Glossary - F

Fading

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A procedure by which a prompt is introduced, then the prompt is slowly removed to allow the student to respond independently. This is a critical part of teaching students to learn without prompts.

Family Assessment

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A voluntary family-directed process in which service coordinators help families identify: Resources, priorities, and concerns related to the developmental needs of their infant or toddler; The supports and services that will effectively address these issues.

Family Based Services (FBS)

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Family Based Services are a time-limited, intensive, in-home mental health service prescribed by a doctor. This service is funded through insurance based on Medical Necessity Criteria (MNC) and requires that an individual is Medical Assistance eligible. A team of two masters-level therapists provides intensive intervention from family-systems perspective (improving child and family well-being). Case management, respite, and 24 hour emergency on-call services are included in this service.

FAPE

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Free Appropriate Public Education

Federal Quota Act

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The Federal Quota Act promotes the education of the blind by providing funds for adapted educational materials for eligible students who meet the definition of blindness.

Fee-for-Service (FFS)

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Fee-for-service is a health insurance plan that allows the plan holder to make almost all health care decisions independently. The plan holder pays for a service, submits a claim to the insurance company, and, if the service is covered in the policy, receives reimbursement. Fee-for-service plans often have higher deductibles or co-pay than managed care plans.

Fine Motor Control

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Delicate and intricate movements, as in writing or playing a piano.

Finger Spelling

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Finger spelling refers to the use of manual letters to spell proper nouns and words for which there are no sign language representations. Every letter of the alphabet has a manual representation or handshape.

Fluency

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The ability to perform a task rapidly, smoothly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics.

Fluency

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The smooth, uninterrupted, effortless flow of speech; speech that is not hindered by excessive dysfluencies; associated with stuttering.

Fluency with connected text

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The ability to read connected text with accuracy, speed, and appropriate intonation such that little conscious attention is directed to the process of decoding. Fundamental skills are so automatic that the reader is able to focus attention on the meaning/message of the text. Fluent oral reading includes appropriate pausing and expression, sounding much like conversational speech.

FM system

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an assistive listening device that transmits the speaker’s voice via a microphone to an electronic receiver in which the sound is amplified and transmitted to the student’s personal hearing aid or cochlear implant through direct audio input or through a loop cord worn around the neck. This reduces the problems of background noise interference and distance from speaker.

Formative Evaluations

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Collecting and analyzing data to focus on what’s working and what needs to be improved

Foster Care

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Foster Family Care is temporary care for children who are unable to remain in their own homes and are placed in the custody of the county children and youth agency by the courts. Children often live with foster parents during this time. Foster parents are individuals who are committed to providing a safe, temporary home for children who have been abused and neglected and are unable to remain living in their own homes. Both public and private foster family care agencies recruit foster parents to provide these services for children.

Frontal Lobe

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The front part of the brain. This is the area involved in movement, planning, reasoning, organizing, problem solving, learning new information, speaking fluently, and personality.

Full Inclusion

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Full inclusion is used by some to mean the inclusion of a student with a disability in every academic and non-academic activity in a regular classroom, without exception. ᅠ Such an inflexible approach, however, limits the educational opportunities available for individual students. ᅠ This approach denies a child their right to accessing the continuum of placements, deemed appropriate by the IEP team.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)

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An analysis of challenging behaviors designed to determine what human or environment factors are causing the behavior to occur and continue, and can be used to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of behavior intervention plans.

Functional Blindness

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A condition in which some useful vision may or may not be present. In such cases, individuals use tactile and auditory channels most effectively for learning.

Functional Vision Assessment:

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An assessment of a student’s use of vision in a variety of tasks and settings, including measures of near and distance vision, visual fields, eye movements, and responses to specific environmental characteristics, such as light and color. The assessment report includes recommendations for instructional procedures, modifications or adaptations, and additional tests.

Functional vision:

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The ability to use vision in planning and performing a task.

Functional Vocational Assessment

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An evaluation that provides information about job or career interests, aptitudes, and skills. It can be a combination of standardized and performance-based measures and should indicate what a student can do and can learn, and should be performed in a natural setting.