A
ABA: Applied behavioral analysis, discrete-trial training
ABC: Aberrant Behavior Checklist
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADOS: Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale
Apraxia: a complete inability to perform coordinated or sequenced movements, in the absence of motor paralysis
ASD: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), ASD is best defined as a neurobehavioral symptom-complex with three core features, 1) impairments in reciprocal-social interaction, 2) impairments in social-communication and 3) a relatively restricted and stereotyped pattern of behavioral interests and activities.

Behavioral symptom-complex: a constellation of behavioral and developmental features that often cluster together
 

Co-morbidity: having more than a single medical or neurobehavioral condition at the same time
Cognitive: Intellectual
Cognitive Rigidity: an inflexible approach to doing things
 

Dual Diagnosis: intellectual disability and co-occurring psychiatric or neurobehavioral condition
DBD-NOS: Disruptive Behavior Disorder - not otherwise specified
DSM-V: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Dyskinesia: a disorder of motor control affecting voluntary movement
Dysplasia: abnormal development in shape and size, especially at the cellular level
Dyspraxia: a partial inability to perform coordinated or sequenced movements
 

EEG: Electroencephalogram Functional behavioral assessment/analysis
Executive Function: High level “executive’ control functions: inhibition, flexibility, emotional control, working memory, organization, and planning
Externalizing Behaviors: behaviors directed externally toward the environment or others
 

FBA: Functional behavioral assessment/analysis, a method for analyzing the function of behavior and the factors that may trigger, reinforce or maintain the behavior in a specific setting
 

Gyrus: a bump or hill on the surface of the brain (cortex)
 

Hyperthyroidism: excessive thyroid hormone level
Hypothyroidism: a decreased thyroid hormone (T4) level
 

IEP: Individualized education plan
ID: Intellectual disability
IFSP: Individualized family support plan
Internalizing Behaviors: feeling or behaviors directed inwardly toward one’s self
IS: Infantile Spasms
 

N/A
 

N/A
 

N/A
 

Maladaptive behavior: behavior which interferes with adapting to the demands of a given social or environmental setting
Myelination: a process of covering the axon (part of the nerve cell) with a sheet of myelin (a fatty insulation material)
Myoclonic seizures: synchronous, small, recurring twitches generally occurring in the fingers and hands and associated with chronic seizure disorders
 

N/A
 

Occiput: the back of the head
ODD: Oppositional Defiant Disorder
OSA: Obstructive Sleep Apnea
 

PDD: Pervasive Developmental Disorder; when a child fails to meet critical threshold on all 3 core-criteria for autism, yet all the essential elements are present at some level (term retired from use in 2013 when DSM-V was published)
PSG: Polysomnogram
 

RSCDD: Reiss Scales for Children’s Dual Diagnoses
 

Sensory aversion: any sensory stimuli resulting in avoidance that may be perceived as noxious or discomforting
Sleep apnea: sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts
SMD: stereotypic movement disorder
Stereotypy: constantly repeated movements such as arm flapping
Sulcus: a groove or furrow, especially one separating the gyri (hills) on the surface of the brain (cortex)
 

Trisomy 21: an extra copy of chromosome 21, typically in every cell in the body