Glossary of Abbreviations & Speech Jargon

 

Say what?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of using abbreviations and/or speech jargon without fully explaining what I’m referring to. I’m continuously monitoring myself, especially when talking with parents or other related service providers (e.g., physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.). I’ve listed some common speech terms and abbreviations below to get you parents up to speed on words, phrases, and abbreviations you may hear speech-language pathologists (SLPs) throw around. While this list is in no way exhaustive, I hope you find it helpful to reference.

Abbreviations:

  • AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

  • ABA: Applied Behavior Analysis

  • ASHA: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

  • CPSE: Committee on Preschool Special Education

  • DBP: Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician/Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics

  • DOE: Department of Education

  • DTTC: Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing

  • EI: Early Intervention

  • FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education

  • IEP: Individualized Education Program

  • LRE: Least Restrictive Environment

  • OT: Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapy

  • PECS: Picture Exchange Communication System

  • PCP: Primary Care Physician

  • PROMPT: Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets

  • PT: Physical Therapist/Physical Therapy

  • SEIT: Special Education Itinerant Teacher

  • SETT Framework: Student, Environments, Tasks, & Tools

  • SGD: Speech-Generating Device

  • SLP: Speech-Language Pathologist/Speech-Language Pathology

  • SW: Social Worker/Social Work

Diagnoses:

  • Aphasia: language disorder secondary to brain damage that results in difficulty understanding language, speaking, reading, and/or writing

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): impairments in both social communication and restricted/repetitive interests that negatively impact one’s ability to participate in everyday activities

  • Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): neurological motor planning speech disorder involving the areas of the brain that coordinate and sequence speech sounds. The muscles required for speech sound production are not impaired, though the message or “motor plan” is.

  • Cerebral Palsy (CP): damage to the developing brain that negatively impacts movement and muscle tone/posture

  • Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI): visual impairment due to brain damage rather than damage to the eyes

  • Dysarthria: neurological speech impairment marked by disturbances of the speech muscles involved in speed, strength, steadiness, coordination, precision, tone, and range of motion. Associated with underlying oral motor weakness.

  • Dysphagia: difficulty swallowing

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): brain damage resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head

  • Trisomy 21 (T21): genetic condition resulting from an extra 21st chromosome

Speech Jargon:

  • Aided language input/stimulation: communication strategy in which a communication partner (e.g., parent, therapist, sibling, teacher, etc.) points to symbols on an Augmentative and Alternative Communication user’s communication display as they interact with the individual verbally

  • Core vocabulary: most frequently occurring words that are consistent across speaker, age, and topic. A group of 400-500 core vocabulary words account for ~80% of the words we say on an everyday basis.

  • Echolalia: repetition of another person’s utterances; can be characterized as either immediate or delayed

  • Expressive language: use of sounds, gestures, and words to communicate

  • Fringe vocabulary: words used less frequently that are specific to a speaker or a situation. Fringe vocabulary words are typically used for requesting and account for ~20% of the words we say on an everyday basis.

  • Functional play: using an object for its intended purpose, such as pushing a car back and forth

  • Receptive language: understanding of language (e.g., identifying objects, following directions, understanding varied sentence structures, etc.)

  • Relational play: using two objects together in play, such as stacking blocks

  • Pragmatic language: social use of language

  • Pretend play: using an object in an imaginative way, such as pretending to feed a toy bear

  • Prosody: intonation of speech

  • Self-directed play: using an object towards oneself, such as pretending to feed oneself

  • Speech sound production/articulation: physical production of sounds

  • Symbolic play: using one object to represent another, such as pretending a block is a hat

 
AAC, Glossary, Language Development, Speech Evaluation, Speech TherapyAnna OllingerGlossary, Speech Therapy Jargon, Speech Therapy, Speech Evaluation, AbbreviationsComment