Autism Glossary

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S

Safety Net Approach: The continuing commitment to provide ongoing vocational training to individuals with disabilities as needed.

Savant: A person with autism who has unusual and brilliant intelligence.  Appears in approximately 10 percent of people with autism.

Schizophrenia. See Childhood Schizophrenia.

Schizotypal Personality Disorder: A personality disorder (usually seen in adults) in which there is discomfort with close personal relationships and often eccentric behavior. Odd beliefs and thinking may be present. This is sometimes confused with Asperger's disorder.

Screening: Brief assessments which identify children who may require comprehensive evaluation.

Screening Test: A test given to groups of children intended to determine which children need further assessment.

SEA: See State Education Agency

Secretin: A naturally occurring hormone that aids in digestion; some people have theorized that a deficiency of secretin plays a role in causing symptoms of autism.

Sedation: The process of reducing anxiety, nervousness, or wakefulness with medication; it may or may not involve loss of consciousness.

SEIT (Special Education Itinerant Teacher): Pronounced see-it) An aide who accompanies a child in the classroom to support the child's individual needs in areas such as social skills and academic skills.  Also referred to as a shadow.

Seizure: A change in consciousness or behavior or involuntary movement produced by abnormal electrical discharges in nerve cells in the brain.

Selective Mutism: A disorder characterized by failure to speak in specific situations despite speaking in other situations.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI): A medication used for treating depression or anxiety that works by preventing serotonin produced in the brain from being reabsorbed quickly, thus increasing the amount of serotonin available in the brain.

A medication used for depression, anxiety, and the control of obsessive-compulsive behaviors, including Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Luvox.

Self-contained: In reference to special education, it refers to schools or classrooms containing only a special-needs population.

Self-Contained Class: Classroom specifically designed for special education.

Self-Help: The ability to take care of oneself, employing such skills as eating, dressing, bathing, and cleaning.  The process should begin early with awareness, responsiveness, and participation in self-help activities.

Self-Regulation: The capacity to remain organized in the face of external or internal stimulation.

Self-Stimulation (or Self-Stimulatory Behavior): The act of providing physical, visual, or auditory stimulation for oneself; rocking back and forth and hand flapping are examples.

Actions used solely to stimulate one's own senses, such as body rocking and finger flicking.  theories suggest that "self-stims" serve to reduce sensory overload and increase concentration.  sometimes self-stimulatory behavior can create an arousal state.  Other examples include hand flapping, toe walking, spinning, and echolalia.  Often referred to as stimming.

The act of providing physical, visual, or auditory, stimulation for oneself; rocking back and forth and hand flapping are examples.

Sensorimotor: Voluntary movement and senses like sight touch and hearing.  Pertaining to brain activity other than automatic functions (respiration, circulation, sleep) or cognition.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Hearing loss caused by damage to the inner ear or to the auditory nerve, which transmits sounds to the brain.

Sensory: Relating to the senses.

Sensory Ability: The ability to process sensations, such as touch, sound, light, smell, and movement.

Sensory Defensiveness: Involves a group of symptoms that signal an overreaction to stimuli.  These include patterns of avoidance, sensory seeking, fear, anxiety, and even aggression.

Sensory Integration: The ability to receive input from the senses, to organize it into a meaningful message, and to act on it.

Sensory Integration Therapy: Treatment focused on improving the way the brain processes and organizes the senses.  Therapy is implemented by an occupational therapist and involves full-body movements that provide vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile stimulation.

Sensory overload: The reaction a child with autism has when more senses are being stimulated than he or she has the ability to process.

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is believed to play a role in mood regulation and sleep; levels of serotonin may be deficient in children who have depression or anxiety.

Service Coordinator: The individual designated to oversee the education and related services for a child with disabilities and the services provided to his or her family. See also Case Manager.

Service Animal: An animal that is trained to work with and meet the needs of a disabled person.

Shadow: See SEIT

Shaping: Reinforcing behavior in successive approximations until desired behavior is attained.

Shared Attention: See Joint Attention.

Side Effect: An effect which results unintentionally from the administration of medication; manifestations of side effects from medication vary from person to person.

Simple Partial Seizure: A type of seizure causing involuntary jerking of muscles that does not result in the loss of consciousness.

SLP: See Speech-Language Pathologist.

Social Ability: The ability to function in groups and to interact with people appropriately.

Social Adaptation: A child's ability to respond to and interact with others at a level appropriate for his or her age, including self-help skills like dressing, toileting, and eating, which lead to great independence.

Social Awareness: Being aware of, understanding, and reacting to the behavior of others; requires reading cues and reacting to prompts.

Social Interaction: The process by which individuals act in relation to one another.

Social Security Administration (SSA): The federal agency that administers both SSI and SSDI.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): Money that has been funneled into the Social Security system through payroll deductions on earnings. Workers who are disabled are entitled to these benefits. People who are born or become disabled before the age of twenty-two may collect SSDI under a parent's account if the parent is retired, disabled, or deceased.

Social Skills: Learned abilities such as sharing, turn-taking, asserting one's independence, and forming attachments, that allow people to effectively interact with others.

Social Worker: A professional who aids and counsels others to function within society; he or she may help to secure services such as counseling, financial assistance, or respite care.

Special Education (SPED): Specialized instruction to address a student's unique educational disabilities as determined by an assessment and as specified in a child's lEE Instruction must be precisely matched to the child's educational needs and adapted to his or her learning style.

Special Needs: Needs generated by a person's disabilities.

Speech Disorder: A problem with the actual production of sounds

Speech/Language Impairment (SLI): Diminished communication or complete absence of speech or language.

Speech/Language Pathologist (SLP or S-LP): A therapist who works to evaluate and improve speech and language skills, as well as to improve oral motor abilities.

Speech/Language Therapy: The treatment for most children with speech disorders and/or language disorders. 

Splinter skill: This is a highly refined skill accomplished by a child or adult with autism.  Other skills may be below typical age level but one or two skills, such as music or computer programming by be far above average.

SSA: See Social Security Administration.

SSDI: See Social Security Disability Insurance.

SSI: See Supplemental Security Income.

SSRI: See Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.

Staffing: An IEP meeting.

Standard Deviation: A measurement of the degree to which a given test score differs from the mean (average) score. On many IQ tests, for example, the mean or average score is 100 and the standard deviation is 15 (so a child who scored one standard deviation below the mean would have an IQ of 85). The majority of children (94 percent) score within two standard deviations (30 points) above or below the mean of 100 (between 70 and 130).

Standard Score: A test score based on the normal distribution curve (the "bell curve"). In tests scored with standard scores, 100 usually is considered exactly average, with scores from 85 to 115 considered to be in the average range.

Standardized Test: A test that is administered in exactly the same way each time and that is designed so that results can be compared with the performance of other individuals who have taken the test.

State Education Agency (SEA): The state agency responsible for implementing the provisions of IDEA.

Statistical Significance: An estimate of the likelihood that an observed result is not simply due to chance; the usual level of statistical significance (probability of or less than 5%) means that there is 1 chance in 20 that the event would have happened as a result of chance alone.

Status Epilepticus: A life-threatening condition in which seizures continue without a break for many minutes and the child remains unconscious.

Stereotypic Behavior: Purposeless, repetitive movements or behaviors such as hand flapping.

Stereotypy: See Stereotypic Behavior.

Stim/Stimming: See Self-Stimulatory Behavior.

Stimulant: A psychotropic drug often used to control hyperactivity in children.

Stimulus or Stimuli: A physical object or environmental event that may trigger a response or have an effect upon the behavior of a person. Some stimuli are internal (earache pain), while others are external (a smile from a loved one).

Stridor: A crowing sound made when inhaling due to a narrowed upper airway.

Student Assistance Team (SAT): A group engaged in problem solving and intervention strategies to assist the teacher(s) in the provision of general education.

Stuffing: A characteristic of autism where the child overfills his mouth with food.  The biggest hazard associated with stuffing is the risk of choking.

Subthreshold: Not meeting full criteria (guidelines) for a diagnosis.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): A program of payments available for eligible people who are disabled, blind, or elderly. 551 is based on financial need, not on past earnings.