Autism Glossary

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Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS): A disorder that has some similarities to childhood disintegrative disorder. The child loses the ability to understand and use spoken language (after previously having normal abilities) and usually experiences seizures. Children with LKS may regain all or some of their language skills over time and become seizure free.

Language: A system of symbols (spoken, written, signed) used to communicate. See Expressive Language; Receptive Language.

Language Disorder: Difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.

Language impairment: a condition marked by difficulty in understanding and/or using language.

LEA: See Local Education Agency.

Learned Helplessness: A pervasive lack of self-sufficiency and self-respect that results from care-giving without attention to teaching functional life skills.

Learning Disability or Learning Disabled (LD): Learning difficulties in one or more specific areas of study (such as reading, spelling, or math) that are greater than would be expected based on the individual's overall intelligence; this contrasts with mental retardation, where abilities are significantly below average in all areas. (To make matters confusing, in some countries such as England, the preferred term for mental retardation is learning disability.)

Having a compromised learning ability, manifested by a severe discrepancy between the student's intellectual ability and his or her level of academic achievement in one or more of the following areas: oral expression, listening, reading and writing comprehension, and mathematics calculation or reasoning.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): The educational setting that enables a child with disabilities to have the maximum contact with typically developing children while allowing him to make appropriate progress in the curriculum. 

An educational term that refers to the classroom or environment a student attends daily that provides the least amount of restriction to ensure safety and the most of social and educational interaction.