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Student Disabilities: Policies Practices and Perspectives, Brief History…

- - - - Mood or anxiety disorders
        
        Conduct disorder
        
        Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
      - Symptoms of ODD may look like other mental health problems and can include
    - - Services offered for students with ODD
        Diagnosis:
        if the child meets four or more of the symptom criteria as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) for at least six months the child can be diagnosed as having ODD but a Mental health professional. The DSM-5, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the standard reference book for recognized mental illnesses. The symptoms must also be severe and disruptive to daily life.
        It is recommended that the child see a child and adolescent psychologist if they’re showing signs of ODD. An interview with specific assessment tools will be used to evaluate the child. Parents, teachers and friends often also complete reports to give insight into the child's behaviour in social and school settings. It is important to distinguish ODD from co-morbidities such as ADHD, mild oppositional behaviour, anxiety disorders (OCD), and mood disorders.
      - Treatment of ODD
        Treatment for ODD may vary depending on the child's age, the severity of symptoms, the child's ability to participate in certain therapies and if the child has comorbidities.
        The child, family and school need to participate in the treatment plan.
        
        Psychotherapy for ODD or talk therapy is a term for a variety of treatment techniques that aim to help identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts and behaviours. Working with a psychologist or psychiatrist can provide support, education and guidance to the family and the child.
        
        Family-focused therapy is when the child and caregivers join in therapy sessions to identify triggers and situations in the home that can aggravate the student's ODD. Psychoeducation regarding ODD, communication improvement and problem-solving skills are covered in sessions. These sessions help identify factors in the home life that may contribute to aggressive behaviours.
        
        Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: This is a structured, goal-orientated therapy where the child is guided by a mental health professional to be aware of and understand their thoughts and emotions. Students are trained to unlearn negative behaviours and thought patterns and learn new ones. Anger management training helps students with ODD manage their anger. Students also learn problem-solving skills
        
        School-Based Interventions focus on improving peer relationships, school performance and problem-solving skills. These interventions can include
        
        recommendations and tools for the teacher to improve classroom behaviour
        
        techniques to minimize or prevent oppositional behaviour
        
        methods to help the child follow classroom rules and have positive social interactions.
        
        Parent management training (PMT) for ODD is the primary form of treatment. Parents learn strategies to use positive reinforcement to decrease unwanted behaviours and promote healthy behaviours. Training programs that can span a couple of weeks provide parents with the skills to identify problem behaviours and interactions and apply the appropriate reinforcement and/or consequences. PMT has shown a decrease in conduct problems in most family backgrounds.
        
        Types of Psychotherapy
        
        There is no specific medication for ODD. However, if the child has a comorbidity then medication for OCD, anxiety or ADHD may be prescribed. If these go untreated the ODD can deteriorate.
    - - Expectations for Educational Institutions.
        Schools are to follow the diagnosis - treatment route as set out but DSM-5 to support students with ODD
    - - 1980: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) was first listed as a disorder in 1980 in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-III (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
      - 1987 revisions to the definition clarified that ODD is a separate disorder than CD.
      - 1994 further revision to clarify relation to CD and bad behaviour
      - 2013 The new DSM-V was released and it contains several updates regarding the diagnosis of ODD. Three updates:
        
        Information about the frequency of the symptomatic behaviours. This information should help physicians to differentiate between poor, but normal, childhood behaviour and behaviour that is symptomatic of ODD.
        
        Symptoms are grouped into three categories: vindictiveness, angry/irritable mood, and argumentative/defiant behaviour. Indicating behavior is both behavioural and emotional.
        
        A third update is that a severity rating has been added. This is to help physicians analyze the severity of the disorder across different settings.
- - - - What is ADHD? ADHD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by age-inappropriate levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Researchers believe that a core deficit in ADHD involves the brain's inhibitory system, affecting a person's ability to self-regulate or control their behavior. ADHD is the most common behavioral condition and is recognized as a lifelong disorder; the availability of only symptomatic treatments puts ADHD in the same category as other chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma. ADHD causes global impairment across multiple neuropsychological domains: working memory, organization, planning, problem solving, motivation, social skills, emotional regulation, hindsight, foresight, internalization of speech, rule-governed behavior, volition, willpower, self discipline, and even sense of time can be affected by ADHD. ADHD therefore presents a constellation of risks for a variety of problems, including school failure, social rejection, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, and involvement with the juvenile justice system (Soleil, 2000). Even with growing awareness and research being conducted, many children with ADHD do not receive the supports they need; they are instead incorrectly labeled as immature, irresponsible, unmotivated, and unwilling.
        
        Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability at work, at school, and in public accommodations. Unlike Section 504, the ADA applies not just to entities that receive federal funds (Soleil, 2000).
        
        Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) Children may be covered by Section 504 and therefore entitled to receive a free appropriate public education under this section if their ADHD substantially limits a major life activity, such as learning. Section 504 requires public schools to provide appropriate educational services to children who are considered disabled under Section 504, whether or not their ADHD renders them eligible for special education services under IDEA. Therefore, for children not eligible for services under IDEA, Section 504 would require schools to provide appropriate supports and modifications in regular classrooms, such as help with note taking and changes in assignments and testing procedures (Soleil, 2000).
        
        Support Services Offered in Educational Institutions To meet IDEA's new eligibility requirements (after the 1997 IDEA Amendment) as applied to children with ADHD, states must ensure that schools (1) locate, identify, and evaluate children disabled by ADHD in public and private schools (including parochial schools); (2) make available a free appropriate public education to children with ADHD who are determined to be eligible for services under Part B; (3) develop and implement an IEP designed to meet the child's educational needs, and consider, if appropriate, the need for positive behavioral interventions for behavior that impedes the child's learning or that of others; (4) involve parents in decisions about evaluation, eligibility, placement, and IEPs; (5) educate children with ADHD with non-disabled children in the regular education environment, or Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), to the maximum extent appropriate; (6) afford eligible children and their parents the procedural safeguards outlined in IDEA; (7) ensure that professional personnel who provide special education and related services to children with ADHD meet applicable state qualification standards; (8) include children with ADHD in state performance goals; (9) include children with ADHD in general state and districtwide assessment programs with appropriate accommodations, where necessary; and (10) monitor suspension and expulsion rates for children with ADHD receiving special education services, as compared with rates for non-disabled children (Soleil, 2000). The support a child receives in the classroom will depend on if they meet the eligibility requirements for either an IEP or a 504 plan. IEPs provide individualized special education services to meet the unique needs of the child. A 504 Plan provides services and changes to the learning environment to meet the needs of the child as adequately as other students. IEPs and 504 plans can offer accommodations such as: extra time on tests, instruction and assignments tailored to the child, positive reinforcement and feedback, using technology to assist with tasks, allowing breaks or time to move around, changes to the environment to limit distraction, and extra help with staying organized (ADHD in the Classroom: Helping Children Succeed in School, 2022).
        
        Resources
        
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 9). ADHD in the Classroom: Helping Children Succeed in School. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 9, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/school-success.html
        
        Soleil, G. (2000, July). ADHD and School Law. Retrieved January 9, 2023, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED449597.
        
        Wolraich, M. L., Chan, E., Froehlich, T., Lynch, R. L., Bax, A., Redwine, S. T., Ihyembe, D., & Hagan, J. F. (2019, October). ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines: A Historical Perspective. Publications.aap.org. Retrieved January 9, 2023, from https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/4/e20191682/76959/ADHD-Diagnosis-and-Treatment-Guidelines-A
        
        Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B (IDEA) IDEA guarantees that states make available a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities in mandatory age ranges. To be eligible for special education services under Part B of IDEA, children with ADHD must be evaluated as having one or more of the impairments specified in Part B (Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Emotional Disturbance, Developmental Delay) and, because of the impairment, be found to need special education and related services. In other words, a diagnosis of ADHD from a physician is not alone sufficient to render a child eligible for services under Part B, the ADHD must be found to adversely affect a child's educational performance. Most children receiving special education services for ADHD alone will likely be classified as "Other Health Impaired," since the regulations implementing IDEA now list ADD and ADHD as conditions that can make a child eligible under this category. Children with ADHD may meet the criteria for this category when their "heightened alertness to environmental stimuli . . . results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment," impairing school performance” (Soleil, 2000).
        
        Tips for Classroom Teachers Working with Students with ADHD To assist their students with ADHD, teachers can: Give frequent feedback and positive attention to good behavior. Be sensitive to the students' emotions and difficulty regulating their feelings. Be aware of students with ADHD's tendency to "hyper-focus" on activities that they are interested in and provide extra assistance shifting their attention. Provide a variety of options for how a student can demonstrate their understanding of material. Allow breaks and time for movement/exercise for ADHD students who have been using significant energy trying to stay focused. Minimize distractions for the student and talk with them about tools that can help their focus; for example: fidget tools, background music, moving while learning. Communicate with and involve the students' parents and school counselors regularly.
- - - - It was defined as a distinct syndrome in 1989 by Byron Rourke
  - - - Sources
      - Frye, D., & Linda Karanzalis, M. S. (2022, July 11). What is nonverbal learning disorder? ADDitude. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-nonverbal-learning-disorder-symptoms-and-diagnosis/
      - Byron Rourke. The International Neuropsychological Society. (2021, June 25). Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://www.the-ins.org/our-ins-family/byron-rourke/
      - Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). Nonverbal learning disorder. Psychology Today. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/nonverbal-learning-disorder
- - - - Dyscalculia can be described as a learning disorder that affects a students ability to make mathematical or numerical sense.
      - History of Dyslexia, Dysgrahia and Dyscalculia
        
        History: Dyscalculia is a disorder that affects a student's ability to make sense of math or numerical based information. Dyscalculia was discovered in 1919 by Salomon Henschen, a Swedish neurologist who found that it was possible for a person of high general intelligence to have impaired mathematical abilities. At the time it was known as 'number blindness'(source: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1994-02259-001).
        
        History: Dyslexia was coined in phrase by Dr. Rudolf Berlin over a 130 years ago when he was examining adult patients who complained about reading words out of order but they had no vision problems.
        
        History: Dysgraphia
        "The name really got its start from “agraphia,” a term coined in the 1940s by Austrian doctor Josef Gerstmann. H. Joseph Horacek, in his book “Brainstorms,” describes that the condition Gerstmann named refers to a complete inability to write. He linked this inability to brain trauma, resulting from an accident or injury"
      - Laws that protect students with these disabilities include: The Americans with Disabilities Act, first enacted in 1990 and then updated in 2008, prohibits unjustified discrimination based on disability. It is meant to level the playing field for people with disabilities, including those who are dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Also the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the nation’s federal special education law that ensures public schools serve the educational needs of students with disabilities. IDEA requires that schools provide special education services to eligible students as outlined in a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). Sources: https://www.ncld.org/get-involved/learn-the-law/idea/ and https://www.dyscalculia.org/diagnostic-evaluation/diagnosis-legal-matters
        
        Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia
        Classroom Accommodations:
        
        Partner up for studying — one student writes while the other speaks, or they share the writing.
        
        Use reading buddies during worktime (as appropriate).
        
        Give the student multiple opportunities to read the same text.
        
        Provide extra time for reading and writing.
        
        Have on hand “hi-lo” books (books with high-interest topics for students reading below grade level).
        
        Use speech-to-text software to help with writing.
        
        Allow the student to use a text reader like a Reading Pen or text-to-speech software.
        
        Use audiobooks like those available through services like Bookshare, a free online library for students with disabilities.
        
        Use large-print text for worksheets.
        
        Hand out letter and number strips so the student can see how to write correctly.
        
        Provide colored strips or bookmarks to help focus on a line of text when reading.
        
        Post visual schedules and also read them out loud.
    - - Dysgraphia is a fine motor learning disorder that affects a student's ability to writing out their ideas.