(View ASL)
- Accessibility
- The prevention and removal of barriers (physical, attitudinal, technological, or systemic) to allow equitable participation for persons with disabilities or others who experience barriers to accessibility (as written in NS Post Secondary Accessibility framework).
- APSEA
- Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority.
- APSEA Centre
- The buildings located at 5940 South Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- Access Technology
- An item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.
- ASL
- American Sign Language.
- Autism
- Having autism (formally called autism spectrum disorder) means that a person’s brain processes information, including information about their environment, in another way. The autistic person’s brain has physically developed differently than a neurotypical brain. Autism can give a person both strengths and challenges. Autism is considered an example of neurodiversity (Autism Nova Scotia).
- BVI
- Blind or visually impaired.
- Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- International human rights treaty signed March 2007 at the United Nations General Assembly.
- Deaf
- A sociological term referring to those individuals who are medically deaf or hard of hearing who identify with and participate in the culture, society, and language of Deaf people, which is based on Sign language (Canadian Association of the Deaf).
- deaf
- a medical/audiological term for people who have little or no functional hearing and that may be used as a collective noun to refer to people who are medically deaf but who do not identify with the Deaf community.
- DHH
- Deaf and or hard of hearing.
- Educational partners
- Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education and Prince Edward Island Department of Education and Early Years and the school districts they are accountable for.
- Lived experience
- Perspectives generally referring to the knowledge generated by persons with disabilities and others who experience barriers to accessibility that emerges from lived experience, community connections, knowledge traditions, and scholarly activities that are typically under-valued and under-represented (as written in NS Post Secondary Accessibility framework).
- Functional Vision Learning Media Assessment (FVLMA)
- An assessment of a student’s functional vision in the classroom as well as the student’s preferred learning medium (auditory/visual/tactile).
- Hard of hearing (HoH)
- People with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe.
- Humanware
- Manufacturer of blindness and low vision products.
- Education support teacher
- An APSEA employee who is a teacher that provides specialized supports.
- Langue des signes du Québec (LSQ)
- Form of sign language used primarily in francophone communities in Canada.
- Learners
- Students and youth receiving supports from APSEA.
- Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC)
- A program that rates, certifies, and showcases accessible public buildings.
- Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Standard
- To achieve the RHC Accessibility Certified Gold standard, an existing site must “have a public entrance and all its key functional spaces and amenities…be physically accessible for everyone” (Rick Hansen Certification, 2018).
- SET3 Assessment
- An acronym that stands for Student, Environment, Tasks, Tools, and Training. This Access Technology (AT) assessment is used to determine if/how technology could support a student’s independence/efficiency in completing specific tasks.