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Dictionary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Abused
Hurt
Academic
Learning
Adolescents
Teenagers
AGM
Short for Annual General Meeting - a meeting of an organisation held once a year
Anaesthesia (Anaesthetic)
Drugs to make you sleep during an operation
Antenatal
Before a baby is born
Antibiotics
Medicines
Arthritis
Problem with joints
Audience
People who are there
Autism
A disability that can affect the way a person communicates

B

Bereavement
When someone dies
Blood screening
Checking blood
Body mass index
A chart to work out if you are overweight

C

Cataract
Lens of eye goes cloudy making it hard to see
Chromosome
Most people have 46 chromosomes. They hold the plan of the body. Babies with Down's syndrome have an extra chromosome.
Chronic respiratory condition
Serious chest problem
Citizenship
Being part of your community
Compressed
Squashed
Congenital
Something you are born with.
Contribute
Give
Cord
Nerves inside the backbone

D

Dementia
Illness in the brain which affects the way people remember and do things
Depression
Feeling sad for so long that it is a problem
Designing
Making
Diabetes
Illness caused by too much sugar in the blood
Diagnose
Identify or see
Diagnosis
Finding out what is wrong with a person
Diagnostic test
Medical check
Differentiated curriculum
Makes it easier to learn at school
Donation
Gift of money
Down's syndrome
A condition someone is born with which causes learning disabilities. Caused by an extra chromosome.
Down's Syndrome Awareness Week
Week of events which takes place once a year to tell people about Down's syndrome

E

Ear passage
Inside the ear
Efficient
How well it works
Environmental adaptations
Making changes to a building
Epilepsy
Fits
Established
Started
Expertise
Lots of information
Exploited
Used in a bad way
Extensive
Lots of

F

Facial features
What face looks like, for example shape of eyes
Foetus
Unborn baby
Funeral
Event when dead person is buried or cremated

G

Gift Aid
A way of giving money to a charity
Glue ear
Kind of ear problem
Grieve
Feel sad after someone dies
Grommets
Tubes
Gum disease
Unhealthy gums

H

Handouts
Information given to people who are learning
Health implications
How being overweight can make you ill
Hygiene
Keeping clean

I

Inland Revenue
An office of the government which deals with tax
Immunisation
Jags to stop people getting serious illnesses
Instrumental
Involved in

L

Learning disability
Slower to learn basic skills, from childhood
Learning profile
How a person learns new things
Legislation
Law
Lending library
Books for you to read and then give back
Lethargy
No energy, tiredness.
Leukaemia
Illness of the blood
Life expectancy
How long a person lives
Literacy
Reading and writing

M

Mainstream school
School for all children
Medical surveillance
Health checks
Menopause
When a womans periods stop for ever. For a few years she may have symptoms such as hot flushes, dry skin and tiredness.
Milk teeth
Child's first teeth
Miscarriage
Losing the unborn baby
Misconceptions
Wrong ideas
Motor function
Ability to move
Motor skills
Being able to move the body
Mythbuster
A training session to teach people about Down's syndrome

N

Nasal passage
Inside the nose
National Summer Olympic Games
Sporting competition held every 4 years for people with learning disabilities in Great Britain.
Numeracy
Counting

O

Occupational therapy
Giving people things to do and interests
Online Community
A place on this website to talk about issues with other people

P

Participants
People who are there
Peer
People of the same age
Periods
Womb lining of blood which comes out of a woman's vagina every four weeks
PhD
A research degree
Physiotherapy
Help with exercise and with moving the body
Press release
Information that Down's Syndrome Scotland has sent to the newspapers, radio and TV
Profound impact
Change how people think
Proportion
Amount
Protein
A compound in the body, contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen
Puberty
Teenage years, changes that happen to the body as a child becomes an adult
Publications
Leaflets and booklets

Q

Quarterly
Comes out once every three months

R

Research
Find out
Respiratory
Illness in the chest, for example cold or cough.

S

Self-esteem
Feeling happy about who you are
Sexuality
The feelings you have about being a man or a woman
Sibling
Brother or sister
Social services
Help given by a council, for example to manage at home
Special educational
School for children who need more help to learn
Special Olympics
Sporting event for people with learning disabilities
Specialise
Know a lot about
Speech and language therapy
Help with talking
Squint
Eye looks to one side
Statutory organisations
Services that are funded by the Government
Strategies
Plan how to do something
Stress
Worry
Surgical intervention
Hospital operation

T

Thyroid
Gland in the neck
Training
Helping people to learn
Transition
Moving

V

Vulnerable
Not always able to stand up for yourself

W

Whooping cough
Kind of cough that is very rare

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