Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

assisted suicide
Deliberate hastening of death
performed by a terminally ill patient, with assistance
from a physician, a family member, or another indi-
vidual. See also 
active euthanasia.
assistive device
A device that is designed, made,
or adapted to help a person perform a particular
task. For example, canes, crutches, walkers, wheel-
chairs, and shower chairs are all assistive devices.
See also 
assistive technology.
assistive technology
An assistive device or, more
commonly, some kind of electronic or computerized
device that helps a disabled person to function more
easily in the world. Examples of assistive technology
include devices that allow people to control a com-
puter with the mouth, keyboards that can “speak”
for mute individuals, and closed-captioning systems
that help the hearing impaired enjoy television
shows and videos. See also 
augmentative commu-
nication device.
association 1
In the study of birth defects (dys-
morphology), the nonrandom occurrence in two or
more individuals of a pattern of multiple anomalies
not known to be a malformation syndrome (such as
Down syndrome), a malformation sequence of
events, or a field defect, in which all the defects are
concentrated in one particular area of the body. An
example of an association in dysmorphology is the
VATER association.
2
In genetics, the occurrence
together of two or more characteristics more often
than would be expected by chance alone.
Association is to be distinguished from linkage. An
example of association involves a feature on the sur-
face of white blood cells, the human leukocyte anti-
gen (HLA) type. HLA type B-27 is associated with an
increased risk for a number of diseases, including
ankylosing spondylitis.