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Glossary

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A

Aberrant Behavior Checklist:  A 58-item scale that can be completed by a parent or a teacher to gather information on a range of behavioral problems. There are five subscales in which behavior is measured: Irritability, Social Withdrawal, Stereotypes, Hyperactivity, and Inappropriate Speech.

Adaptive Living Skills: Skills including gross and fine motor skills, eating and food preparation, toileting, dressing, personal self-care, domestic skills, time and punctuality, money and value, home and community orientation, and work skills. These skills fall under one of the five primary developmental areas.

Adverse Side Effects: Negative effects that were observed as a result of receiving a particular treatment.

Ancillary Behaviors: Behaviors that exhibit spontaneous affection and other social behaviors such as a social smile when engaging in a hug or eye contact when within a reasonably close distance for (ex.) at least 1 sec. 

Anecdotal Reports: Reports based on casual observations or indications rather than scientific analysis.

Antibiotic: A drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria and therefore can be used to treat infections.

Antipsychotics: This is the most widely studied group of drugs in autism. These drugs have been found to reduce hyperactivity, repetitive behaviors, withdrawal, and aggression in some people with autism. Examples include clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine.  The term ‘atypical,’ when discussing antipsychotics, refers to more recent drugs that have been developed. 

Anti-Yeast Treatment: Physiologically/Biologically-Based treatment that targets the yeast, Candida albicans in the intestine. 

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): A method of Skill-Based Treatment involving the delivery of instructions that elicit responses from the autistic individual. These responses are followed with consistent reinforcement or correction procedures. This is based on the theory that reinforced behavior will reoccur. The behavioral therapist works one-on-one with a child using repetition, feedback, and positive reinforcers to help the child master small tasks. 

Aspergers Syndrome Diagnostic Scale (ASDS): A standardized test to evaluate a possible diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome used to measure cognitive, maladaptive, language, sensory motor, and social skills.

Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS): An assessment, curriculum guide, and skills tracking system for children with language delays. The assessment enables you to identify a young learner’s skills and deficits in order to establish a baseline and structure an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Assessment tool:  Testing tools that can be administered to determine a diagnosis for autism or any other developmental delay.  Observations done on behalf of the parent and other individuals that are in regular contact with the child can be used as helpful assessment tools as well.

Assistive technology: Technological devices used to assist individuals with disabilities accomplish tasks.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A condition that becomes apparent in some children during the preschool and early school years. The main symptoms are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

Audiology: The study of hearing, balance and related disorders.

Autism: A pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment.

Autism Diagnostic Interview- Revised (ADI-R): A standardized test focusing on behavior in three main areas: qualities of reciprocal social interaction; communication and language; and restricted and repetitive, stereotyped interests and behaviors.

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS): A standardized test of social and communicative behaviors associated with autism consisting of interaction and observation of the responses of the individual.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Classification of disorders, which include Autistic Disorder (Autism), Aspergers Syndrome (AS), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD), Retts Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

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B

Baseline Measurement: Measurement of specific symptoms before the treatment is given.

Behavioral-Based Interventions: These types of interventions use Behavior Modification as a method of intervention for individuals with ASD.

Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS): Also referred to as wraparound services, these services are provided to children between the ages of two and twenty-one with mental health diagnoses. Wraparound agencies are temporary, physician prescribed services that initiate therapy directly to the families where it is needed.

Behavioral Modification: Type of intervention is based on the Operant Conditioning Theory, which predicts that a certain behavior will increase if it is rewarded and decrease or disappear if it is not reinforced.

Behavioral Rating Scale (BRS): Scale completed by an observer regarding the appropriateness of an individual’s behavior.

Behavior Summarized Evaluation (BSE): Measures autistic behavior: isolation (eager to be alone, ignores others, poor social interaction, abnormal eye contact), verbal communication disturbances (does not make an effort to communicate using voice and/or words, lack of appropriate facial expressions, and gestures, repetitive bizarre vocal and voice utterances, echolalia), particular reactions to the environment (lack of initiative, poor activity, inappropriate relating to inanimate objects or to dolls, resistance to change and to frustration), motor disturbances (repetitive bizarre movements, agitation, restlessness, bizarre posture and gait), inappropriate emotional responses (automatic aggressiveness, anxiety, mood difficulties), disturbances in feeding behavior, disturbances in concentration, perception, and intellectual functions (unstable attention, easily distracted, bizarre responses to noises). Each of these behaviors is scored on a scale from 0 to 4: 0 = Behavior never happens, 1 = behavior sometimes happens, 2 = behavior often happens, 3 = behavior happens very often, and 4  = behavior always happens.

Bipolar Disorder: A diagnosis referring to mania alternating with clinical depression over a significant period of time.

Blind: In a research study, being unaware of what treatment was given as well as if a treatment was given at all. Both the researcher and the participants (or their caregivers) can be blind to a treatment. Sometimes it is impossible for the researchers to be blind to a treatment; in these cases only the participants (or their caregivers) are unaware of the treatment given.

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C

Casein: Substance found in dairy products, commonly milk.

Casein Free/Gluten Free Diet (CF/GF): Several researchers have proposed that autism is linked to an impaired ability to digest peptides and proteins from dairy (casein) and wheat (gluten) (Brudnak et al., 2002). The casein and gluten-free diet requires individuals to completely eliminate wheat and dairy products from their diet.

Candida Albicans: Type of yeast that has been linked to impairment the central nervous system and the immune system, often resulting in certain symptoms exhibited in individuals with ASD.

Case Study: An uncontrolled observation study involving an intervention and outcome in a single patient or a group of patients (also known as case series). Subjects given treatment were not compared to those not given the treatment. This type of study is low in reliability.

Central Nervous System (CNS): Mechanism in the body consisting of the functioning of the brain and spinal chord.

Central Nervous System (CNS) Disorder: A communication problem between the brain and other parts of the body.  Examples of CNS disorders include epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.

Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT): A brief questionnaire filled out by the parents and a primary health care worker at the 18-month developmental check-up aiming to identify children who are risk for social-communication disorders.

Checklist of Communicative Responses/Acts Score Sheet (CRASS):  This checklist was developed specifically for the study of effects of music therapy. The checklist is divided into musical and nonmusical abilities. Communicative responses included any type of response (verbal or nonverbal) demonstrated by the child that was influenced by the researcher (i.e. imitating a note played by the researcher). Communicative acts were defined as any type of behavior initiated by the child in order to get a response from the researcher (i.e. creating own musical beat). Communicative responses listed in the musical category included tempo, rhythm, structure/form, and pitch. Communicative responses listed in the nonmusical category included speech production, communicative/interactive skills, and communicative intent skills (Edgerton, 1994).

Chemical Structure: The actual chemical make-up of atoms in a molecule.

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS): This scale includes 15 symptoms commonly displayed by children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. These include the following: lack of appreciation by the individual of the interest that other people show for him/her, the extent to which the patient mimics, unsuitable timing of emotions such as laughing or crying, bizarre use bodily movements and persistent receptiveness, correct use of objects, resistance to changes in the environment, avoidance of eye contact, avoidance or unusual reaction to noise, putting objects in mouth, licking, smelling, rubbing, insensitivity to repression, lack of speech, echolalia, replacement of personal pronouns, use of response to gestures, hyperactivity, lack of homogeneity of cognitive characteristics, and general ranking of severity. These symptoms are ranked on a four-point scale (1 = normal for age, 2 = mild disorder, 3 = moderate disorder, 4 = serious disorder) in order to determine the severity of individual cases. Scores between 30 and 36 indicate mild to moderate severity and scores of 37 and above indicate severe cases.

Child Global Assessment Scale (C-GAS): Describes the severity of functional impairment on a scale from 0 (severe impairment) to 100 (superior functioning).

Children’s Psychiatric Rating Scale (ChPRS): Scale containing 63 items upon which a child is evaluated in terms of severity. Twenty-eight of these items are based on direct observation of the patient and 14 are sensitive to drug treatment for children and adolescent with autistic spectrum disorder.

Child Psychiatrist: A medical doctor who is involved in diagnosis, treatment, and intervention of mental and emotional disorders in children. Child psychiatry training typically includes a pre-clinical phase and a clinical phase prior to medical graduate education, specializing in children. A child psychiatrist also has the ability to prescribe medication.

Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale: Measures obsessive-compulsive symptoms in children ages 6-14.

Clinical Global Consensus Rating: Used to determine if the child improved greatly, moderately, or not at all as a result of a given treatment.

Clinical Psychologist: Assesses mental health problems, conducts scientific research to understand mental health problems, and provides psychological care and interventions. A clinical psychologist should perform standardized, written psychological assessments in aiding a diagnosis or type of therapy. A doctoral degree (PhD) is usually required for independent licensed clinical practice and counseling.

Clinical Trial: A research study designed to evaluate interventions. They are conducted to determine whether or not interventions are both effective and safe.

Cognitive Functioning: Term used to describe levels of functioning in thought processing (i.e. solving puzzles) and is one of the five primary developmental areas.

Communicative Skills: Set of skills exhibiting communication between individuals such as laughing, smiling, talking, eye contact, and is one of the five primary developmental areas.

Conflicting Evidence: The results of the studies completed have shown opposite effects of the given treatment. For example, one may have shown that the treatment decreased hyperactive behavior and another may have shown that the treatment either had no effect of hyperactive behavior or that hyperactive behavior increased with the treatment.

Conner’s Rating Scale: Contains 93 questions addressing anxiety, compliance, hyperactivity, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and social behavior.  Parents, teachers and clinicians can complete this scale. Those filled out by parents and teachers are more likely to be affected by bias.

Control Group: Group of participants who are not administered the intervention being studied, instead they serve as a basis of comparison to determine whether the treatment was effective or not.

Control Study: Compares two similar groups of subjects in which both groups are subjected to all the same factors except the variable being tested.

Correction Procedure: Term used to describe a procedure in which an individual is trained to ‘correct’ or modify a certain behavior.

Correlation: The degree of strength and direction of a relationship between two random variables.

Crossover Study: A study in which all participants are exposed to both treatments but in a different order depending on the treatment design of their group.

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D

Delusions: A fixed false belief.

Dependent: A person receiving support from another person (such as a parent).

Developmental Pediatrician: A medical doctor who conducts comprehensive developmental assessments of children. A developmental pediatrician typically assesses children suspected of having developmental delays, including language, motor or cognitive delays. Developmental pediatric training typically includes a preclinical phase and a clinical phase prior to graduate medical education, specializing in the development of infants and children. A developmental pediatrician also has the ability to prescribe medication.

Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV: Released in 1993, this manual includes classifications of officially recognized psychiatric disorders.

Dietary Supplement: A product taken by mouth that contains one or more ingredients that are intended to replace or enhance one's diet and are not considered food.

Digestive Enzymes: Digestive enzymes are complex proteins involved in digestion that stimulate chemical changes in other substances.

Discrete Trial Training (DTT): A type of instructional method used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).  Simple skills must be mastered before new learning opportunities are presented.

Dopamine: A chemical naturally produced in the body/neurotransmitter.  When dopamine is blocked from receptor sites (not working properly), common symptoms to arise are impairments in motor behavior.

Double-Blind: A study in which neither the researchers nor the participants (or their caregivers) are aware of which treatment is being administered. This is done to ensure that the collection of data is uncontaminated and free of bias.

Dysthymia: A diagnosis characterized by a lack of enjoyment of life that is continuous for at least two years.

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The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) Program:  A Medicaid participant program for individuals under the age of 21 that covers diagnostic and treatment services that are required for acute and chronic physical and mental health conditions.  EPSDT can provide many services including speech pathology, physical therapy, dental care, wheelchairs, personal care aide, and medical equipment.

Effective: More than two controlled studies have been completed with the given intervention, yielding it as an effective intervention for autism.

Endorphins: Work in the body as "natural pain killers"; certain drugs may increase the effects of the endorphins to relieve pain/depressive symptoms.

Endoscopy: A medical procedure that looks inside the human body for medical reasons.  It is a minimally invasive procedure that examines the interior surfaces of an organ by inserting a small scope in the body.  This procedure is often, but not necessarily, done through a natural body opening.

Enzyme-Based Therapy: The goal of this type of intervention is to help individuals with autism digest caseins and glutens more quickly, removing them from the individual’s system (Brudnak et al., 2002).

Epilepsy: A central nervous system disorder often causing strange sensations, emotions, and behavior or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness.  Epilepsy is a communication problem between the brain and other parts of the body.  

Ethylmercury: A substance that is a component of thimerosal (which is a preservative found in many vaccines). 

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F

Fatty Acid: Any large group of acids most commonly found in animal and vegetable fats and oils.

Fine Motor Skills: Small muscle movements in the fingers/hands that work in coordination with the eyes.

Fisher’s Auditory Problems Checklist (FAPC): “Contains 25 items assessing otologic (hearing ability) history and behavior” (Edelson SM, Arin D, Bauman M, Lukas SE, Rudy JH, Sholar M, Rimland B).

Follow-up Study: A follow-up study is similar to the field study although it occurs after the formal release of the product. The idea is to collect data for the next release, using surveys, interviews, and observations. Structured follow-up studies are probably the truest and most accurate appraisals of usability, since the actual user, product, and environment are all in place and interacting with each other.

Fracture: The separation of a bone into two, or more, pieces as a result of stress.

Functional Impairment:  Level of diminished performance functioning exhibited by an individual.

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G

Gastrointestinal: Part of the body including and/or relating to the stomach and intestines.

Gluten: Substance found in some cereals, notably wheat, rye, and barley products. 

Gross Motor Skills: Movements of large muscles in the body, such as sitting, crawling, or walking.

Group Home: Place where individuals are housed in a home-like setting, in which unrelated children live for with a single set of house parents, or with a rotating staff of trained caregivers, for various time periods. Children with emotional or behavioral problems are often cared for in specialized therapeutic group or treatment group homes that include a specialized team of therapeutic staff.

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H

Hallucinations: Sensory perceptions of objects, people, etc. that are not actually present.

Health Services: Provides care for the prevention, treatment and management of persons with disabilities.

Homogeneity of Cognitive Characteristics: The quality of being uniform throughout in intellectual activity characteristics.

Hormone: A hormone is a messenger in a chemical form that sends information from one cell (or group of cells) to another.

Hyperactivity: A state in which an individual is abnormally easily excitable and active.

Hypoxia: Oxygen deficiency in bodily tissues.

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I

Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA): Measures the ability of children between the ages of 4 and 8 to understand and use language.

Immune Dysfunction Treatment: Treatment for diseases that attack the immune system.

Immune System: Mechanism in the human body that defends itself from internal invaders that could cause potential harm to the body.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP): Education plan developed by a child's education team (including educators) that serves to help a child succeed in school describing the goals that have been set for the child for the school year, as well as any special supports that are needed to help achieve those goals.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP): Plan that describes the specific therapies and early intervention recommendations for children with disabilities and their families. An IFSP acts as a guide to what therapies and interventions will be provided to your child. It also documents the current status and functioning of your child. 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Originally enacted by Congress in 1975 with several amendments since, IDEA guides how states and school districts provide special education and related services to eligible children with disabilities.

Individualized Transition Plan (ITP): Transition plan comprised of a two-to-four year written plan identifying the progressive steps a student will take to meet post-high school graduation goals.

Inflammatory diseases: Diseases in which part of the body has become inflamed/irritated by infection.

Influenza: A virus with three types (A, B, and C). Influenza types A and B are responsible for epidemics of respiratory illness that occur almost every flu season.  Type C infection usually causes either a very mild respiratory illness or no symptoms at all.

Insulin: A hormone, and like many hormones, it is a protein.  Insulin is found in the groups of cells within the pancreas.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ): A measure of intellectual functioning determined by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. It contains two subscales: a performance scale and a verbal scale. The performance scale measures the ability to solve problems without the use of words, to think rapidly in visual images and to quickly interpret visual materials. The verbal subscale measures verbal comprehension, which includes applying verbal skills and information to the solution of problems.

Interdisciplinary Team:  A group of individuals often consisting of school officials, teachers, therapists, and parents who make decisions in regards to a child’s intervention program and progression.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD): Manual used to classify diseases and health problems that are often noted on health and vital records.

Intravenous: Method of administrating liquid substances directly into a vein.

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L

Lactic Acid Build-Up:  Results with a burning sensation in muscles during intense exercise and/or stress and also prevents muscles from working at their optimal potential.

Learning Disabled (LD): Term referring to a range of neurological conditions that affect one or more of the ways that a person learns information as well as how they retain and later recall information.

Lethargy: A state of drowsiness.

Limitation: Limitations of a study are reasons as to why the intervention studied may or may not be as effective as the study claims.

Liver Function Test: Test that measures the amount of blood serum (liquid that separates from blood during clotting) in the enzymes produced by the liver. High scores on this test could indicate liver damage.

Local Education Authority (LEA): Part of a local council that is responsible for education within that council's jurisdiction.

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M

Measles, Mumps & Rubella (MMR): Viral diseases that vaccinations are commonly given for in early childhood in order to prevent infection.

Medical Assistance (MA or Medicaid):  Maintains free health care coverage to Pennsylvania residents who are eligible that are covered by the Medical Assistance (MA) Program and who have an income that is below the level that the State determines for their eligibility category of MA.  Your determined eligibility group is what designates what kind of coverage is offered.  MA generally includes hospital care, doctors' visits, nursing home care, laboratory testing and x-rays, family planning, drug and alcohol intervention, and mental health care.

Medical Services: Services that are provided to persons with disabilities that assist with the prevention, treatment and management of their condition.

Mental Health/Mental Retardation (MH/MR) Program: The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is responsible for supervising the Pennsylvania citizens involved in the state's MH/MR program. The MH/MR Act of 1966 permits the delivery of services including a full array of treatment and rehabilitation services in institutions and communities.

Mental Retardation (MR): A pattern of slow learning of basic motor and language skills during childhood, and a significantly below-normal intellectual capacity in adult years.

Metabolic Reaction: Process in the body when food/nutrients are being broken down producing energy.

Minimal Evidence: One or two control studies (double-blind, placebo controlled study, randomized control study, or control studies) have been completed with the given treatment. The results of the given studies may have or have not shown the treatment to work, but more studies need to be completed in order to determine whether or not the results are reliable.

Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT): A 23-item checklist that is a condensed symptom inventory based on the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT).

More Research Needed: No controlled studies (double-blind, placebo controlled study, randomized control study, or control studies) have been completed with the given treatment. The results of the given studies may or may not have shown the intervention to be effective, but controlled studies need to be completed in order to determine whether or not the results are reliable.

Multiple Group Trial: Study in which the treatment group is not compared to a control/placebo group and all parties are aware of which treatment is being administered. The participants are either exposed to a variety of different treatments (i.e. auditory integration training vs. time out vs. token economy) or to the same treatment in a variety of environments (i.e. classroom vs. cafeteria vs. home).

Multiple Sclerosis (MS): A central nervous system disorder in which most patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance.  MS is a communication problem between the brain and other parts of the body.

Music Therapy: Type of therapy includes singing, movement to music, and playing instruments.

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N

Nervous System: Part of the human body that coordinates the activity of the muscles, organs, senses, and triggers actions.

Neurodevelopment Disorders: a group of disorders that progress with the maturity of the brain’s functioning and development.

Neuroleptics: Antipsychotic drugs which aim to diminish the intensity of psychotic experiences such as delusions and hallucinations, often having a calming effect. (Typically used for the treatment of schizophrenia.)

Neurotransmitter: Chemicals in the brain that are used to communicate signals between a neuron and another cell.

Neurons: A major class of cells in the nervous system.

Not Effective: More than two controlled studies (i.e. double-blind, placebo controlled study, randomized control study, or control studies) have been completed with the given treatment. The results of these studies have shown that the intervention is not effective in treating individuals with autism.

Nonverbal Communication: This includes things such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language.

Nursing Services: Services provided by nurses that assist with the prevention, treatment and management of persons with disabilities.

Nutrition Services: Consultations with dietitians who can provide nutritional analysis for individuals who require or can benefit from specialized diets and recipes.

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O

Occupational Therapist (OT): A healthcare professional who works with individuals with permanent or temporary disabilities experiencing difficulty with physical or mental functioning.

Occupational Therapy (OT): Type of skill-based intervention that addresses areas that interfere with the child's ability to function in such life tasks. 

Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR): Pennsylvania’s State Agency that aissists individuals persons with disabilities in preparing for, beginning, and maintaining a career. 

Open-Label Study: A study in which all parties, (patient, physician and study coordinator) are informed of the drug and dose being administered. In an open-label study, none of the participants are given placebos. These are usually conducted with Phase I & II studies.

Operant Conditioning Theory: Psychological theory that predicts a certain behavior will increase if it is rewarded and decrease or disappear if it is not reinforced.

Other Benefits: These are improvements that were observed in the study that did not meet statistical significance. This means that there is a higher chance that these improvements happened only by chance and not necessarily because of the treatment.

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P

Pancreas: The pancreas is an organ in the digestive system that serves to produce pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes and several important hormones, including insulin.

Parkinson’s Disease: Neurological disease that leads to significant affects on the motor system

Performance IQ: Score on performance based tasks from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): System in the body that is responsible for functions that are not under conscious control (i.e. heartbeat, digestive system).

Pilot Study: A preliminary evaluation for the purpose of developing the foundation for a future, more comprehensive study.

Pharmacological: Licensed drugs that can be taken to cure or reduce symptoms of an illness or medical condition.

Physical Skills: Set of skills pertaining to physical movement such as walking, climbing, and coordination of movements and is one of the five primary developmental areas.

Physical Therapist (PT): A healthcare professional concerned with the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of disabilities through physical means, commonly targeting coordination, strength, and motor skills.

Physical Therapy (PT):  Type of skill-based intervention aiming to improve physical functioning, commonly targeting coordination, strength, and motor skills.

Physiologically/Biologically-Based Interventions: interventions involving pharmacology (drug-type treatments) and/or natural substances found in the human body’s functioning system.

Placebo: A substance containing no medication, which shares similar characteristics with the treatment condition.

Placebo Effect: A change that occurs while a person in undergoing a particular treatment but that may not be caused by the treatment. For example, it is possible that a change may occur simply because the child is part of a study and not because of the treatment itself.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A psychological disorder resulting from the experience or witnessing ofactual or threatened death, serious physical injury, or a threat to physical and/or psychological welfare.

Practice Effect: A limitation to the reliability of a study due to participants possibly getting used to/desensitized to a certain component to the study, therefore possibly creating biased results.

Preservative: A natural or chemically-produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, and biological samples, to delay spoilage.

Primary Developmental Areas:  There are five areas of functioning that are key to identifying developmental delays in infants and young children.  These five primary developmental areas include adaptive living skills (adaptation and general comfort in different settings/environments), cognitive skills (puzzles, pointing), communicative skills (talking, eye contact), physical skills (physical strengths and weaknesses), and social/emotional skills (laughing, smiling). 

Professional Advocate: Professionals who are employed by an advocacy service to work with an individual or family to assist them in obtaining services/requests.

Prospective Study: A study in which participants are initially enrolled, examined or tested for risk factors (i.e. nutrient intake), and then followed up at subsequent times to determine their status with respect to the disease or condition of interest.

Psychoeducational Profile- Revised (PEP-R): An inventory of behaviors and skills designed to identify uneven and distinctive learning patterns (Schopler, Reichler, Bashford, Lansing, & Marcus, 1990).

Psychological Services: Services provided by psychologists to assist persons with disabilities and/or their families improve mental health and emotional or behavioral issues.

Psychotherapy: a set of techniques intended to improve mental health, emotional or behavioral issues of individuals, groups, or family interactions.

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R

Randomized Control Trial: Study in which the participants have an equal chance of being placed in either the treatment group (group that receives the treatment) or the control/placebo group (group that does not receive the treatment.)

Receptor Sites: The point at which neurotransmitters make a connection in the brain and cause their individualized effects to occur.

Reinforcer: Term used to describe a reward or punishment given when a desired or non-desirable behavior is exhibited.

Reliable: The results of a study are said to be reliable if the same results have been found in more than one study.

Replacement of Personal Pronouns: Incorrect usage of personal pronouns in language articulation.

Repression: The unconscious exclusion of painful impulses, desires, or fears from the conscious mind.

Researcher Bias: The result of a researcher displaying a directional influence on a study unintentionally.

Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale: An instrument used for drug treatment and designed for behavioral observation in a natural setting. The instrument addresses 47 specific behaviors which are then broken up into 5 subscales: sensory-motor, social, affective, sensory responses, and language.

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S

Sample Size: Term used to describe the number of individuals that participated in a research study.

Schizophrenia: Psychiatric disorder characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality.

Seizure: can cause involuntary changes in body movement or function, sensation, awareness, or behavior and can last from a few seconds to a continuous seizure that will not stop without intervention.

Selective-Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI): These drugs are familiar to many as antidepressants. They alter the levels of chemicals called neurotransmitters in the brain and are used to treat people with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and/or anxiety. In some people with autism, these drugs reduce repetitive behaviors, irritability, tantrums, and aggression. Examples include fluoxetine, clomipramine, and fluvoxamine.

Self-Help Skills: Behavioral skills that involve independent actions such as self-grooming.

Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB): Behavior that bring harm to oneself (e.g. head banging)

Self-Stimulatory Behavior: Behaviors that are observed in individuals that serve to stimulate the individual themselves such as hand-flapping or toe-walking.

Sensory Integration (SI): The ability to combine the senses of touch, movement, smell, taste, vision, and hearing with previously processed information, to derive meaning of stimuli.

Sensory Motor: A term used to refer to movements made through the perception of senses.

Serotonin: A chemical naturally produced in the body/neurotransmitter.  When serotonin is blocked from receptor sites (not working properly), common effects that to arise are depressive symptoms, anxiety, and apathy.

Significant Improvement: Unlikely that the improvements happened only by chance.  This is a good indication that the treatment was successful.
<= .05 –There is less than a 5% chance that the results happened by chance.

Single-Blind Study: A study in which only the researcher is aware of which treatment is being administered.

Single Group Trial: Study in which the treatment group is not compared to a control/placebo group and all parties are aware of which treatment is being administered. Only one type of treatment or one environment is evaluated.

Skill-Based Treatment: Type of Behavioral-Based intervention aiming to target individual skills by breaking them down into simple components for learning and the individual is rewarded for demonstrating a desired behavior.

Social/Emotional Behaviors: Behaviors including reading, academics, social skills (laughing, smiling), communication, and adaptive living skills.  These behaviors fall under one of the five primary developmental areas.

Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ): A 40-item questionnaire (formerly the Autism Screening Questionnaire) for children ages four and up based on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R).

Social Work/ Social Worker: Services provided by a helping professional who may provide counseling services or act as case manager helping to arrange services and treatments for individuals and families.

Special Instruction: Educational sessions that are individually developed by a special instructor and the primary caregiver. These two individuals work together to meet developmental goals and improve the child's functioning.

Speech/Language Therapist: A therapist specializing in corrective or rehabilitative care for individuals who experience difficulty with verbal communication.

Speech/Language Therapy: Type of Skill-Based intervention that aims to enhance language socially to communicate. 

Standardized tests: Tests given to a group in a similar setting and under similar conditions in order to evaluate an individual against average scores.

Stanford-Binet Test: IQ test featuring Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory as the five factors tested.

Stimulants: Drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may help some people with autism. These drugs work by increasing the person's ability to concentrate and pay attention and by reducing impulsivity and hyperactivity. Examples include methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine sulfate (Adderall, Dexedrine).

Stimulus/Stimuli (plural): Term used to identify something that incites or rouses to action; an incentive or cause of a response.

Stimulus-Response-Reward Cycle: Cycle of learning that begins with the presentation of a stimulus (incentive/trigger), which leads to a desired response from an individual.  With this response demonstration, the individual receives a reward, acting as a reinforcer.

Study Period: Length of time that given treatment was studied.

Symptom: A sensation or change in health function experienced by an individual.

Symptom Outcome Survey: Survey used to keep a record of the improvements or lack of improvements made because of particular treatment that is completed by parents (or caregivers) and teachers.

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T

Tardive Dyskinesia: This is a side effect at times found to arise from the use of atypical antipsychotics.  It is characterized by repetitive, involuntary, purposeless movements.  Features of the disorder may include grimacing, tongue protrusion, lip smacking, puckering and pursing of the lips, and rapid eye blinking. Rapid movements of the arms, legs, and trunk may also occur.

Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS): Paraprofessionals who provide assistance to autistic individuals often during therapeutic activities or outside of the school community.

Thimerosal: Many vaccines contain thimerosal,  which is a preservative containing ethylmercury.

Treatment Design: Refers to the order in which the treatment is administered to a group a participants. For example, one group may first be exposed to the intervention being studied and then to placebo and then to the intervention again. Their treatment design would be ABA. The second group would be exposed to the treatments in the opposite order, first placebo, then the intervention and then placebo again (BAB).

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Vaccine: A preparation used to produce active immunity to a disease, in order to prevent infection.

Validity: The extent to which a measurement, test, or study measures what it is supposed to measure.

Verbal IQ: Score on verbal based tasks from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).

Vestibular Stimulation: Therapy technique including exercises such as swinging in a hammock, and tactile stimulation achieved by brushing parts of the child's body.

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS): Assesses handicapped and non-handicapped persons from birth to adulthood in their personal and social functioning.

Vision Services: Services provided that treat and manage vision problems experienced by persons with disabilities.

Visual Analogue Scale: This scale is completed by the individual being studied and is a measure of their internal states (i.e. pain, mood).

Vitamin: Nutrients required for metabolic reactions in the body. 

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W

Washout Period: A period of time in which no treatment is given. A washout period usually occurs when researchers want to see if one drug is more effective than the other. By not giving any treatment in between the administration of the two drugs it can be said with more certainty that one drug, rather than a combination of both drugs, caused the results.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): Intelligence test based on scoring from both performance and verbal tasks.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC): Intelligence test for children based on scoring from both performance and verbal tasks.

Wraparound Services: Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS) or wraparound services are provided to children between the ages of two and twenty-one with mental health diagnoses. Wraparound agencies are temporary, physician prescribed services that initiate therapy directly to the families where it is needed.

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