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= **Welcome to "The Words We Use" - A Multi-Agency Glossary ** = = = **__Purpose __ ** The purpose of this project is to develop a tool for collaboration for those of us from various educational systems and support agencies, working to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities. **__Invitation to Contribute __ ** In the middle of a recent conversation with a counselor from Michigan Rehabilitation Services, I suddenly realized we weren’t talking the same language when we used the word “student”. I was referring to students enrolled in the K-12 system. He was including youth and young adults who began on his caseload as K-12 enrolled, but had left the K-12 system. The impact of this discrepancy for data collection and planning was huge. We come from different professional fields, with terminology specific to the work we do. While we often use the same words, their meaning may not be the same to all of us. This creates a communication barrier to collaboration. The intent of this project is not to determine one “right” definition for the terminology we use, but to inform each other of the differences in their definition. We invite you to contribute both terminology and their meaning to your field so we can all better understand the Words We Use as we work together to improve the lives of those we serve.