Glossary

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Socratic Questioning

A disciplined, dialogue-based teaching method that uses probing questions to help learners examine assumptions, consider alternatives, and reason through problems rather than receive direct answers. Named after the philosopher Socrates, it is widely used in critical-thinking…

Special Education(also: Special Needs Education, SPED)

Educational programs, services, and instruction specifically designed to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities. Special education encompasses a range of settings from fully inclusive classrooms with support services to specialized separate schools. In India,…

Special Educational Needs(also: SEN, Special Needs Education, Special Education)

An educational framework referring to children who experience difficulties in learning that require additional or different educational provision. SEN encompasses a broad range of conditions including cognitive disabilities, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, emotional…

Special Interest Areas(also: SIAs, Circumscribed Interests, Intense Interests)

Special interest areas (SIAs) refer to the intense, focused interests that are characteristic of many autistic individuals. While traditionally viewed through a deficit lens as "restricted" or "repetitive" behaviours, strengths-based approaches recognize SIAs as powerful…

Special Interests(also: Restricted Interests, Intense Interests)

Special interests are focused, intense, and often enduring areas of passion commonly observed in autistic children and adults - such as trains, dinosaurs, specific cartoon characters, or numerical systems. Once framed deficit-wise in diagnostic criteria as "restricted…

Structured Discovery(also: Structured Discovery Learning)

A teaching approach used in vision rehabilitation where instructors refrain from hand-over-hand guidance, instead encouraging blind students to work through tasks independently and develop problem-solving skills on their own. In adaptive cooking instruction, Structured Discovery…

Students as Partners(also: SaP, Student Partnership)

A sector-wide approach in higher education that elevates student voice by enabling students to have a collaborative, meaningful input into their university experience through a values-led approach. In disability and accessibility contexts, Students as Partners is particularly…

Swell Form(also: Capsule Paper, Microcapsule Paper, Swell Touch Paper)

A tactile graphics production method using special heat-sensitive paper coated with microcapsules. When black ink is printed on the paper and passed through a heating machine, the dark areas absorb heat and swell, creating raised tactile surfaces. Swell Form is commonly used in…

Swift Playgrounds(also: Apple Swift Playgrounds)

A hybrid block-based and text-based programming environment developed by Apple for iPad and Mac that teaches coding using the Swift programming language. Swift Playgrounds is notable in the accessibility education space because it integrates with VoiceOver, includes tactile maps…

Symbiotic Learning

Symbiotic Learning is a conceptual framing introduced by Jiang et al. (CHI 2026) describing a mode of mixed-ability family learning in which parents and children mutually enable each other's participation and development through AI-mediated communication. Rather than positioning…

Synchronous Communication(also: Real-Time Communication, Live Communication)

Communication that occurs in real time, requiring all participants to be present simultaneously. In digital contexts, this includes video conferencing, live chat, instant messaging, and real-time collaboration tools. While synchronous communication fosters immediacy and social…

Synthetic Phonics(also: Phonics, Systematic Phonics)

A method of teaching reading that emphasises learning the sounds (phonemes) associated with letters and letter combinations, then blending those sounds together to form words. Unlike analytic phonics, which starts with whole words and breaks them down, synthetic phonics builds…

TEACCH(also: Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-Handicapped Children)

A comprehensive, evidence-based programme for supporting people with autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan, developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rather than a single method, TEACCH is a framework that uses structured teaching — organising the…

Tactile Aid(also: Tactile Learning Aid, Tactile Tool)

A physical object designed to convey information through touch, used to make visual or abstract concepts accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Tactile aids can include raised-line drawings, textured surfaces, 3D-printed models, and laser-cut representations of…

Tactile Animation(also: Animated Tactile Graphics, Tactile Motion Graphics)

A sequence of tactile images displayed over time on a refreshable tactile display to convey motion, change, or dynamic processes through touch. Unlike static tactile graphics, tactile animations allow blind and low-vision users to perceive movement, temporal progression, and…

Tactile Data Comics(also: TDC)

A presentation method for accessible education that combines step-by-step tactile graphics on a refreshable tactile display with synchronized verbal narration. Inspired by visual data comics, tactile data comics decompose complex images into sequential frames that progressively…

Tactile Diagram(also: Raised Diagram, Embossed Diagram)

A diagram rendered in a tactile format that can be explored through touch, typically using raised lines, textures, and Braille labels on special paper or thermoform plastic. Tactile diagrams are essential for teaching STEM concepts to students with vision impairments,…

Tactile Graphicacy(also: Tactile Literacy, Tactile Reading Skills)

The learned ability to read, interpret, and create meaning from tactile images, maps, diagrams, and graphics through touch. Just as visual graphicacy is developed through exposure to visual images, tactile graphicacy requires practice with a wide range of tactile materials and…

Tactile Image(also: Tactile Graphic, Tactile Picture, Touch Image)

A tactile image is a raised or textured representation of a visual image designed to be perceived through touch rather than sight. Tactile images can be produced through various methods including embossing, swell paper (microcapsule paper), Braille printers, thermoforming, and…

Tactile Learning(also: Haptic Learning, Touch-Based Learning)

An educational approach that uses the sense of touch to convey information, explore concepts, and develop understanding. For blind and low vision learners, tactile learning encompasses reading Braille, exploring raised-line diagrams, manipulating physical models, and using…

Tactile Learning Material(also: Tactile Teaching Aid, Hands-On Learning Material)

Physical educational materials designed to be explored through touch, enabling students with vision impairments to understand concepts that are typically presented visually. Tactile learning materials include raised-line diagrams, 3D models, textured maps, manipulable math…

Tactile Literacy(also: Tactile Reading Skills)

The ability to interpret, understand, and create information conveyed through the sense of touch, including the skills needed to read tactile graphics, maps, diagrams, braille, and other raised representations. Like visual literacy, tactile literacy must be developed…

Tactile Modeling(also: Tactile Demonstration, Touch Demonstration)

A body movement teaching technique where a blind or low vision student explores and inspects a demonstrator's body position through touch, allowing them to understand poses, movements, and form that would typically be learned through visual observation. Unlike physical guidance…

Tactile Modelling(also: Tactile Demonstration, Touch-Based Instruction)

A teaching technique used in movement and dance education for blind and low-vision learners, where the student physically explores the teacher's body position by touch to understand the shape, form, and spatial relationships of a pose or movement. While effective for…

Tactile graphic production(also: Tactile image creation, Accessible graphic transcription)

The process of converting visual images — such as textbook diagrams, charts, maps, and illustrations — into raised tactile representations that can be explored by touch. Production methods include swell paper (microcapsule paper heated to raise printed lines), embossing,…

Tactile graphics(also: Raised-line graphics, Touch graphics)

Physical representations of visual information using raised surfaces, textures, and patterns that can be explored through touch. Tactile graphics are essential for conveying spatial and graphical information — maps, charts, diagrams, mathematical graphs — to blind and visually…

Tactile learning(also: Haptic learning, Touch-based learning)

An educational approach that uses the sense of touch as a primary channel for acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and understanding concepts. For BLV students, tactile learning is essential — braille reading, tactile diagrams, physical manipulatives, and hands-on crafts like…

Tangible Programming(also: Physical Programming, Tangible Coding, Tactile Programming)

A programming approach that uses physical objects — such as blocks, cards, or robots — that users can manipulate with their hands to create programs, rather than typing code or dragging on-screen elements. Tangible programming is particularly valuable for students with visual…

Taylor Frame(also: Taylor Mathematical Slate, Taylor Slate, Math Frame)

A tactile tool used by visually impaired students to perform arithmetic calculations. The device consists of a rectangular board with rows of holes into which small lead or plastic bars are inserted. Each bar has notched ends representing digits 0-9, which users identify by…

Teach Access

A collaborative initiative bringing together technology companies, academic institutions, and advocacy organizations to advance accessibility education. Teach Access provides resources, curriculum materials, and community connections to help educators integrate accessibility…

Teacher of Blind Students(also: TBS, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, TVI)

A specially licensed educator trained to teach students who are blind or have low vision. TBSs provide instruction in the expanded core curriculum, which includes Braille literacy, orientation and mobility concepts, assistive technology skills, and self-advocacy. Research…

Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments(also: TVI, Vision Teacher, Teacher of the Visually Impaired)

A specialized educator certified to teach students who are blind or have low vision, providing instruction in the expanded core curriculum including braille literacy, orientation and mobility concepts, assistive technology use, and daily living skills. TVIs work in school…

Teacher of the Visually Impaired(also: TVI, Vision Teacher, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments)

A specialized educator trained to work with students who are blind or have low vision, providing instruction in skills such as Braille, use of assistive technology, orientation and mobility, and adapting educational materials for visual accessibility. In music education, TVIs…

Teacher with Vision Impairment(also: TVI, Visually Impaired Teacher, Blind Teacher)

An educator who is blind or has low vision and teaches in educational settings, often in schools for the blind where they share the lived experience of their students. TVIs are particularly prominent in the Global South, where residential schools for the blind employ significant…

Tech support for older adults(also: Senior tech support, Elder tech assistance)

The provision of guidance, troubleshooting, and learning resources to help older adults use digital technologies effectively. Research identifies two key dimensions: self-reliant support (online tutorials, video guides, built-in help features, trial-and-error) and social support…

Technology Empowerment(also: User Empowerment, Disability Technology Empowerment)

An approach to accessibility that goes beyond user-centered design to actively train and support people with disabilities to become technology creators, developers, and researchers rather than solely consumers of assistive technology. Coined by Richard Ladner, technology…

Technology Readiness(also: Tech Readiness, Digital Readiness)

The degree to which an individual, organization, or system is prepared to effectively adopt and use new technologies, encompassing infrastructure availability, digital literacy, institutional support, and attitudinal acceptance. Research with TVIs in India reveals that…

Telepresence robot(also: Telepresence, Remote presence robot)

A mobile robotic device that enables a remote user to have a physical presence in a distant location, typically featuring a screen displaying the user's face, a camera, microphone, speaker, and wheels for navigation. In educational and workplace accessibility contexts,…

Thermoform(also: Vacuum-Formed Plastic, Thermoform Duplicator)

A method of producing tactile images and braille copies by heating a thin sheet of plastic and vacuum-forming it over a master copy (typically an embossed original) to create a durable raised-line reproduction. Thermoform machines heat plastic sheets and use vacuum pressure to…

Transition Period(also: School-to-Adult Transition, Transition Services)

In disability services, the transition period refers to the years during which a young person with a disability moves from school-based supports into adult life. In the United States, school systems are legally required to provide full-time services to students with disabilities…

Typhlology(also: Typhlopedagogy)

The study and science of blindness and visual impairment, encompassing education, rehabilitation, and support methods for people who are blind or have low vision. Typhlology draws on knowledge from education, psychology, medicine, and assistive technology to develop teaching…

Unidirectional Support(also: One-Way Support, Asymmetric Support)

A pattern of assistance in which support flows in only one direction—from a helper to a recipient—without opportunities for feedback, mutual contribution, or reciprocal engagement. In disability contexts, unidirectional support characterizes many accommodation models where…

Universal Design for Learning(also: UDL)

An educational framework based on neuroscience research that guides the design of flexible learning experiences to accommodate individual learning differences. UDL provides three core principles: multiple means of engagement (the "why" of learning), multiple means of…

Universal design for learning(also: UDL)

An educational framework based on research in the learning sciences that guides the development of flexible learning experiences to accommodate individual learning differences. UDL provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression, ensuring that…

Video Modelling(also: Video Modeling, Video Self-Modelling)

Video modelling is a teaching strategy that uses video recordings to demonstrate desired behaviours, skills, or social interactions, which the viewer can then observe and imitate. In autism education, video modelling is particularly effective because it leverages the visual…

Video accessibility(also: Accessible video, Video a11y)

The practice of making video content perceivable, operable, and understandable for people with disabilities. This encompasses captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, audio descriptions for blind users, visual enhancements for low-vision users, and controls that work with…

Video modeling(also: Video-based modeling, Video self-modeling)

An evidence-based instructional strategy that uses video recordings to demonstrate target behaviors, social skills, or task sequences, which the viewer then imitates. For children with autism, video modeling leverages often-strong visual processing abilities to teach social…

Virtual Learning Environment(also: VLE, Learning Management System, LMS)

A web-based platform designed to support teaching and learning by providing tools for content delivery, communication, assessment, and course management. Virtual learning environments typically include features such as discussion forums, assignment submission, gradebooks, and…

Visual Dispersion(also: Visual Attention Splitting, Gaze Switching)

The challenge faced by deaf and hard of hearing individuals when they must divide their visual attention between multiple simultaneous information sources, such as a speech-to-text display, presentation slides, a whiteboard, and the speaker. Unlike hearing individuals who can…

Visual Literacy

The ability to interpret, evaluate, and create visual messages and content. Visual literacy encompasses understanding visual conventions (like color symbolism, composition rules, and typographic hierarchies), evaluating the aesthetic quality and effectiveness of visual…