Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Grip age
A summary of the relationship between a child’s growth and the statistical average for a child of the same size and sex; if a child of six has gripping power normally seen in a seven-year-old, that child’s grip age is seven.
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Grasping reflex
The automatic response of a baby to clutch any object placed in his or her palm; a type of primitive reflex found only in babies and normally disappearing in the first few months of life.
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Grandparent’s rights
The legally supported ability of grand¬ parents to visit their grandchildren even if the parents have separated or divorced. In practice, many parents wish to continue relationships between grandparent and grandchild, but some do not, and their attempt to bar such contact has led to a great deal of lobbying for legal protection of grandparents’…
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Grade-equivalen
A score indicating how a student’s performance on a test ranks in terms of the average performance of students of various grades on the same or a similar test. For example, if the norm for students in the fifth month of seventh grade is a score of 85 on a particular test, and your sixth-grader…
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Gifted child
A child who has very superior abilities, especially in academic areas, but also sometimes in artistic or athletic fields. It is widely agreed that such children have special needs and benefit most from adapted education programs. However, the definition of “gifted” varies widely. The classic early description focused on a gifted child’s special combination of…
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Genu varum
An abnormality in which the legs bend outward at the knees; medical parlance for “bowlegs.” Congenital deformity in which the lower legs are bent away from the midline; also known as bowleg.
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Genu valgum
An abnormality in which the legs bend inward, with the knees close together; medical parlance for “knock- knees.” Congenital deformity in which the lower legs are bent medially; also known as knock-knee. Abnormal incurving of the legs, resulting in excessive separation of the feet when the knees are in contact. The medical term for knock-knee…
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Genetic inheritance
The pattern by which information is passed from parents to child, creating a unique individual. The basic units of inheritance are genes, molecules of DNA in a cell’s nucleus that are organized in linear sequence on 23 threadlike pairs of structures called chromosomes. One pair, the sex chromosomes, determines the new being’s gender. A normal…
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Functional skills
Skills necessary to everyday life, a term especially used in special education to identify skills that a child with handicaps must learn or forever be dependent on others to perform, such as brushing teeth or writing a check; sometimes called survival skills. A school program that focuses on such skills may be called a functional…
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Functional curriculum
A type of curriculum that focuses on teaching self-help skills for everyday life, aiming to increase the independence of students with severe handicaps; also called an adapted or differential curriculum.
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