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Object Permanence 

Awareness that an object is relatively permanent and is not destroyed if removed from sight.

Objective 

A smaller, more manageable learning task that a child must master as a step toward achieving an annual goal. Objectives break the skills described in the annual goal into discrete components that, when mastered, allow the child to successfully obtain the goal.

Obstruents 

Obstruents, shown on the PVM Chart below, are consonants made by obstructing the airstream.

Obstruents
Occlusion 

Relationship between the various surfaces of the upper and lower teeth.

Occupational Therapist 

Provides evaluation and treatment of daily living skills for individuals with disabilities. Therapy emphasizes remediation of or compensation for perceptual, sensory, visual-motor, fine-motor, and self-care deficits.

Occupational Therapy 

Related service; includes therapy to remediate fine motor skills.

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) 

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) understands the many challenges still facing individuals with disabilities and their families. Therefore, OSERS is committed to improving results and outcomes for people with disabilities of all ages. OSERS supports programs that serve millions of children, youth and adults with disabilities.

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) 

Office of Special Education Programs is part of the U.S. Department of Education. OSEP provides leadership and support for professionals working with children with disabilities. Another critical role of OSEP is to protect the educational rights of children with disabilities from age three through twenty-one. OSEP is supervised by the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Education through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Ophthalmologist 

A physician specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye.

Oral 

Refers to spoken language; or can refer to the mouth.

Oral Cavity 

In speech, the mouth.

Oral Deaf Education 

An approach based on the principal that most deaf and hard-of-hearing children can be taught to listen and speak with early intervention and consistent training to develop their hearing potential. The goal is for these children to grow up to become independent, participating citizens in mainstream society. Also known as Auditory / Oral Education.

Oral Interpreter 

See Oral Transliterator.

Oral Language Difficulties 

A person with oral language difficulties may exhibit poor vocabulary, listening comprehension, or grammatical abilities for his or her age.

Oral Motor 

Referring to the oral motor structures for speech, e.g., lips, tongue, teeth, palate, larynx, and so forth.

Oral Motor Disorder 

Difficulties with muscle function and/or motor planning that affect the individual’s ability to eat, drink or speak.

Oral Motor Therapy 

Oral Motor Therapy is a highly specialized area of Speech Language Pathology. There are hundreds of difficulties that can be overcome by performing Oral Motor Therapy, some of them include a deviate swallow, tongue thrust, non-verbal communication, basic and complex feeding difficulties.

Oral Peripheral Examination 

Inspection of the mouth to determine its structural and functional adequacy for speech and chewing/swallowing. Also known as an Oral Motor Examination.

Oral Placement Therapy 

Oral Placement Therapy involves all different levels of treatment. The nonverbal child often needs strengthening, sensitization, or sometimes desensitization to be able to use the same muscles for speech production. By working during eating or in play activities, we can achieve these goals in a natural fashion. Individuals with articulation or phonological disorders often had training or retraining of muscle groups in order to achieve a correct sound placement.

Oral Transliterator 

Communicates the words of a speaker or group of speakers to an individual who is deaf by inaudibly mouthing what is said so that it can be read on the lips.

Organic 

The cause of impairment is known.

Orientation and Mobility Services 

Related service; includes services to visually impaired students that enable students to move safely at home, school, and community.

Orthographic Knowledge 

The understanding that the sounds in a language are represented by written or printed symbols.

Orthopedic Impairment 

Disability category under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; orthopedic impairment that adversely affects child’s educational performance.

Orton-Gillingham 

A multisensory approach to remediating dyslexia created by Dr. Samuel Orton, a neuro-psychiatrist and pathologist, and Anna Gillingham, an educator and psychologist.

Ossicles 

Three tiny bones (the Incus, Malleus and Stapes) in the middle ear.

Other Educational Agency 

A joint vocational school district; department; division; bureau; office; institution; board; commission; committee; authority; or other state or local agency, other than a school district or an agency administered by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, that provides or seeks to provide special education or related services to children with disabilities.

Other Health Impairment 

Disability category under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; refers to limited strength, vitality or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems that adversely affects educational performance.

Otitis Media 

Inflammation of the middle ear, occurring commonly in children as a result of infection and often causing pain and temporary hearing loss.

Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) 

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is commonly called ‘otitis media’, ‘glue ear’, ‘middle ear disease’ or ‘middle ear infection’.

Otolaryngologist 

A medical doctor specializing in problems of the ear, nose, and throat. Sometimes referred to as an ENT doctor. Also known as an Otorhinolaryngologist.

Otologist 

A physician who specializes in medical problems of the ear.

Overlearning 

Practice or repetition of a skill past the point necessary for retention or recall; permits the response to become automatic or internalized, and permits a shift from the representational level (conscious or cognitive) to the subconscious or habitual level; e.g., syntax and language must be automatic if they are to be used effectively.