Glossary of Terms | The Advocacy Consortium of Greater Rochester for College Students with Disabilities

Glossary of Terms

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A
Term	Definition
ABVI	Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired http://www.abvi-goodwill.org/
ACCES-VR	Adult Career and Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation (formerly VESID)
Accommodations	Any modifications that need to made for a person or environment to minimize the discriminatory effect of a person’s physical, emotional, or learning disability. In college, accommodations may include extended time on tests, tests administered in a separate location, preferential seating, use of a word processor, note taker or interpreter, textbooks or materials in alternate format, etc.
Accuplacer Test	College placement test adminstered by some colleges to determine if student meets "Ability to Benefit" (ATB) guidelines for admission, and/or to determine appropriate placement into math or writing courses.
ADA	Americans with Disabilities Act http://www.ada.gov/
AHEAD	Association on Higher Education and Disability http://www.ahead.org/
APTS	Aid for Part Time Study (NYS) Provides grant assistance for eligible part-time students enrolled in approved undergraduate studies.
ATB	Ability to Benefit If you do not have a US high school diploma or GED, you must take and pass an ability to benefit (ATB) exam designated by your school to be eligible to apply for State aid. The ATB exam demonstrates the student's ability to benefit from the training offered.

B
Term	Definition
Bookshare	A resource for books in alternate format for individuals with disabilities. http://www.bookshare.org/

C
Term	Definition
CCDAnet	WNY Collegiate Consortium and Disabilities Advocates www.ccdanet.org
Center for Disabilty Rights, Inc.	The Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR) is a not-for-profit, community-based advocacy and service organization for people with all types of disabilities. http://www.cdrnys.org/
CLEP Test	College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP) : opportunity to receive college credit by earning qualifying scores on any of 33 examinations. Earn credit for knowledge acquired through independent study, prior course work, on-the-job training, professional development, cultural pursuits, or internships. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html

D
Term	Definition
DDSO	Developmental Disabilities Services Organization
Disability	An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

F
Term	Definition
FAFSA	Free Application for Federal Student Aid http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
FERPA	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act A Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

G
Term	Definition
GED	General Equivalency Diploma or General Education Diploma. GED Tests measure high school-level skills and knowledge. GED tests may be taken by students who did not graduate from high school, who did not meet graduation requirements, or have an IEP diploma. Students need either a high school diploma or pass the GED to apply for most colleges. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ged/ http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=GED_TS

I
Term	Definition
IEP	Individualized Education Plan
IEP Diploma	An IEP Diploma shows a student attended high school, but did not meet the graduation requirements for a high school diploma. An IEP diploma alone is not sufficient for admission requirements for most colleges. Contact your college for more information. NOTE: An IEP and IEP diploma do not mean the same thing. A student with an IEP in high school may graduate with either a traditional high school diploma or an IEP diploma, depending on whether he/she met graduation requirements. The high school transcript will state what type of diploma the student received.
Indicator 13	NY State Education performance indicator that addresses transition planning in the IEP.

L
Term	Definition
LDA	Life and Learning Services http://www.ldarochester.org/
Live Scribe	A "computer in a pen" notetaking system www.livescribe.com

M
Term	Definition
Mobile Notetaker	Note taking device www.nexconcepts.com/products/mobile_notetaker

N
Term	Definition
NYSDSC	New York State Disability Services Council An independent, professional organization of individuals who have responsibility for the provision of disability services to students in New York State in degree-granting institutions of higher education. http://www.nysdsc.org/index.html

O
Term	Definition
OCR	Office of Civil Rights http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/auxaids.html
OPWDD	Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (formerly OMRDD) http://www.omr.state.ny.us/ws/ws_fingerlakes.jsp

P
Term	Definition
Pell Grant	Federal Pell Grant Federal Pell Grants are given to undergraduate students who have not yet earned a bachelor's or a professional degree. Pell Grants are awarded based on financial need as demonstrated on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

R
Term	Definition
RFBD	Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic http://www.rfbd.org/

T
Term	Definition
TAP	Tuition Assitance Program Apply for TAP TAP FAQ

V
Term	Definition
VESID ( see ACCES-VR)	Vocational Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilties. Name has been changed to ACCES-VR (2011) http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/