Terms related to child welfare and the adoption process
Terms related to children's special needs

Terms related to children's special needs

ADD/ADHD - Attention Deficit Disorder/ Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: A common diagnosis for children who demonstrate marked degrees of inattentiveness, impassivity and, in some cases, hyperactivity. A medical diagnosis is given to children who exhibit symptoms before the age of seven and medication or behavior modification programs are frequently prescribed. Typical behaviors include: a short attention span, high distractibility, acting before thinking about the results, constant interrupting, engaging in risky or dangerous behavior. Children with the hyperactive component are squirmy and fidgety, talk excessively and have difficulty participating in quiet activities.

Blind: Used to describe a person with total loss of vision. Persons with partial vision may be described as partially sighted, visually impaired, or persons with partial vision.

Cerebral Palsy: A group of conditions resulting from brain damage before, during or shortly after birth. The most obvious symptom is an inability to coordinate or control muscles in one or more parts of the body. There is a wide range in the level of disability. In more serious cases, mental retardation, convulsive disorders and problems with thinking, vision and hearing may occur.

Congenital disability: A disability that has existed since birth. Birth defect is no longer considered an appropriate term.

Deaf: Used to describe a person with total loss of hearing. Persons with partial hearing may be described as hearing impaired, having a hearing impairment or having a partial hearing loss.

Developmental disability: A chronic mental/cognitive and/or physical impairment incurred before the age of 22 that is likely to continue indefinitely. The disability may substantially impact independent functioning and may require life-long support. The term includes people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, and sensory impairments. These impairments may have been present from birth or may have resulted from a traumatic accident.

Although this is the federal definition, some states or other organizations serving people with developmental disabilities may use a broader or narrower definition to include those they are able to serve.

Disability: A temporary or permanent condition that interferes with a person's ability to function independently - walk, talk, see, hear, learn. It may refer to a physical, mental or sensory condition. Terms no longer considered acceptable when talking about people with disabilities include: disabled, handicapped, crippled or deformed. Acceptable descriptions include: a person with a disability; a child with special needs, a boy who is visually impaired; a girl who has a hearing loss; a child who uses a wheelchair.

Down Syndrome: A person with Down Syndrome is born with an extra chromosome. This causes mild to moderate mental retardation, slanted eyes, short stature and poor muscle tone. Respiratory infections and congenital heart disease are common and generally treatable.

Emotionally disturbed: Term used to describe a person with behaviors that are outside the norm of acceptability. A child may be emotionally disturbed as a result of a traumatic or stressful event in his/her life. The emotional disturbance may be temporary or chronic; it may be organic or purely functional. A high percentage of children available for adoption are considered to be emotionally disturbed to some degree as a result of abuse, neglect, and removal from their family.

(FAS/FAE) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, fetal Alcohol Effect: Children whose mothers (and possibly fathers) drank heavily during pregnancy may suffer debilitating physical and mental effects such as retardation, developmental disabilities, and learning difficulties. Children with fewer resulting disabilities are said to have fetal alcohol effect rather than the syndrome. Early intervention may reduce the severity of a child's learning difficulties, but the effects of the damage can never be erased.

Hydrocephaly: A medical condition caused by an excess of fluid in the brain. A child with this condition usually has had surgery to insert a shunt that drains the fluid away from the brain. The shunt doesn't usually limit a child's activities but does require medical attention.

IEP - Individualized Education Plan: IEPs are the result of an educational assessment that determines that a child has significant learning challenges. Such a plan is made for children who are having difficulty learning in school, whether due to learning disabilities, developmental disabilities or emotional and behavior problems. Learning and behavioral goals and objectives with specific measurable outcomes are identified.

Mentally ill/mental disorder: Term used to describe a person whose thought processes and/or behaviors do not fit the norm. Many mental illnesses are attributed to a chemical imbalance in the brain and can be effectively treated with medication or psychological counseling. Some mental illnesses seem to run in families. A mental illness is not the same as mental retardation, though intellectual functioning may be negatively affected by the behaviors associated with the mental illness.

Mental retardation: A level of intellectual functioning that is below average. A person with mental retardation generally has an IQ below 70. Also referred to as cognitive impairment.

Microcephaly: A condition where a child's skull is smaller than normal and remains so throughout life.

PTSD - Post-traumatic stress disorder: A set of behaviors resulting from experiencing or witnessing an event or series of events which were most likely of a violent or abusive nature and traumatic for the child. Children who have been removed from their homes, have lost significant people in their lives and lived in multiple foster homes also may have this disorder. Some of the characteristics include flashbacks, persistent thoughts and dreams related to the event/s, and dissociation. Therapy has proven to be an effective tool in helping children recover from traumatic experiences.

Reactive Attachment Disorder: An emotional and behavioral disorder marked by a child's inability to establish a healthy parent-child relationship of trust and reciprocal exchange of affection. This is most often a result of repeated separations from a primary caretaker and disruptions in the cycle of the child's feelings of need and having those needs satisfied before the age of five. Children with reactive attachment disorder may fail to initiate or respond appropriately to most social interactions, or they may be indiscriminate in their interactions - overly friendly with people they don't know. A great deal of material on this subject, as well as parent support groups, is available for adoptive families of children with this disorder.

Seizure: An involuntary muscle contraction which is a symptom of epilepsy or a brain disorder. A convulsion refers to seizures that involve contractions throughout the entire body. Many seizure disorders can be controlled with medication. The term "epileptic" is no longer considered acceptable.

Spastic: Describes a muscle with sudden, abnormal involuntary spasms. People with cerebral palsy often have spastic muscles. It should be used to describe a muscle rather than a person.

Special needs: Term used to identify the needs of a child waiting for adoption. Nearly all children in foster care are considered to have special needs due to their age, ethnic heritage, need to be placed with siblings, and physical, mental / cognitive, and emotional problems that may be genetic, the result of abuse and neglect, or the result of multiple moves in foster care.

(SLD) Specified Learning Disability: A child with SLD is unable to learn effectively in a normal educational environment due to difficulties related to the learning process.

Speech impairment: Difficulty producing readily understandable speech or difficulty understanding spoken language. A person with a speech impairment may have limited speech or irregular speech patterns.

Spina bifida: A defect in the closure of the canal that encloses the spinal chord. This can cause a variety of disabilities that may include problems with bowel and bladder control, paralysis of the legs, hydrocephalus (enlarged head due to excessive fluid in the brain) which may produce mild to moderate mental retardation.