PaTTAN’s Family Support Specialists and other staff aid families in understanding the special education process, share information and resources, and work with state agencies who support families like yours. PaTTAN encourages partnerships among families, schools, and communities to foster success for all children.

In order for the IEP team to QUALIFY a child for services, the student must be found to have one of these 13 categories of special education AND it must adversely affect their educational performance. View the categories at UnderstandingSpecialEducation.com.

The following list from UnderstandingSpecialEducation.com contains special education terms, definitions and acronyms that are commonly used by schools during the IEP process.

PA Families Inc. (PFI) is a not for profit Statewide Family Network providing support to families raising children and youth with emotional, behavioral, and special needs, as well as serving as an advocate in the different child serving systems. They provide a thorough glossary of special education terms.