This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs
Disability: Emotional Disturbance
Over the next several weeks I’m going to discuss a number of
disabilities. The first I want to discuss
is emotional disturbance. Remember, any
handicap must adversely affect a
student’s educational performance before it is considered a disability
under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Children could have a mild emotional
disturbance but still function well in the standard classroom. Those children would not have a recognized
disability.
Children who do have emotional disabilities that affect
their educational performance fall into five categories. They have:
1)
An inability to learn that cannot be explained
by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
2)
An inability to build or maintain satisfactory
interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
3)
Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings
under normal circumstances.
4)
A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or
depression
5)
A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
associated with personal or school problems.
This term includes schizophrenia, but does not include
students who are simply socially maladjusted unless they have additional
characteristics of emotional disturbance.
Many more male students are identified as having an
emotional disturbance than girls. This
is probably due to teachers making most of the referrals. Boys tend to exhibit outward, disruptive
behavior when they have an emotional disturbance while girls tend to
internalize and exhibit more anxiety and depression.
It is recommended that teachers and parents follow some
guidelines when dealing with emotionally disturbed children.
1)
Choose your battles. Ignore the small stuff that does not truly
disrupt the environment.
2)
You may think children are misbehaving
deliberately when in reality the behavior is beyond their control. Try to figure out what triggers bad behavior
and change the circumstances if possible.
3)
Teachers and parents need behavior charts. This will help detect trends and triggers and
can also help you positively reinforce proper behavior.
4)
All students have some strengths. Use them to motivate students and to help
them have experiences with success.
5)
Keep lines of communication open between home
and school. It is imperative that the
two be consistent in dealing with an emotionally disturbed child.
While it is almost always difficult for teachers and parents
to deal with students who are emotionally disturbed, can you imagine what it’s like
for each of these children? What if
people looked at you funny? What if you
didn’t have friends? What if you said
inappropriate things at inappropriate times?
What if you were depressed and simply didn’t care what was going on
around you or so anxious that you felt paralyzed much of the time?
Being emotionally disturbed is certainly no fun. Just remember that as hard as it may be,
these children need the uncompromising love and support of their teachers and
their families. Do your part.
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