Topics that address the various needs of individuals with disabilities across the lifespan as they pertain to living in the community.
Aging and retirement
Aging and retirement, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses issues pertaining to individuals with disabilities who are aging, aging adults who have acquired a disability, and/or adults with disabilities retiring from employment.
Assistive/adaptive technology
Assistive/adaptive technology, in the context of community living, refers to devices or equipment used to maintain or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities living in the community.{'
'}<em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/83">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/49">Employment and postsecondary education</Link>.</em>
Civil rights
Civil rights, as addressed by the Institute, are efforts to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities expressly enumerated by the U.S. Constitution are upheld.
Community supports and services
Community supports and services, as addressed by the Institute, includes supports and services provided in the community to assist individuals with disabilities at varying ages in achieving their goals.
Consumer/self-directed services
Consumer/self-direct services are those services, including Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (waiver), where funding is provided to the person who makes their own choices about what types of services to spend those resources on and/or selects the staff who provide those services.
Faith communities
Faith communities, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses ways in which groups of people who belong to a particular church or religious group are including people with disabilities in their practices and activities.
Friendships and social relationships
Friendships and social relationships, as addressed by the Institute, include strategies for supporting children, youth and adults with disabilities to establish healthy personal relationships and participate in social circles.
ISP development
The Individualized Service Plan (ISP) specifies the goals and interventions and delineates the activities and services in response to the unique needs of the person with a disability for whom the plan is written.
Parenting and family relationships
The Institute focuses on supporting healthy family relationships in families with a child with a disability, including (but not limited to) those between siblings and between parents and children.
Person-centered planning and practices
Person-centered planning and practices focus on and center around the interests and needs of the person being served. They also emphasize the persons strengths and dreams rather than weaknesses or deficits.
Positive behavior support
Positive behavior support in context of the community is a means for improving quality of life and reducing occurrences of problem behavior, typically through doing a functional assessment and subsequent behavior support plan. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/111">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link> and also <Link to="/topics/view/65">Mental health supports</Link>.</em>
Quality outcomes
Quality outcomes, in this context, is ensuring that community services result in people with disabilities and their families having the greatest end result. (Also referred to as quality enhancement, quality assurance, or continuous quality improvement.)
Recreation and leisure
Recreation and leisure, as addressed by the Institute, is about providing people with disabilities the opportunity to have enjoyable, satisfying, and non-compulsory activities in various settings, particularly side-by-side among their non-disabled peers.
Self-advocacy and self-determination
Self-advocacy and self-determination are two distinct, yet related terms. Self-advocacy is when a person is advocating on their own behalf, whereas self-determination is when a person is able to control aspects of their life that are important to them.
Social inclusion
Social inclusion, as addressed by the Institute, is when people with and without disabilities are socializing and otherwise enjoying a positive social experience together. The practice of social inclusion is offering these opportunities.
Support coordination and case management
Support coordination and case management is making certain that, for those people requiring services from multiple providers, the services are coordinated and well managed.
Transportation
The Institute addresses the transportation needs of people with disabilities across the lifespan.
Culture and diversity
Topics that address the specific and general cultural issues to consider among individuals with disabilities and/or those at-risk and their families from various backgrounds.
American Indians
The Institute offers culturally-relevant and sensitive educational models, programs, and resources to help American Indian students succeed in school (emphasis on K12 but also in postsecondary), as well as in the workplace.
Cultural competence
The Institute addresses the importance of equipping professionals to deliver services to people with disabilities and/or those at-risk, and their families, in a culturally sensitive and appropriate manner.
English language learners (ELLs)
The Institute identifies instructional strategies and educational policies that support the educational success of English language learners (ELLs) and limited English proficient (LEP) learners with and without disabilities in K-12 schools.
Immigrants
The Institute focuses on positively impacting immigrants with disabilities - those who have immigrated to the United States - and their families, in home, school, and community settings.
International initiatives
The Institute supports quality services and supports for people with disabilities and their families around the world through various international initiatives.
Other cultural groups
The Institute addresses the importance of providing culturally competent supports to people with disabilities and their families from Latino, African American, and other cultural/ethnic communities.
Somalis
The Institute offers a variety of resources of use to families, k-12 and early childhood educators, health care providers, and others involved with Somali children and youth.
Women
The Institute addresses issues unique to women with disabilities, particularly in regard to education and employment.
Direct support workforce
Topics that address recruiting, training, supervising, supporting and keeping qualified individuals to provide direct supports to individuals with disabilities.
Human resources and management
The Institute addresses how human resources staff can better manage direct support professionals to better serve people with disabilities.
Retention and recruitment
The Institute addresses how to attract and keep high quality direct support professionals to serve people with disabilities.
Supervision and mentoring
The Institute addresses how to supervise and mentor direct support professionals to better serve people with disabilities.
Training
The Institute addresses the importance of (and/or offers) training for direct support professionals to help them acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes to help them better serve people with disabilities.
Workforce development strategies
The Institute addresses strategies and interventions to help employers find, hire, and retain high quality direct support professionals and frontline supervisors.
Early education and development
Topics that address the education and developmental needs of young children from birth to age 8.
Child development
Child development encompasses the various stages of physical, social, and psychological growth among young children, starting at birth through approximately age eight (as addressed at the Institute).
Early childhood education
Early childhood education consists of activities and/or experiences that are intended to promote a child's development (including children with and without disabilities) prior to entering elementary school.
Early childhood screening and assessment
Early screening and assessment is about identifying children who may have a developmental delay or a particular disability (or who may need further evaluation to determine this) and assessing their developmental or educational needs.
Early childhood transition
Early childhood transition is about promoting successful transitions between infant/toddler programs, preschool programs, and public school programs for young children with disabilities and their families.
Early intervention
Early intervention is a range of services for children with disabilities under the age of three, and the families who care for them.
Early literacy
Early literacy is the development of language and literacy skills among young children with or without disabilities.
Early social/emotional development
Early social/emotional development encompasses strategies for supporting the social and/or emotional development of young children with disabilities, including those exhibiting challenging behaviors. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/111">Positive behavior supports (Education practices)</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/22">Positive behavior supports (Community life)</Link>.</em>
Family engagement
Family engagement in early education and development is when parents and/or other family members support the development of an infant or toddler with a disability, either independently or in collaboration with early childhood professionals. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/81">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link></em>.
IFSP development
The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), as mandated by the <Link to="/topics/view/76">IDEA</Link>, is a plan to guide the early intervention process for infants and toddlers (birth to age 3) with disabilities and their families. The Institute addresses ways to develop and implement the IFSP to best serve the child and his/her family.
Infant and early childhood mental health
Infant and early childhood mental health is a methodology for promoting the mental health of young children with and without disabilities from birth to the year they enter kindergarten.
Natural environments
Natural environments are home and community locations in which children would naturally be if they did not have a disability. The <Link to="/topics/view/76">IDEA</Link> requires that early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities are provided in such natural environments.
Progress monitoring
Progress monitoring is a scientifically based practice that is used to assess children's academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. The Institute addresses ways to improve progress monitoring techniques and measurements among preschool and school-age children. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/79">Educational accountability and assessment</Link>.</em>
Education practices (K12 and transition)
Topics that address the specific K-12 educational practices and strategies, including transition-related practices, to enhance outcomes for students with disabilities.
Academic standards
Academic standards are statements that indicate what students should know and be able to do and/or how well students must perform to be considered proficient. The Institute addresses strategies to help students with disabilities meet academic standards.
Accommodations and supports
Accommodations and supports, in this context, are adaptations, accommodations, and modifications provided to students with disabilities to help them succeed in the school environment. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/70">Educational accountability and assessment</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/48">Employment and postsecondary education</Link>.</em>
Arts integration
Arts integration is an approach to teaching that uses the arts to teach academic content.
Assistive/adaptive technology
Assistive/adaptive technology, in the educational context, refers to devices or equipment used to maintain or improve the functional capabilities of students with disabilities in educational settings. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/49">Employment and postsecondary education</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/6">Community life</Link>.</em>
Dropout prevention and student engagement
Dropout prevention, as addressed by the Institute, is best achieved through fostering students' engagement in school and with learning so that they become motivated to stay in school.
Family engagement
Family engagement in the education context is when parents and/or other family members support the social, emotional, physical, academic, and occupational growth of children and youth with disabilities, either independently or in collaboration with professionals. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/113">Early education and development</Link></em>.
IEP development
The Individualized Education Program (IEP), as mandated by the <Link to="/topics/view/76">IDEA</Link>, is a plan to help students with disabilities achieve educational goals and ultimately, to graduate high school. The Institute addresses various aspects of IEP development and implementation. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/91">Transition planning</Link>.</em>
Inclusive education
Inclusive education, as addressed by the Institute, is the practice of educating students with disabilities in regular classrooms whenever possible and socially integrating them into the school community.
Inclusive service learning
Inclusive service learning is giving students with disabilities the opportunity to learn through service to the community. Service learning integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
Instructional strategies
Instructional strategies are teaching methods adapted to the specific learning needs of individual students and/or learning abilities. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/79">Progress monitoring</Link>.</em>
Literacy
Literacy, as addressed by the Institute, is the ability of children to read and write, especially for those at-risk and/or with a disability. Literacy is critical to one's educational success and eventual independence and vocational success.
Mentoring of youth
Youth mentoring, as addressed by the Institute, is when experienced adults have a forum to share their knowledge and/or wisdom with youth with disabilities to support their professional growth and development and to benefit the overall community. The Institute focuses on both traditional mentoring and electronic or e-mentoring.
Paraprofessional and teacher development
The Institute addresses the importance of (and/or offers) training for paraprofessionals and teachers to help them acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes to help them better educate students with disabilities.
Positive behavior support
Positive behavior support in educational settings is an approach to improve social competence and academic achievement through preventing problem behavior and developing pro-social skills. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/22">Community life</Link>.</em>
Student learning strategies
Student learning strategies, as addressed by the Institute, are tools or techniques used by students with disabilities to enable them to successfully approach new learning situations and to complete school assignments independently.
Transition planning
Transition planning, in context of secondary education, encompasses strategies to help adolescents and young adults with disabilities move into adulthood and plan for life after high school. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/97">IEP development</Link>.</em>
Youth development and leadership
Youth development is a process that prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them gain skills and competencies. Youth leadership is part of that process.
Educational accountability and assessment
Topics that address the connection made between the process of holding school professionals responsible for the appropriate instruction of all students, and an important source of evidence that indicates the degree to which all students are learning.
Accessibility & Accommodations
Accommodations and supports
Accommodations and supports, in this context, are changes made to classroom and testing materials and procedures to help students with disabilities learn and participate in large-scale assessments on a level playing field with students without disabilities. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/110">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/48">Employment and postsecondary education</Link>.</em>
Accountability
Accountability, in the context of education, typically refers to school professionals taking responsibility for the performance of students on achievement tests or other types of educational outcomes (e.g., graduation rates).
Alternate Assessments
Assessment (large-scale, alternate)
Large-scale assessments are tests that are given to a large student body, and include district-wide and state-wide testing. Alternate assessments are types of large-scale assessments that are used to evaluate the performance of students with disabilities who are unable to participate in general state assessments even with accommodations.
Assessment of individuals
The assessment of individuals encompasses all strategies for testing individuals with disabilities in one-on-one settings.
Graduation requirements pertain to required coursework and tests students must complete (and pass) in order to graduate from high school.
Educator Evaluation
English Learners
English Learners with Disabilities
Evaluation of education programs
The evaluation of education programs involves any models, methods, and practices that assess the success of an educational program or activity.
Flexibility Waivers
IDEA
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the U.S. federal law that guarantees all children with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE).
Instruction
Intellectual/Cognitive Disability
Learning disabilities
Out-of-Level Testing
Parents & Families
Policy
Progress monitoring
Progress monitoring is a scientifically based practice that is used to assess children's academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. The Institute addresses ways to improve progress monitoring techniques and measurements among preschool and school-age children. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/46">Early education and development</Link>.</em>
Public reporting
Public reporting, in this context, refers to the reporting of educational results to the general public that help ensure that public schools are accountable for helping students, including those with disabilities, meet higher educational standards.
Quality outcomes
Quality outcomes, in the context of education, refers to educational outcomes based on specific objectives set by a larger group, usually a governing body.
SSIPs/SIMRs
Standards and Accountability
Standards-based IEPs
State Performance Plans and Annual Performance Reports (SPP/APR)
State Performance Plans (SPP) and Annual Performance Reports (APR) are federal reports that describe how each state will improve educational results for students with disabilities and comply with <Link to="/topics/view/76">IDEA</Link>.
State Surveys
Students with Disabilities
Teacher Evaluation
Technology-based Assessments
Test Design
Test Security
Universal Design
Employment and postsecondary education
Topics that address employment issues and access to and success in postsecondary education among individuals with disabilities.
Accommodations and supports
Accommodations and supports, as they pertain to employment and postsecondary education, are adaptations, accommodations and modifications provided to people with disabilities in the workplace and/or in higher education. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/70">Educational accountability and assessment</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/110">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link>.</em>
Assistive/adaptive technology
Assistive/adaptive technology, in this context, refers to devices or equipment used to maintain or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities in employment or postsecondary settings. <em>See same topic in <Link to="/topics/view/83">Education practices (K12 and transition)</Link> and <Link to="/topics/view/6">Community life</Link>.</em>
Career preparation
Career preparation, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses career development services for people with disabilities to help them make educational, training, and occupational choices and to help them manage their careers.
Customized employment
Customized employment is a process for individualizing the employment relationship by matching the unique strengths, needs, and interests of the job seeker or employee with a disability with those of the employer (or self-employment business).
Day training and habilitation
Day training and habilitation are supports to help adults with disabilities develop life skills and independence through engaging in community and/or work activities of their own choosing (i.e., community employment, work services, vocational training, recreational/leisure activities, community integration activities).
Employment and workforce development
Employment and workforce development of people with disabilities, as addressed by the Institute, is best achieved through helping job seekers obtain a quality education, training, job recruitment, and job placement.
Postsecondary education
Postsecondary education, as addressed by the Institute, refers to the particular challenges faced by students with disabilities in gaining access to and succeeding in all levels of higher education (universities, community colleges, trade schools, etc.).
Preparing for postsecondary education
Preparing for postsecondary education, from the perspective of a student with a disability, involves becoming informed regarding differences in laws and expectations, acquiring new skills, and planning ahead in the <Link to="/topics/view/97">IEP</Link>. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/50">Career preparation</Link>.</em>
Supported employment
Supported employment programs offer people with disabilities the opportunity to have a competitive job in an integrated workplace by providing assistance, such as a job coach, specialized job training, individually tailored supervision, and more.
Vocational rehabilitation
Vocational rehabilitation is a nationwide program that helps people with disabilities find employment, whether they simply need a job to pay the bills or want to find more meaningful, long-term careers.
Work-based learning
Work-based learning offers youth and adults with disabilities meaningful and engaging educational opportunities by connecting classroom learning to learning on job sites in the community, such as with internships, workplace mentoring, service learning, and other strategies.
Health and safety
Topics that address the health and safety needs of individuals with disabilities. <br />{'
'}<em>See also <Link to="/topics/browse/12">Specific disability topics</Link>.</em>
Child welfare
Child welfare services for children and young people with disabilities typically include foster care, adoption services, and other services aimed at protecting children and supporting family stability.
Emergency/disaster preparedness
Emergency/disaster preparedness, as addressed by the Institute, is a set of strategies for communities, organizations, families, and individuals to better prepare for emergencies such that people with disabilities and those who care for them are protected.
Health and wellness
Health and wellness, as addressed at the Institute, are ways foster the health and well-being of people with disabilities.
Healthcare
Healthcare, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses ways to improve the treatment and management of illness and preservation of health among people with disabilities.
Judicial system
The judicial system, as addressed by the Institute, encompasses assurances that youth and adults with disabilities are appropriately served through the system of law courts that administer justice and constitute the judicial branch of government.
Mental health supports
Mental health supports are supports provided to individuals suffering from mental health conditions, including but not limited to anxiety, depression, mood, and schizophrenia disorders, and in this instance, relating to disability. <em>See also <Link to="/topics/view/104">Mental health/chemical dependency</Link>.</em>
Housing and residential services
Topics that address the places in which people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) live, and the funding that supports these places.
Community group residential
Community group residential settings include homes with less than seven residents with disabilities, including those supported by Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (waiver) and intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ICF/MRs).
Consumer/self-directed services
Consumer/self-direct services are those services, including Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (waiver), where funding is provided to the person who makes their own choices about what types of services to spend those resources on and/or selects the staff who provide those services.
Family supports/in-home services
Family supports/in-home services are services provided to people with disabilities in their home that they own or rent or in a home owned or rented by a family member. Includes semi-independent living services (SILS), home health, personal care, Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (waiver), and consumer/self-directed services.
Housing access
Housing access includes strategies for helping people with disabilities find affordable and accessible places to live, such as housing, accessible housing stock, and shelters for the homeless.
Institutions and deinstitutionalization
Institutional residential settings are large congregate settings with seven or more people, such as nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ICF/MRs), assisted living, and others. Deinstitutionalization is moving people with disabilities from institutional settings into small community settings.
Medicaid services (residential)
Medicaid residential services include community residential, Intermediate Care Facilities, State Plan Services as well as services and supports funded by one or more of the Medicaid Home and Community Based Waivers.
International initiatives
Assessment
Disability advocacy
Inclusive education
Program area
All grants and contracts that come into ICI are lead by Principal Investigators and staff affiliated with various program areas and centers within ICI. The program areas represent where and by whom this work is completed. Each program area carries out various projects that involve core activities and services (e.g. research, program development and evaluation, training). Combined, the core program areas conduct work that is across the life course, including: early intervention, school age, transition, adult and older adult.
Specific disability
Topics that address different types of disabilities.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental disability that causes problems with social interaction and communication. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C1%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Emotional/behavioral disorder (EBD)
Emotional/behavioral disorder (EBD) is defined by IDEA under "emotional disturbance" as a condition exhibiting one or more <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C4%2C">specific emotional and/or behavioral difficulties</a> over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C4%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Hearing and/or vision loss
Hearing and/or vision loss includes any impairments to hearing and/or eye sight, including deafness, blindness, and deaf-blindness.
Intellectual/developmental disability (IDD)
Developmental disability is a severe, chronic disability due to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments that start before a person is 22 years old, are expected to continue indefinitely, result in substantial functional limitations in major life activities, and reflect the person's need for lifelong individualized support or assistance. <em>See more <a href="/welcome/definition.html">About Developmental Disabilities</a>.</em>
Learning disabilities
Learning disabilities, as defined by IDEA, means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C10%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Mental health and/or chemical dependency
Mental illness describes a broad range of mental and emotional conditions, typically among adults with disabilities, in this context. Chemical dependency describes the compulsive use of chemicals (drugs or alcohol) and the inability to stop using them.
Multiple disabilities
Multiple disabilities means two or more impairments occurring at the same time. In education terms, it references how the combination of which causes such significant educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C7%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Other health impairment
Other health impairments, as defined by <Link to="/topics/view/76">IDEA</Link>, are conditions that cause limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic health problems; and that negatively affect the person's educational performance. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C9%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Physical disability
A physical disability, as defined by IDEA, is a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. However, it is not limited to education, in this context. See <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cregs%2C300%2CA%2C300%252E8%2Cc%2C8%2C">IDEA definition</a>.
Specific life stage
Topics that address the needs of individuals with disabilities at different ages and stages in their lives.
Adolescents and young adults
For the Institute, this life stage includes transition-aged adolescents and young adults with disabilities approximately age fourteen to twenty four.
Adults
For the Institute, the adult life stage includes adults with disabilities approximately aged twenty five to sixty five.
Children
For the Institute, this includes children with disabilities or at-risk children, approximately age five through fourteen.
Early childhood
For the Institute, the early childhood life stage includes newborns, infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities or at-risk, as well as children up to eight years of age.
Seniors
For the Institute, the senior life stage includes adults with disabilities who are seniors, or over sixty five years of age.
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