Commonly Used Acronyms

← Go Back

504 = Section 504 of the Rehab Act

ACAA = Air Carrier Access Act
ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act
ADI = Assistance Dogs International (publishes the “little blue law book”), or less frequently the Assistance Dog Institute (now called Bergin University)
AG = Attorney General
AGO = Attorney General’s Office
AKC = American Kennel Club
ALF = Assisted Living Facility
AS = Asperger’s Syndrome
ASD = Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASL = American Sign Language
ATTS = American Temperament Test Society

BAER = Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response, a test of deafness in dogs
BPD = Bi-polar disorder/Borderline personality disorder
BSL = breed specific legislation/British Sign Language

C/T = Click / Treat (clicker training)
CCI = Canine Companions for Independence
CD = Companion Dog, AKC’s novice obedience title
CERF = Canine Eye Registration Foundation
CFR = Codes of Federal Regulation
CGC = Canine Good Citizen program/test (AKC)
CGN = Canine Good Neighbor program/test (CKC)
CI = Cochlear implant
CKC = Canadian Kennel Club
CLOT = Clueless Owner Trainer (as opposed to an owner trainer who knows what they are doing)
CP = Cerebral palsy

DOJ = Department Of Justice (public access complaints)
DOT = Department of Transportation (air travel access complaints)

EEOC = Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (workplace access complaints)
ESA = Emotional Support Animal

FHA = Fair Housing Act (non-discrimination in housing)
FHAA = Fair Housing Amendments Act (added new protected classes, including PWDs)
FOIA = Freedom of Information Act

GDB = Guide Dogs for the Blind
GDV = Gastric Dilation Volvus (Bloat–a life threatening condition)
GEB = Guiding Eyes for the Blind
GL = Gentle Leader (type of training aid that is a headcollar)
GSD = German Shepherd Dog (or sometimes Glycogen Storage Disorder)

HA = Hearing aid
HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (US federal privacy laws for patients)
HOH = hard of hearing
HRC = Human Rights Commission
HUD = Housing and Urban Development (housing access complaints)

IAADP = International Association of Assistance Dog Partners
IDEA = Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
ILC = Independent Living Center (see also SIL)

JAWS = Job Access With Speech (a computer program that allows blind people to access what’s on the screen using computer-generated speech or a braille display)

MD = Medical doctor/muscular dystrophy
MI = Mental illness
MOP = Member of Public
MS = Multiple Sclerosis
MWD = Military War Dog

NILF = Nothing In Life Is Free (a training method in which the dog must work for what it wants)

O&M = Orientation and Mobility training (a type of training for blind, and occasionally, autistic, people to teach them how to move safely and efficiently through their environment to get where they need to go)
OFA = Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (for hip/elbow certifications against dysplasia)
OT = owner trained/occupational therapy

P- = negative punishment
P+ = positive punishment
PAT = Public Access Test
PCCM = Primary Care Case Management
PCP = Primary Care Physician
PL = Public Law
PSD = Psychiatric Service Dog
PSE = Pigeon Signed English
PT = physical therapy
PWD = Person with a Disability (or sometimes Portuguese Water Dog)

R- = negative reinforcement
R+ = positive reinforcement

SA = Service Animal
SCOTUS = Supreme Court of the United States
SD = Service Dog
SDID = Service Dog – Invisible Disability
SDIT = Service Dog In Training
SEE = Signed Exact English
SH = Service Human (a human attendant standing in for a service dog)
SIL = Services for Independent Living (see also ILC)
SPD = Sensory Processing disorder
SSA = Social Security Administration
SSDI = Social Security Disability Income
SSI = Supplemental Security Income

TAB = Temporarily Able Bodied (the non-disabled)
TBI = Traumatic Brain Injury
TDI = Therapy Dogs International (NOT a service dog program)
TS = Tourette Syndrome
TSA = Transportation Safety Administration
TT = Temperament Tested (the ATTS temperament title)
TTS = Text to Speech (software the reads text aloud)

U-CD = the UKC’s equivalent of the AKC’s CD
UKC = United Kennel Club
USC = US Code

VI = visually impaired

W/C = Wheelchair

← Go Back