole sentence.

Autism Autistic

A failure to recognise the existence, needs and emotions of others. Hence an autistic child is very "self centred". Their actions are not guided by what others might perceive of them. Autistics cannot cope with too much external stimulation. For example putting a hand on a shoulder while speaking to them may be too much stimulation. Autistics often show repetitive behaviours or become obsessed which may be a way of reducing external stimulation.

Code of Practice

If your child needs more help than your school can offer (ie a statement of special educational needs), the code of practice details the process. However, there are many pitfalls and you will certainly benefit from the support of an advisor or an organisation experienced in this area.

Copies of the Code of Practice can be downloaded from www.teachernet.gov.uk. This version dated 2001 has been superceded by 2002 version (with minor differences)

Cursive Handwriting

An essential requirement for unisensory learning. With cursive handwriting the eyes can be "switched off" using a blindfold and the hand movements required for correct letter formation (the kinesthetic trace) can be learnt or practiced. In true cursive writing the whole word can be written without taking pen from paper and each letter is formed differently. The "eye" is only required to keep the word on the line, to start the next word in the right place and to dot the i and cross the t.

In printed writing however, the "eye" is required to place each letter or even parts of the letter. This slows down the whole process and makes it very difficult for a "b" (a stick and a curve) to be distinguished form a "d" (a stick with a curve on the other side) or even a p and a q - see visual dysgraphia.

Dyscalculia

Dysgraphia

see Phonological Dysgraphia and Visual Dysgraphia

Dyslexia

Originally defined when people who had normal 'lexia' (language skills) lost them ('dys') as a result of brain injury. Then it was noticed that some children exhibited the same symptoms. For a while such children were referred to as 'developmental dyslexics' to show that they never acquired these language skills in the first place. There is a confusion of definitions for dyslexia.
Phonological Dyslexia, Visual Dyslexia
Article -Dyslexia: Why are we confused as to what it is and how to deal with it?)

Dyslexia is NOT the same as SpLD or Specific Learning Difficulties

Dyspraxia or "Clumsy Child Syndrome"

A general eye-hand coordination difficulty which may extend to other areas. Eye-hand coordination may be poor for catching a ball, threading a needle, using tools in craft lessons, hitting a ball with a bat etc. Eye-foot coordination may be poor for playing football, running gracefully etc. In swimming, a child with integration problems will be better if the eyes are "switched off" and the movements taught separately - the unisensory principle.

In addition to poor coordination of eye and limb, the child may be just poor in articulating movement or in remembering movements. For such children, skills are difficult to acquire by any methods.

Dysphasia

see Aphasia

Hyperactivity

Above normal levels of activity which may be associated with reckless behaviour, poor concentration, impulsive behaviour etc.

Kinesthetic Memory

In this context - the memory/co-ordination of the hand/arm movements required to write letters or words. Difficulties in this area are referred to as Visual Dysgraphia. It can also be seen in other fine motor control tasks such as drawing and painting. When this is a 'whole body' problem it is referred to as Dyspraxia.

Learning

Learning occurs via the senses. Traditionally these are sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, but also include the means by which bodily position and balance are perceived. In multisensory teaching the sound, sight and/or feel of the word (sand trays, or tracing the shape of wooden letters) are all delivered at the same time - in order to associate them together. However research into attention shows that in the learning phase only one sense is used and is only later in the consolidation phase that information form other senses and their memories are integrated. This has led to the development of the Unisensory© Approach.

Memory

Memory is organised equivalent to the senses. Traditionally these are sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, but also include the means by which bodily position and balance are perceived. This is complicated by the fact that senses have different modalities and so does memory. For example, people can hear a range of frequencies but they can pick out and concentrate on a particular range - such as listening to a conversation in spite of background noise.

Learning only occurs via one modality at a time. For some children the presence of other information from other senses can prevent learning. Sometimes even the presence of information from a different register within the same sense. For example letter shape can be taught by getting a child to trace over a letter with a finger (in a unisensory learning the child would be wearing a blindfold and nothing would be said during this). Sometimes the letters are cut out of sandpaper so that the child can feel them - but the rough feel of the sandpaper (one of the modalities within the sense of touch) can interfere with the learning of the kinesthetic trace (the 'internal' sense of touch that guides limb movement).
Visual memory
Auditory memory
Kinesthetic memory

Moderate (MLD) Learning Difficulties

These found in children who do not have adequate intelligence for normal learning. A MLD school is not appropriate for Specific Learning Difficulties

Morpheme

A meaning unit within a word which can be generalised to other words to help spelling e.g. -ed is a morpheme used to add the meaning of 'past'. But morphemes are not necessarily sound units or syllables. Even -ed is pronounced differently in these words - 'worked ('ed' sounds like a 't'), righted ('ed' sounds like 'id', killed (ed sounds like just a 'd'), Compare with syllable

Multisensory

A method of teaching trying to combine sound, sight, and hand movement in the initial learning act. Teaching Using Multisensory Methods. Compare with Unisensory

Phonics

A teaching method using the sounds of letters, then small groups of letters and then syllables to learn spelling patterns. The process seems straightforward but creates problems when it is assumed that this is the way all children learn to read. (Before the 1940s phonics was not the main method used in schools. In about 1900 the 'sentence' method appears to have been instrumental in the promotion of a high standard of literacy in schools.) This method strikes directly at the dyslexic's greatest area of difficulty (see phonological dyslexia). A dyslexic child having difficulty will be subject to 'overteaching' in order to learn the phonic rules they (supposedly) need for spelling. As a result they often apply phonic rules inappropriately e.g. spelling "visor" as "vizer". Particular problems occur with "-sion" and "-tion" which may be spelt as "-shun".
This is the dominant method (if not the only method) teachers and educational psychologists are taught to use in their training courses.
One alternative to phonics is sometimes referred to as the "real books" approach in this case the pupils acquire their language skills from being immersed in it. The problem with this is that there is no clear understanding of the processes of learning that are going on which makes it very difficult to help a child in difficulty.

Another alternative is the Icon Method

Phonological Dysgraphia

Writing words as a pure 'sound' spelling which is incorrect e.g. writing 'brought' as 'brot' or 'station' as 'stayshun'.

Phonological Dyslexia

A difficulty in mapping the sounds to printed letters and in blending words from the print.
E.g. spelling "cat" as '"kat"
"brought" as "brot",
"house" written as "hos", "hows" or "hosase"
"tractor" as "chaeter"
"television" as "tlivene".
Many children may do this in the early years of learning - if they are still doing this at 8, 9 or 10 years old then check for phonological dyslexia. Dyslexia

School Action & School Action Plus

The school-based stages described on the Code of Practice

Senses

see Learning

Severe (SLD) Learning Difficulties

These are found in children who do not have adequate intelligence for normal learning - more severe than Moderate Learning Difficulties

Specific Learning Difficulty or Difficulties (SpLD)

A child who has otherwise adequate intelligence for normal learning but one area (or more) is very weak. Dyslexia is one type of SpLD as is Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia.

Syllable

Each sound particle in a word ended by a lip movement. The easiest way to count the syllables in a word is to put your hand under your chin and count how many times it drops when you say a word.

Statement of Special Educational Needs

see Code of Practice

Unisensory ©

Psychological research into attention shows that the initial learning is by one sense only. This is unisensory.
For example, David Blunkett has learnt through one sense (kinesthetic) to produce a readable signature.
Dyspraxics may be able to learn to swim by getting them to close their eyes and then moving their limbs in the correct way for them. It is later that integration with what is learnt in other senses follows. So when they have memorised the movement they are then allowed to open their eyes. If they try to learn with their eyes open the conflict of eye input versus sense of movement of limbs causes complete confusion (and they drown!!!!). The same method can be used to teach the hand movements required for handwriting. Cursive Handwriting.

Visual Dysgraphia

Writing words which are correctly spelt apart from some letters being reversed e.g. 'drink' as 'brink' or the bizarre or abnormal and irregular formation of letters. They may sometimes look fine but they have been produced in an abnormal order of pen strokes.

Visual Dyslexia

Reading letters wrongly e.g. b for d, p for q, and much more rarely u for n and w for m or reading letter order wrongly e.g. reading 'vast' as 'vats' or even back to front e.g. 'was' as 'saw'. Many children may do this in the early years of learning - if they are still doing this at 8, 9 or 10 years old then check for visual dyslexia. Dyslexia

Visual Memory

WISC III The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

A closed test which can only be administered by a Chartered Psychologist which measures different aspects of intelligence. If particular areas are weak compared to the rest then this would indicate a Specific Learning Difficulty.

Tests like this are the most accurate means of measuring intelligence and can be used to predict what a child's literacy levels should be. The Word (Wechsler Objective Reading Dimensions) can then be used to measure actual literacy attainment. The difference between predicted and actual literacy levels can then be highlighted.