Glossary of Terms

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                                                                                                 Allele:  Any one of a series of two or more different genes that occupy the same position (locus) on a chromosome.

American Sign Language (ASL):  A system of gestures, hand signals and finger spelling used in North America and other English-speaking locales.

Aphasia:   The complete or partial loss of ability to use or understand language.

Apraxia:  A disorder of voluntary movement, consisting of partial or total incapacity to execute purposeful movements, without impairment of muscular power, sensibility and coordination.  The person has difficulty sequencing movements in the service of a goal.  May be specific to speech.

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA):  A style of teaching which uses a series of trials to shape a desired behaviour or response.  Skills are broken down into their simplest components and then taught to the child through a system of reinforcement.

Asperger's Syndrome (AS):  A developmental disorder on the autism spectrum defined by impairments in communication and social development and by repetitive interests and behaviours.  Unlike typical autism, individuals with Asperger's Syndrome have no significant delay in language and cognitive development.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):  A particular symptom complex with core symptoms including developmentally inappropriate degrees of attention, cognitive disorganization, distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity, all of which vary in different situations and at different times.  Common secondary symptoms include perceptual and emotional immaturity, poor social skills, disruptive behaviours and academic problems.

Atypical Autism:  A general term for conditions that are close to but do not quite fit the set of conditions for autism or other specific conditions.

Auditory Integration Training (AIT):  A technique used to relieve hearing dysfunctions by "retraining" the ear to hear in a more balanced fashion.

Augmentative Communication:  The use of aids to help an autistic child communicate his/her wants and needs.  For example, photographs and picture exchange communication.

Autism Behaviour Checklist (ABC):  A diagnostic device for autism.  A checklist containing a list of behaviours and weighted scores which appear to be capable of measuring the level of autistic behaviours in individuals.

Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI):  A fairly technical diagnostic scale for autism developed by the Medical Research Council in London, England.  It is a standardized, semi-structured parent interview that can be used to assess children and adults with a mental age of 18 months and up.

Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS):  A standardized, semi-structured play session that allows the examiner to observe communicative and social behaviours that are associated with autism.  It requires 20-30 minutes to administer.

Autistic Savant:  An autistic individual who displays incredible aptitude for one or two skills (e.g. amazing musical or artistic ability).

Autistic Spectrum Disorders:  A term that encompasses autism and similar disorders.  More specifically, the following five disorders listed in the DSM-IV: Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Retts Disorder.

Aversives:  Behavioural methods employing punishment rather than positive reinforcement.

Bayley:  A developmental assessment used for children age one month to 3 � years old.  It is comprised of a mental, motor and behaviour scale.  This scale has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS):  A test developed at TEACCH to diagnose autism.  The child is rated in 15 areas on a scale up to 4 yielding a total of up to 60.  Ranges are then considered to be non-autistic, autistic or severely autistic.

Chromosomes:  Structures in the cell nucleus that bear an individual's genetic information.

Communications Notebook:  A notebook sent with a student (typically a young or special education student) to and from school by which parents and teachers maintain daily communication.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA):  The substance contained within chromosomes whose base sequence encodes an individual's genetic information.  

Discrete Trials:  A short, instructional train which has three distinct parts: e.g. a direction - a behaviour - a consequence.  Many discrete trial programs rely heavily on directions or commands as the signal to begin the discrete trial.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III, DSM-III-R, DSM-IV):  The official system for classification of psychological and psychiatric disorders prepared by and published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Dyspraxia:  Impaired or painful functioning in any organ.

Early Childhood Intervention (ECI):  A state-funded program that is designed to identify and treat developmental problems or other disabilities as early as possible.  Eligibility for this program begins at birth.

Echolalia:  Repeating words or phrases heard previously.  The echoing may occur immediately after hearing the word or phrase, or much later.  Delayed echolalia can occur days or weeks after hearing the word or phrase.

Electroencephalogram (EEG):  A test that uses electrodes placed on the scalp to record electrical brain activity.  It is often used to diagnose seizure disorders or to look for abnormal brain wave patterns.

Endogenous Opioid Peptides:  Implicated in the regulation of pain perception, social and emotional behaviours and motor activity.

Extrapyramidal Effects: A common side effect of neuroleptic agents (phenothiazines) affecting motor coordination, balance and movement.

Facilitated communication:  The use of a keyboard by a person with autism.  The training begins with simple questions that have predictable answers, and becomes increasingly complex with less physical support from the facilitator.  Proponents of this method argue that some people with autism eventually learn to communicate complicated thoughts, although evidence supporting this is somewhat controversial.

Fragile X Syndrome: A genetic disorder that shares many of the characteristics of autism.  Individuals  can be tested for "Fragile X" by having a karyotype (see below).

Gene: Originally defined as the physical unit of heredity, it is probably best defined as the unit of inheritance that occupies a specific locus on a chromosome, the existence of which can be confirmed by the occurrence of different allelic forms.  Genes are formed from DNA, carried on the chromosomes and are responsible for the inherited characteristics that distinguish one individual from another.  Each human individual has an estimated 100,000 separate genes.

Haloperidol: A dopamine antagonist that has been found to decrease symptoms of agitation, hyperactivity, aggression, stereotyped behaviour and affective lability.

High Functioning Autism: Individuals with autism who are not cognitively impaired are called 'high functioning'.

Hyperlexia: The ability to read at an early age.  To be hyperlexic, a child does not need to understand what he or she is reading.

Hypotonia: low muscle tone.

International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (ICD-10 currently): A numerical system used to classify diseases and disorders, including autism.  Sometimes used in conjunction with DSM criteria.

Individualized Educational Plan (IEP): A plan that identifies the student's specific learning expectations and outlines how the school will address these expectations through appropriate special education programs and services.   It also identifies the methods by which the student's progress will be reviewed.  For students 14 years or older, it must also contain a plan for the transition to postsecondary education, or the workplace, or to help the student live as independently as possible in the community.

Karyotype: The complete set of chromosomes of a cell or organism.  You must give a blood sample, and a geneticist will look at your chromosomes under a microscope, and form a picture of them.

Ketogenic Diet: A restricted diet thought to help control epileptic seizures.  Consult your physician before trying.

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome: Also known as acquired aphasia with convulsive disorder, is characterized by a progressive loss of the ability to understand language and use speech, following a period of normal speech development.  It is accompanied by seizure activity and is typically diagnosed through a sleep EEG.

Leiter International Performance Scale: A nonverbal assessment of intelligence, used primarily with children with communication difficulties.   It gives both an IQ score, and an age equivalent for the child's level of functioning.

Macrocephaly: The term used to describe the condition of having a head circumference two standard deviations above average, which translates to a clinical definition of greater than the 97^th percentile.

Mainstreaming: Placement of a disabled child with non-disabled peers in a regular classroom.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): A diagnostic technique that uses the magnetic qualities of body chemicals to produce an image of the brain.

Microcephaly: The term used to describe the condition of having a head circumference two standard deviations below average, producing an abnormally small head, and a congenitally small brain.

Neuroleptic: A drug producing analgesia, sedation, and tranquilization or a similar condition.

Neurologist: A doctor specializing in medical problems associated with the nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord.

Neurotypical: A term used for neurologically normal individuals.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Having a tendency to perform certain repetitive acts or ritualistic behaviour to relieve anxiety.

Occupational Therapist (OT): Individuals who specialize in the analysis of purposeful activity and tasks to minimize the impact of disability on independence in daily living.  The therapist then helps the family to better cope with the disorder, by adapting the environment and teaching sub-skills of the missing developmental components.

Occupational Therapy (OT): This is a therapy provided by an occupational therapist that assists in the individual’s development of fine motor skills that aid in daily living. It also can focus on sensory issues, coordination of movement, balance, and on self-help skills such as dressing, eating with a fork and spoon, grooming, etc. It can also address issues pertaining to visual perception and hand-eye coordination.

Perseveration: Repetitive movement or speech, or sticking to one idea or task, that has a compulsive quality to it.

Phenylketonuria (PKU): An inability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine that is present in many common foods.  Usually associated with a gradual development of mental retardation.

Polymorphism: The regular and simultaneous occurrence in a single interbreeding population of two or more alleles of a gene, where the frequency of the more rare alleles is greater than can be explained by recurrent mutation alone (typically greater than 1%).  The concept includes chromosome polymorphism.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan: A scanning device that uses low-dose radioactive sugar to measure brain activity.

Proprioceptive: Capable of receiving stimuli originating in muscles, tendons, and other internal tissues.

Recombination: The process of crossing over of portions of one chromosome to another during meiosis (a type of cell division).  The resulting chromosome has some of its original genes, and some of the genes from the other member of the pair.

Recombination frequency:  The frequency at which crossing over occurs between two chromosomal loci -- the probability that two loci will become unlinked during meosis.

Refrigerator Mother: Slang jargon phrase previously used to describe mothers of autistic children who acted coldly.  The phrase was used in descriptions of the Freudian psychological theory of the cause of (infantile) autism.

Residual State Autism: A DSM-III (1980) category for individuals who once met the criteria for autism, but no longer do, aside from some residual traits.  DSM-IV (1994) dropped the category.

Risperidal (generic name: Risperidone):  Risperdal, like other new antipsychotic drugs currently under development, is designed as a serotonin/dopamine antagonist. While its exact mechanism of action is not yet understood, Risperdal seems to block the action of serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain. Conventional antipsychotics seem to primarily affect only dopamine.

Secretin: A polypeptide neurotransmitter (chemical messenger), one of the hormones that controls digestion, increasing the volume and bicarbonate content of secreted pancreatic juices.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI): A class of drugs used as antidepressants.  Functionally, they increase the levels of serotonin in the body.  These drugs can be dangerous if mixed with other drugs such as other antidepressants, illicit drugs, some antihistamines, antibiotics and calcium-channel blockers.   Some examples of SSRIs are Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil.

Sensory Integration (SI): This is a term applied to the way the brain processes sensory stimulation or sensation from the body and then translates that information into specific, planned, coordinated motor activity.

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter implicated in the behavioural- physiological processes of sleep, pain and sensory perception, motor function, appetite, learning and memory.

Speech-Language Pathologist: Individuals who specialize in the area of human communication.  The focus in on communication, not speech, to increase the child's ability to impact and to understand their environment.

Stim: Short for 'self-stimulation', a term for behaviours whose sole purpose appears to be to stimulate ones senses.  Many people with autism report that some 'self-stims' may serve a regulatory function for them (ie. calming, increasing concentration, or shutting out an overwhelming sound).

 T.E.A.C.C.H. (Treatment and Education of Autism and Related Communication Handicapped Children):  This is a therapeutic approach broadly based on the idea that individuals with autism more effectively use and understand visual cues. It focuses on promotingindependence by using items such as picture schedules to break down tasks step-by-step.  This enables an individual to better comprehend and perform the task independently. This approach often aids receptive communication and sequential memory.

Theory of Mind: The ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own.  Tourette's Syndrome: both multiple motor and one or more vocal tics present with tics occurring many times a day, nearly daily, over a period of more than one year.  The onset is before age 18 and the disturbance is not due to direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition.  The disturbance causes marked distress or significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Tuberous Sclerosis: A neurocutaneous disorder characterized by mental retardation, seizures, skin lesions and intracranial lesions.  It is an autosomal dominant disorder that occurs in 1 in 7000 births.

Vineland Adaptive Behavioural Scales (VABS): A scale that assesses personal and social sufficiency of individuals from birth to adulthood.   These scales are applicable to handicapped and nonhandicapped individuals.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R): An individually administered clinical instrument for assessing the intellectual ability of adults aged 16-74.  The individual's performance on various measures is summarized in to 3 components - the verbal, perceptual-motor or performance, and the full scale IQ.  These scores provide estimates of the individual's level of functioning.  The scores are normally distributed, with a mean (average score) of 100 and a standared deviation of 15 (meaning that an average IQ is between 85 and 115).

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III): An individually administered clinical instrument for assessing the intellectual functioning of children.  The same format as the WAIS-R, except for ages 6-0 through 16-0.

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Revised (WPPSI-R): A clinical instrument similar to the WISC-III and the WAIS-R, except for children ages 3-0 to 7-0.

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