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Glossary

School-Based Therapy Terms, Decoded.

Plain-English definitions of the acronyms, frameworks, and concepts that run special education and school therapy. Bookmark this page — you'll need it.

Behavior Compliance Data Discipline Documentation Legal School-Based Therapy Special Education Speech-Language

Behavior

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
A structured process for figuring out why a student is engaging in a problem behavior — what triggers it and what reinforces it — so a behavior plan can address the function, not just the symptom.
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)
A written plan that outlines strategies to address a student's behavior, typically built from an FBA. Includes prevention strategies, replacement behaviors, and response procedures.

Compliance

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
The federal law that protects sensitive patient health information. Therapy software handling student records must meet HIPAA security and privacy requirements.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
A contract between a healthcare provider and a software vendor (or other service provider) that handles protected health information. HIPAA requires a BAA before sharing PHI with a third party.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. School-based therapists must understand both HIPAA and FERPA — they overlap and sometimes conflict.

Data

Trial-by-Trial Data Collection
A data collection method where the therapist records a + or − for every opportunity a student has to perform a target skill. Best for discrete skills like articulation or sight words.
Time Sampling
A data collection method where the therapist checks whether a behavior is happening at fixed time intervals (e.g., every 30 seconds), rather than counting every instance.

Discipline

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)
A licensed professional who evaluates and treats communication, language, speech, voice, and swallowing disorders. In schools, SLPs serve students with articulation, language, fluency, and AAC needs.
Occupational Therapist (OT)
A licensed professional who helps students develop the skills needed for daily activities — fine motor, sensory processing, self-care, and classroom participation.
Physical Therapist (PT)
A licensed professional who helps students with gross motor, mobility, posture, balance, and accessing their school environment.

Documentation

SOAP Note
A widely used clinical note format: Subjective (what the patient or student says or shows), Objective (what the therapist observes or measures), Assessment (clinical interpretation), and Plan (next steps).

School-Based Therapy

Service Support Agreement (SSA)
A document that authorizes a specific amount of therapy service for a specific student over a defined period. Tracks the relationship between authorized minutes and delivered minutes.

Special Education

Individualized Education Program (IEP)
A legally binding plan for a student with a disability who qualifies for special education. It documents the student's present level of performance, annual goals, services they will receive, and how progress will be measured.
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
The early-intervention equivalent of an IEP, used for children from birth through age 2. It centers the family as the unit of service rather than just the child.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
The principle that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. It shapes where therapy services are delivered.
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP)
The IEP section that describes what the student can currently do across academic and functional domains. It's the baseline that all goals are written against.
Local Education Agency (LEA)
A school district or similar local public authority that operates schools. The LEA is the entity legally responsible for delivering FAPE.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
A multi-tier approach to identifying and supporting students with learning needs. Often the first step before referral for special education evaluation.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
A framework that integrates academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports across tiers of intensity. RTI is typically a subset of MTSS.

Speech-Language

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Tools and strategies that supplement or replace speech for people who have difficulty with verbal communication — anything from picture exchange systems to high-tech speech-generating devices.

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