Chapter%206%20Emotional%20and%20Behavioral%20Disorders

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Chapter 6Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
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IDEA-Definition of Serious Emotional Disturbance
(SED)

• One or more of the following characteristics over
  a long period of time and to a marked degree that
  adversely affects educational performance
• Inability to learn not related to other factors
• Inability to build or maintain satisfactory peer
  or teacher relationships
• Inappropriate feelings or behavior under normal
  conditions
• Frequently unhappy or depressed
• Often fearful
• Definition does not apply to children who are
  socially maladjusted

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Problems with IDEA Definition

• Definition is vague and subjective
• What are satisfactory peer and teacher
  relationships?
• What does inappropriate behavior look like?
• The definition, as written, excludes children on
  the basis for which they are included
• How does one differentiate between socially
  maladjusted and true emotional disturbance?
• Individual teacher expectations and tolerances
  make identification a difficult and subjective
  process

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CCBD Definition of Emotional or Behavioral
Disorders

• Behavioral or emotional responses so different
  from appropriate age, cultural, or ethnic norms
  that they adversely affect educational
  performance
• More than temporary, expected responses to stress
• Consistently exhibited in two different settings,
  at least one of which is school related
• Unresponsive to direct intervention in the
  general education setting

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Common Characteristics of Children with EBD

• Two primary behavioral excesses
• Externalizing behaviors (most common behavior
  pattern)
• Noncompliance
• Temper tantrums
• Property destruction
• Threats of violence or violence toward peers
  and/or teachers
• Internalizing behaviors
• Overly shy or immature
• Withdrawn
• Hypochondria
• Easily upset and difficult to calm

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Common Characteristics (cont.)

• Behavioral deficits
• Academic achievement
• Low GPA
• High absenteeism
• At risk for school failure and early drop out
• Social skills
• Less participation in extracurricular activities
• Lower quality peer relationships
• Juvenile delinquency

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Prevalence

• Prevalence
• Estimates vary, but about 3 to 5 of school-age
  population
• Given prevalence data, many students not
  receiving specialized services
• Gender
• The vast majority are boys

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Causes

• Biological factors
• Brain injury or dysgenesis
• Genetics (e.g., schizophrenia)
• Temperament
• Environmental factors
• Home - Inconsistent parenting practices
• Community - Low SES, gangs, high crime rate
• School ineffective instruction, coercive pain
  control
• The primary medical classification system used
  for individuals with EBD is based on the
  DSM-IV-TR. It includes 16 major categories,
  including mood, and anxiety disorders, and
  schizophrenia

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Identification and Assessment

• Whether behavior is different enough to require
  services
• Screening tests
• Used to determine if intervention is warranted
• Behavior rating scales or checklists
• E.g., Child Behavior Checklist (Affective
  Problems Anxiety Problems Somatic Problems
  Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Problems
  Oppositional Defiant Problems and Conduct
  Problems)
• Projective tests
• Ambiguous stimuli
• Limited usefulness for education planning
• Direct observation and measurement
• Directly focuses on the childs problems
• Useful for educational planning

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Functional Behavioral Assessment

• Systematic, data-driven process
• Informal assessment
• School records, parent interviews, teacher
  checklists
• Direct observation and measurement
• In-class observation when behavior is likely to
  occur
• Hypothesis development
• All informal and observational data used to
  develop intervention based on probable cause of
  the behavior
• Intervention
• Teaching functional replacement behaviors
• Evaluation and modification
• Data are collected to determine success of the
  intervention

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Functional Behavioral Assessment

• Federal law (IDEA, 1997) mandates the use of
  functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and
  positive behavioral supports to address
  challenging behaviors demonstrated by students in
  school settings
• Functional assessment has a scientifically based
  history with more than 30 years of research
  rooted in applied behavior analysis

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Curriculum Goals

• Learn to control their antisocial behavior
• Social skills
• Cooperation skills
• Appropriate ways to express feelings
• Responding to failure
• Academic skills
• Direct, explicit instruction
• High rates of teacher praise

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Curriculum Goals (cont.)

• Behavior management
• Clear school-wide expectations (PBS)
• Positive proactive classroom management
  strategies
• Self-management
• Self-monitoring
• Self-evaluation
• Peer mediation and support
• Peer tutoring
• Positive peer reporting

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Self-Management Card
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Fostering Strong Teacher-Student Relationships

• Differential acceptance
• Witness or be the victim of acts of anger without
  responding similarly
• Focus on alterable variables
• Teachers should focus effort on only those
  variables that make a difference in student
  learning and can be affected by sound teaching
  practice

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Educational Placement Alternatives

• More than 50 of students with EBD receive their
  education in
• Separate classrooms
• Special schools
• Residential facilities
• Most students receiving special education because
  of emotional or behavioral disorders have serious
  problems that require intensive intervention

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Current Issues and Future Trends

• Revising the federal definition to meet the needs
  of students
• Prevention efforts in the community
• Clarify regulations for disciplining students
• Improving services for youth in correctional
  facilities
• Developing wraparound services for families
• Putting into practice research validated teaching
  methods