F
Family Voices
Family Voices is a national, grassroots clearinghouse for information and
education concerning the health care of children with special health
needs. www.familyvoices.org.
FAPE
Free Appropriate Public Education. FAPE is a right of all
children who have disabilities in the United States. It is defined by
Public Law (PL) 94-142, the EHA (now PL
101-476, IDEA) as special educational and related services at public expense
(i.e. without charge); meeting the standards of approximate grade levels of the
State education agency within the context of an individualized education
program written with parental participation; and due process, including access
to judicial review to determine that the State has complied with the Act and
that the written individualized educational program is "reasonably
calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits," e.g.
achieving passing marks and grade advancement. There are also FAPE stipulations
in Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act as well as in the ADA.
FC
Facilitated
communication. FC is a method of
communication intended to help people with communication disorders to use
communication aids with their hands. The facilitator offers emotional and
physical support, often steadying the user's hand, wrist or arm as the user
points toward the communication device (often a picture board, speech
synthesizer or keyboard) For more
information, visit here.
FCC
Family Centered Care. The concept may also be refered to as family centered practice, or family directed practice. Family-centered care is
a process which focuses on ensuring that (1) the organization and
delivery of health care services meet
the emotional, social, and developmental needs of children, and (2) their
families are integrated into all aspects of the health care plan.
Family-centered care implies that families have alternatives and choices based
on their own needs and strengths and should receive support for those choices,
and that the health care system facilitates family/professional collaboration at
all levels, especially in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and
their related policies and practices. View the FCC Fact Sheet from MCHB and the AAP.
FDA
The Food and Drug Administration. FDA assures the safety of foods and cosmetics, and the
safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, biological products, and medical
devices. Established: 1906. The FDA is a public health agency of
DHHS. www.fda.gov.
FERPA
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA is
a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an
applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their
children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or
she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. For more information, visit Ed's website.
FRAXA
Fragile X Research Foundation. Founded
in 1994 by three parents of children with Fragile X to support scientific
research aimed at finding a treatment and a cure for Fragile X, FRAXA's mission
is to accelerate progress toward effective treatments and ultimately a cure for
Fragile X, by directly funding the most promising research. FRAXA also supports families affected by
Fragile X and raises awareness of this disease. www.fraxa.org.