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Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders (Characteristics of…
Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Understanding Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Development of the Field of Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Several factors made it challenging to study children with emotional and behavior disorders.
First, no consistent set of terms existed to describe these children. Their disorders were called such intimidating names as dementia praecox, catatonia, paranoia, childhood schizophrenia, and juvenile insanity.
Second, in many cases, mental illness and intellectual disabilities were still confused and addressed as though they were a single disorder.
Third, professionals were reluctant to openly admit that children could have mental illness because this view contradicted the long held perspective that only adults were affected. Mental illness also was still sometimes associated with evil or satanic possession, making it seem unethical to assign this diagnosis to children.
Definitions of Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Federal Definition
a conditionexhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
Criticism of the Federal Definition of Emotional Disturbance
First, they argued that the five criteria in the definition were not supported by research.
Second, they noted that the reference to educational performance too narrowly focused on academic learning, excluding the important but indirect social curriculum of education.
The coalition maintained that the exclusionary clause concerning social maladjustment was unnecessarily confusing and that the intent was to exclude only juvenile delinquents, not all students with this disorder.
The term emotional or behavioral disorder means a disability characterized by behavioral or emotional responses in school so different from appropriate age, cultural, or ethnic norms that they adversely affect educational performance. Educational performance includes academic, social, vocational, and personal skills. Such a disability
is more than a temporary, expected response to stressful events in the environment;
is consistently exhibited in two different settings, at least one of which is school-related; and
is unresponsive to direct intervention in general education or the child’s condition is such that general education interventions would be insufficient.
Emotional and behavioral disorders can co-exist with other disabilities. This category may include children or youth with schizophrenic disorders, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, or other sustained disorders of conduct or adjustment when they adversely affect educational performance in accordance with section
Other Considerations in Defining Emotional and Behavior Disorders
disruptive, impulsive control, and conduct disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), mood disorders such as persistent depressive disorder, and feeding and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.
Prevalence of Emotional and Behavior Disorders
fifth-largest disability category
As with both learning disabilities and ADHD, far more males than females are diagnosed at school as having emotional and behavior disorders.
Causes of Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Biological Factors
some studies report that children with a parent who has schizophrenia, an adult mental illness, are much more likely than other children to develop this disorder
Psychosocial Factors
Chronic stress
Stressful life events. Two of the most common examples are the death of a parent or primary caregiver and divorce. However, other stressful life events also can affect children. One common example is when children witness violence in homes or their communities.
Childhood maltreatment. Children who are physically or psychologically abused are at greater risk of developing emotional or behavior disorders.
Additional family factors. Other family problems also can influence children and possibly cause emotional and behavior disorders. For example, research suggests that when a parent is depressed, he or she may lack the motivation and energy to use effective child-rearing practices, and the children in the household thus will be at risk. Peers may also play a role; if extreme sibling rivalry develops, emotional problems can result.
Making Sense of the Factors Contributing to Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Trends and Issues Affecting the Field of Emotional and Behavior Disorders
The Problem of Access
far fewer students receive treatment than the number of students who need it
20% of the approximately 14 million youth who have mental illness receive treatment and that 90% of those who commit suicide have an untreated emotional or behavior disorder
For some families, access requires unthinkable sacrifices. In order to access Medicaid services that can provide mental health interventions, families that make enough money to survive but too much to be eligible must relinquish custody of their children. In using what has been called a psychiatric lockout, parents hope their children will receive critical services by being in the custody of the state
Use of Restraints and Seclusion
Physical restraint occurs when a teacher or another professional restricts a student’s freedom of movement, physical activity, or access to his body
Seclusion occurs when a student is involuntarily confined to a room, left alone, and prevented from leaving
Recommended Educational Practices for Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders
The Importance of Prevention
Early Intervention
Universal expectations, that is, schoolwide participation with shared expectations in common areas such as hallways and the lunchroom and consistent expectations in the classroom
Instruction for students on behavior expectations and rewards for meeting the expectations
Emphasis on rewards or reinforcers for appropriate behavior and instruction to teach alternatives to inappropriate behavior
Data-based decisions concerning student behavior
Increasingly intensive behavior interventions for students who are not meeting behavior expectations
A collaborative approach to addressing student behavior, usually with a team made up of representatives of grade levels or departments as well as special education and related services personnel, administrators, parents, and students
Positive Behavior Supports
Professionals in schools using this approach report that they are more effective and that they are motivated to continue using PBS
PBS also has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on bullying, decreasing teacher reports of bullying and peer rejection
The Effectiveness of Collaboration
success of the system of care approach relies on the understanding that meaningful collaboration among families, professionals, and community services is the most effective way to address the multiple and complex needs of students with emotional and behavior disorders.
Examples of Specific Interventions
Peer-Mediated Instruction
Teacher-Led Instruction
Keep lesson objectives clear.
Deliver lessons in a lively manner, and make sure that students are engaged by frequently using participation strategies.
Use concrete vocabulary and clear, succinct sentences.
Give all students immediate encouragement and specific feedback.
Use meaningful materials, and provide examples to which students can relate.
Have students recite in unison.
Break down a large assignment into smaller ones. As students finish each mini-assignment, build in reinforcement for task completion.
When students make mistakes, help them to learn from those mistakes. Be careful not to overcorrect, and praise any progress toward the desired behavior change.
Follow low-interest activities with high-interest activities so that students get occasional breaks from difficult or less interesting activities.
Build on student interests. Students often learn by relating material to real-life situations that they find interesting.
Allow students to make choices. Let them decide between two tasks or select the order in which they complete assigned tasks.
Employ appropriate technology applications that can engage student interest and increase motivation.
Use hands-on, experiential learning activities to enable students to apply learning to the real world. This is one of a teacher’s most powerful tools.
Requirements for Interventions in IDEA
Functional Behavior Assessment
Identify the problem behavior.
Describe in detail the settings in which the behavior occurs.
Gather information about the behavior using interviews, rating scales, observation, review of student records, and other techniques.
ABC: Actions, Behaviors, Consequences
Review the data.
Form a hypothesis about the function of the behavior based on the data gathered.
Behavior Intervention Plan
Educating Learners with Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Early Childhood
Precorrrection (i.e., teaching appropriate behavior for particular situations before misbehavior has a chance to occur) combined with close supervision of students and monitoring of their behavior so that problems can be averted whenever possible
Increased instructional pacing by increasing students’ opportunities to respond during classroom instruction
Increased rate of praise for students when they behave as expected
Specific feedback to children about their behavior and error correction by teaching acceptable behavior
Development and implementation of clear classroom rules
Collaboration between professionals and parents
Home–school communication
Elementary and Secondary School Services
Students with emotional and behavior disorders in elementary, middle, and high school receive their education in all the settings described in IDEA.
Inclusive Practices
Curriculum. With today’s academic standards, general education classrooms establish high expectations for students. This pressure may cause students with emotional and behavior disorders to develop further problems. At the same time, these classrooms often do not emphasize social skills development, anger management, and other topics that may be crucial for students with emotional disabilities. Unless these concerns are directly addressed, students may be inadvertently set up for failure.
Social rejection. Students with emotional and behavior disorders often have difficulty making friends, or they make friends with students who have similar problems. Just as important, general education teachers are more negative about students with these disorders than about any other group of students with disabilities. They may not directly address these students’ social and emotional needs, and they often do not have a sense of ownership for the students or feel responsible for their success or failure. This concern implies that teachers need professional development to learn how to support students in the social domain.
Mental health treatment. Students with emotional and behavior disorders often need comprehensive services that include a strong mental health component in addition to academic supports. Although general education classrooms address academic and social domains, they are not structured to incorporate mental health services, such as counseling. However, it should be noted that the provision of mental health treatment can be problematic in any school setting, whether inclusive or more restrictive.
Transition and Adulthood
only 51% of students with these disorders graduate from high school with a standard diploma
Recognize that anger is normal—everyone at some point gets angry. It is how a person responds to feelings of anger that are either constructive or destructive.
Understand when anger is happening. Know personal physiological signs such as rapid breathing and tense muscles.
Know what makes you angry (i.e., what your “triggers” are). Learn to avoid your triggers or to be alert to them so anger can be managed constructively.
Use immediate strategies to calm down such as counting to 10 or taking several deep breaths. If possible, walk away and address the problem once you have calmed down.
If you do not have the right words for your anger, draw a picture of it. Use the picture to talk to your teacher.
Recognize and reward yourself for dealing with anger in a way that does not harm others and helps you.
Characteristics of Individuals with Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Behavior Characteristics
Internalizing behaviors are those characterized as withdrawn or directed inward.
Externalizing behaviors are those characterized as directed toward others
Emotional Characteristics
Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities or an inability to enjoy previous favorite activities
Persistent boredom, low energy
Social isolation, poor communication
Low self-esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illnesses, such as headaches and stomachaches
Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Talk of or efforts to run away from home
Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self-destructive behavior
Approximately 5% of children and adolescents in the United States experience depression The risk of depression is approximately equal for boys and girls during childhood, but during adolescence, girls are twice as likely as boys to develop this disorder.
Sadly, when children’s depression is untreated, it can lead to suicide, the third-leading cause of death among adolescents ages 15 to 19 and young adults ages 20 to 24
Social Characteristics
Students with emotional and behavior disorders experience significant challenges in establishing and maintaining social relationships with peers and adults.
Cognitive and Academic Characteristics
The Question of Cause and Effect
Do emotional and behavior disorders cause academic problems, or do students’ chronic and significant academic problems cause emotional and behavior disorders?
Emotional and Behavior Disorders and Comorbidity
Students with emotional and behavioral disorders often have comorbid disabilities such as ADHD or LD.
Identifying Emotional and Behavior Disorders
Assessment
Formal Assessments
The Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance includes a subscale for each dimension of the federal definition: inability to learn, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness or depression, and physical symptoms or fears.
Behavior Assessment System for Children
Behavior Rating Profile
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–IV
Woodcock–Johnson Psychoeducational Battery–IV
Classroom Assessments
An essential part of an assessment for emotional and behavior disorders is systematic observation in the classroom, lunchroom, physical education class, and other school and possibly home environments.
Other Assessment Strategies
Medical Information
Strengths-Based Assessment
measuring students’ social and emotional strengths, the characteristics that give them confidence, and the traits that help them cope with adversity.
Eligibility
Does the student have one or more of the characteristics in the definition of emotional disturbance?
Do the student’s characteristics, as assessed, adversely affect educational performance?
Can social maladjustment be eliminated as the sole cause of the student’s behavior problems?.
Perspectives of Parents and Families
The Impact of Having a Child with an Emotional or Behavior Disorder
Stigmas
students with emotional and behavior disorders are at high risk of having at least one parent who also has an emotional, behavior, or other psychosocial disorder
Parent/teacher frustration/Not working together correctly
Building Positive Relationships
Parent Education
Parent education can also address topics such as how to help their children with homework, how school services for their children are structured, how to access community resources, and how to advocate for their children
parent education programs that require struggling parents to come to school at times that are convenient only for teachers and administrators are not likely to be successful. A variety of options should be considered, including offering programs at times that are convenient for parents; locating programs in community centers, libraries, or other settings that are possibly more familiar and comfortable for parents than the school; and creating options such as packets of print or electronic materials that can be accessed by parents (e.g., information sent home; information on a school or teacher website; information that can be disseminated by school social workers through home visits).
Support Groups
parents of other students with emotional and behavior disabilities
information about local resources and services, trade ideas for addressing specific problems, and obtain the reassurance of knowing that they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges
school professionals might arrange to start a support group, parents take the lead and give the group its identity and direction