sped = special ed (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

As a modifier (all cites from Newsbank):

Union-News (Springfield, MA) - Wednesday, December 11, 1991 p. 18
""It's not unusual to have the SPED director position combined with
other administrative positions in a school system of less than 4,000
students," she said yesterday."

Recorder, The (Greenfield, MA) - Friday, January 23, 1998 p. 1
"New Salem resident John Coolidge, a lawyer by trade, has become a
full-time SPED parent raising three adopted children from Costa Rica,
all of whom have special needs."

Georgetown Record (MA) - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 p. unk (from
Newsbank)
" "To me the challenging part of being a SPED parent is trying to find
out exactly what you need and what will be appropriate and helpful for
your child," she said."


As a noun:

New York Times, The (NY) - Sunday, August 9, 1987 p. 26 col 1
"Slang expressions were exchanged. Our "nerds" are their " speds ." "

Post-Tribune (IN) - Sunday, December 10, 1989 p B1

" They're teased on the buses and at schools, and the other students
call them ' speds .'"

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Amy West
> Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:06 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: sped = special ed
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
> Subject:      sped = special ed
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> This is a colloquial shortening and blending that I've heard used by
> other parents, but now just spotted in the local paper:
>
> "Look how much we've done for this kid. He's a great kid. We want the
> best for him. No matter what we do it's like BAM! BAM! Obstacle,
> obstacle, obstacle. So I jump over that one, jump over that one, jump
> over that one. It's like that for any sped parent." -- Dorothy Odgren
> quoted re: her son John Odgren, in "'It seemed there was nothing we
> could do,'" Lee Hammel, _Sunday Telegram (Worcester, MA)_, 27 June
> 2010.
>
> What's interesting is its application to someone indirectly involved
> with special education services -- the student and service providers
> are
> directly involved, one receiving and one giving. "Sped parent" is
> standing for "parent of a special education student."
>
> --
> ---Amy West
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org