N

In by ferociousdigital

Narrative 

Ability to describe events in a sequential, chronologically correct, and logically consistent manner.

Nasal Emission 

Airflow through the nose, usually audible and indicative of an incomplete seal between the nasal and oral cavities; typical of cleft palate speech.

Nasal/’The Nasals’ 

‘Nasal’ means relating to the nose, e.g., ‘nasal consonant’, ‘nasal resonance’, ‘hypernasal’, ‘hyponasal’. Nasal consonants, commonly called ‘the nasals’, are made with air escaping only through the nose. To produce nasals the soft palate must be lowered to let air escape past it and down the nose. At the same time the soft palate must close off the opening to the oral cavity to prevent air from escaping through it. Children with cleft palate cannot do either, so their palates must be surgically repaired. There are three nasal consonants in English /m/ as in ‘rum’, /n/ as in ‘run’ and ‘ng’ as in ‘rung’.

Nasal/’The Nasals’
Nasality 

General symptom classification that includes all voices that acoustically have an excessive nasal component.

Native Language 

Language normally used by the child’s parents.

Natural Language 

Language acquired primarily through the accessible sensory channel(s).

Natural Reinforcer 

A stimulus that naturally occurs in an environment and maintains or increases a specific desired response or behavior. Natural reinforcers are often associated with social situations.

Natural Environment Teaching (NET) 

Involves generalizing skills acquired in ITT, as well as teaching new skills and appropriate play by using the activities of interest to the client in the natural environment.

Near Minimal Pair 

Near minimal pairs occur in syllable structure contrasts, e.g., back-black, an-ant, up-cup, tinkle-twinkle, bee-bees, and relate to the inclusion or exclusion of a consonant. See Minimal Pair.

Negation 

Denial or refusal that may be noted in syntax or semantics; e.g., no, not.

Negative Self-Talk 

Inner dialogue that includes a mix of negative thoughts, partial truths and distortions of reality that continue to bring about negative emotions including those of guilt, fear, anxiety and pessimism. These thoughts are often self-sabotaging and negatively affect a person. This dialogue can appear in times of increased stress or emotional turmoil.

Neural Control 

Control of various muscle groups initiated by electrical signals generated between the nerve cells in the brain.

Neural Pathways 

Bundles of neurons that connect one part of the nervous system with another.

Neurogenic 

Controlled by or arising from the nervous system.

Neurologist 

Physician specializing in evaluating and treating disorders of the nervous system.

Neuroplasticity 

The ability of the brain to heal itself or grow. It is the ability of the human brain to make changes and adapt in reaction to environmental cues, experiences, behavior, injury and/or disease.

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) 

The NCLB is the Federal law that requires school accountability for student achievement, including the hiring and placement of highly qualified teachers in all core curriculum subjects. Every school must meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards, which are monitored by the state and reported to parents on an annual basis.

Non-Developmental Patterns 

Non-developmental patterns or non-developmental processes are speech simplifications produced by children that are not found in typical development. They include Initial consonant deletion (ICD is found in the typical development of Finnish, French and possibly Hebrew), Intrusive consonants, Backing (stops, fricatives, affricates), Denasalization, Devoicing of stops, Sound preference substitutions (Systematic sound preference), Deletion of unmarked cluster element, Glottal replacement and Final vowel addition. See Developmental Patterns.

Non-Discriminatory Evaluation and Identification for Special Education 

An evaluation given to determine whether a student has a disability and, if so, whether they qualify for special education services. This evaluation tests a certain educational area instead of being a general test of intelligence. The purpose of the assessment is to make sure that the student is placed in the appropriate educational setting. In addition to standardized tests, the evaluation also reviews other information including observations of physical development, culture, language and adaptive behaviors in order to place each student appropriately.

Non-Fluent Aphasia 

Aphasia that affects speech output, causing the speaker to speak in slow, labored speech and in shorter phrases. The person is still able to understand speech and read well, however writing is challenging.

Non-Functional Routines 

Repeated actions or behaviors that appear to not have a purpose. Children with ASD may place purpose in what appears to be senseless routines.

Non-Literal Language 

Language which requires prior world knowledge. It is based on words which usually have several meanings or which don’t make sense in combination with the other words used e.g. idioms.

Non-Public School Agency (NPA) 

An approved, but unrelated, agency that provides a service to meet the needs/demands of a public school system.

Non-Verbal 

Without words.

Non-Verbal Behaviors 

Acts performed by people in order to convey or exchange information without the use of speech. May include eye gaze, facial expressions, body posture, and gestures.

Non-Verbal Communication 

The parts of communication which are not verbally language based, but which rely on the individual’s understanding or use of gesture, body language, facial expression, eye contact etc.

Non-Verbal Learning Disability 

A specific pattern of neuropsychological assets and deficits that eventuates in the following: a specific pattern of relative assets and deficits in academic (well-developed single-word reading and spelling relative to mechanical arithmetic) and social (e.g., more efficient use of verbal than nonverbal information in social situations) learning; specific, developmentally dependent patterns of psychosocial functioning.

Non-Verbal Learning Disorders 

These are neurologically based syndromes describing specific assets and deficits. The assets include early speech and language development, strong rote memory skills, attention to detail, and early reading and spelling skills. The deficits include motoric problems with coordination, balance, and graphomotor skills; visual spatial organizational problems; social deficits in their ability to comprehend nonverbal communication/gestures and deficits in social judgment; and sensory difficulties in any of the sensory modes–visual, auditory, tactile, taste, and olfactory (i.e., smell). Executive functioning skills are usually weak (planning, organizing, sequencing, initiating, emotional regulation, and impulse control).

Non-Verbal Skills 

This is how a person can communicate messages without the use of spoken language. Non-verbal skills include eye contact, turn taking, gesture, facial expression, body language etc.

Non-Vocal 

Without voice.

Noonan’s Syndrome 

“A grouping of specific abnormalities affecting both males and females, both sporadic in appearance but also reflecting a hereditary component (thought to be autosomal dominant). Symptoms may include webbed neck, sternum abnormalities (pectus excavatum, occasionally pectus carinatum), sagging eyelids (ptosis), wide-set eyes (hypertelorism), low-set abnormally shaped ears, undescended testicles, delayed puberty, mental retardation, short stature, and small penis.”

Norm-Referenced 

A comparison that is usually based on others of the same gender and similar age.

Norm-Referenced Assessment 

A type of assessment that compares an individual child’s score against the scores of other children who have previously taken the same assessment. With a norm-referenced assessment, the child’s raw score can be converted into a comparative score such as a percentile rank or a standard score.

Norm-Referenced Test 

This refers to an assessment that has been used on a population of individuals that has similar characteristics as the individual being tested. Normed tests very often refer to a broad population of individuals who have been tested with the same instrument, according to age and/or grade. But there are other considerations as well; for instance, a test normed on a population of Spanish-speaking children may not accurately identify a language delay in an English-speaking child.

Notetaker 

One who writes notes for the deaf or hard-of-hearing persons in various settings such as the classroom or in the office.

Numeracy 

A person’s ability to use math effectively in his/her everyday life. It involves using mathematics to make sense of the world. See Acalculia.