GLOSSARY Antidepressants : Psychoactive drugs used to treat depression. Antipsychotics : Psychoactive drugs used to treat schizophrenia. Applied Behaviour Analysis ( ABA): A program based on the learning theory which aims to systematically provide interventions that result in desired behaviours. Articulators: The oral anatomy responsible for moving to produce different sounds: lips, tongue, palate. Auditory processing: Processing of auditory information. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): A communication system which supplements, or in some cases, replaces the use of natural speech. Australasian Signed English: Not a language in its own right but rather an incorporation of elements from both AUSLAN and spoken English used most frequently in educating students with hearing impairments. Australian Sign Language (AUSLAN): The official language of the Australian deaf community. Autism: A marked and sustained impairment in social interaction, language and communication, and restricted or stereotyped patterns of behaviour and interest. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD): A broad term that refers to a number of disorders that have in common many of the core characteristics of autism. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD): A condition occurring in 3-4 year old children characterised by deterioration over several months of intellectual, social, and communicative functioning from previously normal behaviour. Clinician-centred: A therapy approach where all activities are decided on by the clinician’s preferences and not those of the child. Communication: The exchange or transmission of thoughts or information via speech, gestures, signs, writing, drawing, body language and behaviour. Deceleration: Decrease of velocity over time. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Text Revision) (DSM-IV-TR): A handbook published by the American Psychiatric Association, used most often in diagnosing mental disorders in many countries of the world. Directive approach: A strategy to assist the achievement of a goal through direct instruction. Discourse: Any written or spoken form of communication more than a sentence, e.g., narratives. Discrete trial training: A training and leaning strategy where learning is measured by the number of correct trials over a specific timeframe. Dizygotic twins: Twins that may be of the same or opposite sex but differ both physically and genetically. Environmental factors: Factors directly relating to the persons environment. Epidemiological studies: Study of the incidence of diseases, their control and prevention. Evidence- based: Current evidence that has stemmed from research to design intervention. Extinction: The gradual disappearance of a behaviour after it is not followed by a reinforcer. Expressive Language: The communication of thoughts, desires and intentions through speech and/or alternative or augmentative communication. Facilitative approach: A strategy to assist achievement of a goal by manipulating the environment to enable the child to be exposed to the stimulus. This is a more subtle approach than the directive approach. Fragile X: An inherited disorder caused by a defective gene on the X-chromosome which causes intellectual disability, enlarged testes, and facial abnormalities in males and mild or no effects in heterozygous females. It is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. Genetic: Affecting and/or determined by genes. Generalisation: Applying a behaviour or skill learnt in one setting to all other environments. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD-10: A detailed description of known diseases and injuries. It is published by the World Health Organization and is used world-wide for morbidity and mortality statistics. Incidence: The number of people affected at a given time in a particular area. Intervention: Interference to modify a process, action or situation. Joint attention: Two or more people focusing on the same stimulus. Language: A means to communicate messages, verbally or non-verbally. Linguistic awareness: The knowledge of how sounds can be converted into graphemes to produce words and how words can be sequenced to convey meaning. Linguistic Mapping: Putting the child’s message into expressive output. Makaton: An augmentative and alternative keyword signing system. Mand: The replacement stimulus used in functional communication training. Meta-analysis: Methodological and statistical procedures used to combine results of related quantitative studies. Monozygotic twins: Twins of the same sex and genetic constitution. Modelling: The demonstration of a behaviour so that it may be learnt vicariously by the client. Music Therapist: A qualified musician and therapist who uses music to achieve therapeutic aims. Naturalistic approach: Therapy is based on or may take place in the client’s most familiar environments. Naturalistic environment: Therapy that occurs within an environment that has not been manipulated. Negative Reinforcement: An aversive consequence is removed following a behaviour therefore increasing the probability of that behaviour occurring again. Neuro-developmental: Development relating to the brain. Neurotransmitter: Secreted by neurons, these chemicals allow synaptic transmission. Pervasive developmental disorder: A psychiatric disorder characterised by social, communicative and behavioural deficits. Phonological awareness: Knowledge of how sounds are sequenced to produce words. Psychomotor Retardation: Occurs when movements associated with mental processes are hindered. Pragmatics: The use of language in a social context. Pre-verbal: The communication stage that occurs before the child uses verbalisations as a means of communication. Proto-conversation: Primitive conversations, i.e., not fully developed. Positive Reinforcement: A desirable consequence follows a behaviour therefore increasing the probability of that behaviour occurring again. Pre-linguistic: The period before the child has gained language skills. Prevalence: The number of identified cases in a given population. Punishment: When an aversive consequence follows a behaviour and therefore decreases the probability of that behaviour occurring again. Receptive Language: The processing of language via auditory and reading comprehension. Regression: Relapse; falling back into a former state. Reinforcer: A stimulus, such as a reward or punishment that maintains or strengthens a desired response. Reinforcement: An act or process to increase the likelihood that a given response or action will reoccur in a similar situation or condition. Rett’s Disorder: A progressive neurological disorder occurring mainly in girls, characterised by autism, dementia, ataxia, and purposeless hand movements, and associated with abnormally high levels of ammonia in the blood. Routine: A regular procedure that is not varied. Scaffolding: The parent or caregiver provides the child with exposure to language related to the activity the child is participating in. Serotonin: A hormone produced by the human body that modulates mood, emotion, sleep and appetite. Shaping: Positive reinforcement is given for successive approximations of a specified behaviour, eventually resulting in production of that behaviour. Sign Language: A language using signs and gesture instead of speech to communicate. Social Interaction: A dynamic, changing sequence of social action between two or more people whose actions and reactions are modified by their interaction partners. Social Stories: A short story written in a child-specific format describing a social situation, person, skill, event, or concept in terms of relevant cues and appropriate social responses. Social Reciprocity: Playing an equal role in a social event, e.g., both initiating and responding, turn taking etc. Speech: The communication or expression of thoughts, desires and intentions via spoken words. Stimulants: Psychoactive drugs used to increase the rate of central nervous system activity. The Picture Exchange Communication System ( PECS): An augmentative and alternative communication system that involves the child learning to communicate using symbols. Theoretical framework: The process of designing intervention by using principles that are grounded in theory. Tuberous Sclerosis: An inherited disease characterised by haematomas of the brain, retina, and viscera, as well as epileptic seizures, intellectual disability, and skin nodules of the face. Turn-taking: Taking turns at the appropriate intervals in conversation or other activities. Verbal Operants: Units that Skinner described in his theory of verbal behaviour that consist of a response as well as its controlling antecedents and consequences. Visual-memory Skills: Ability to recall information presented visually.