DisAbility Glossary

The disability sector uses many acronyms, terms and phrases that you may have never come across before. It can feel very overwhelming as you learn to navigate this space.

This glossary is an active work in progress that Team EmployAbility will constantly add too. We have included medical, disability, employment acronyms, as well as phrases you may hear in the workplace.

ABI	Acquired Brain Injury
ABT	Active Based Therapy
ADE	Australian Disability Enterprise
ASCED	Australian Standard Classification of Education
AT	Assistant technology
BEC	Building Employer Confidence
CAPT	Continuous Accessible Path of Travel
CHI	Closed Head Injury
COGNITION	The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
COMORBIDITY	The simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
D&I	Diversity & Inclusion
DD	Developmental Delays
DEN	Disability Employee Network
DES	Centrelink Program: Disability Employment Program
DISC	Disability Inclusion Status Check aka Disability Inclusion Action Plan
DMS	Disability Management Service
DRC	Disability Royal Commission
EA	EmployAbility
EC	Employment Coach
EJP	Employment Journey Plan
ERG	Employee Resource Group
ESS	Employment Support Service
FPDN	First Peoples Disability Network
GDD	Global Developmental Delay
HYPERSOMNIA	Excessive Sleepiness
ID	Intellectual Disability
ILO	Independent Living Options
JD	Job Description
LIVED EXPERIENCE	A person’s own experience of living with a disability or having a close relationship with someone with disability, e.g. a family member or partner.
LMS	Learning Management Systems
MAIN JOB	The job in which a person usually works the most hours.
NDAP	National Disability Advocacy Program
NDIS	National Disability Insurance Scheme
NEDA	National Ethnic Alliance
PD	Position Description
PPE	Principal Pedestrian Entrance
PTA	Post Traumatic Amnesia: a state of confusion that occurs immediately following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in which the injured person is disoriented and unable to remember events that occur after the injury. The person may be unable to state their name, where they are and/or what the time is.
S&C	Strength & Conditioning
SCI	Spinal Cord Injury
SCIA	Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
SDA	Specialist Disability Accommodation
SDM	Supported Decision Making
SIL	Supported Independent Living
TBI	Traumatic Brain Injury
TL	Team Leader
TSP	Typical Support Package
WORK PLACE ACCOMMODATIONS	An adjustment to a work environment e.g. specialised equipment, extra time to complete tasks etc
WWC or WWCC	Working With Children or Working With Children Check