EMOTIONAL

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EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

• FRIEND CH 7,
• SPED 281
• Dr. Schneider

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Learning Objectives

• Definition of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
• Prevalence of EBD
• Historic events in the field of EBD
• Causes of EBD
• Important terms in EBD
• Characteristics of EBD
• Identification procedure of EBD
• Types of services for students w/ EBD
• Best Teaching strategies for students w/ EBD
• Perspectives of family members
• Issues affecting the field of EBD

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Definition of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• It is a controversial definition ( LD)
• Contains an exclusionary clause ( LD) do not
  include those who intentionally act out socially
  maladjusted unless they meet 1 of the criteria
• One qualifies if
• School learning affected
• 5 criteria are met
• Not a case of social mal-adjustment
• Symptoms over a long period of time
• Symptoms at a disturbing degree
• TERM for emotional behavioral disorders in IDEA
  emotional disturbance (ED)

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Definition of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• (1) Federal Definition, INCLUDES schizophrenia
• Condition that exhibits one or more of the
  following over a long period of time to a marked
  degree that adversely affects a childs education
• Unable to learn, not due to intellectual, sensory
  and/or health factors
• Unable to build and/or maintain satisfactory
  interpersonal relationships with peers teachers
• Inappropriate behavior or feelings under normal
  circumstances
• General pervasive mood, unhappiness, depression
• Physical symptoms or fears associated with
  personal or school problems

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Definition of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• (2) National Coalition on Mental Health SPED
  (nmha.org)
• group of 30 prof. organizations to
  lobby for a
• change of the federal definition
• PROBLEMS OF FEDERAL DEFINTION
• 5 criteria in definition are not supported by
  research
• The focus is too narrowly taken around academic
  performance rather than including social
  integration
• mal-adjustment clause confusing, excludes
  juvenile delinquents who would need specific
  social-behavioral education
• What about students with conduct disorder
  aggressive behavior

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Definition of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• (3) Other Considerations from medical field
• DSM-IV-TR (diagnostic statistical
  manual of mental
• disorders, 4th edition, 2000, text
  revised)
• MEDICAL DEFINTION refers to ED as MENTAL DISORDER
• Defines disabilities not explicitly mentioned in
  IDEA 2004 oppositional defiant disorder, mood
  disorder (depression, eating disorder, Tic
  disorder, anxiety disorder, see p. 247 in your
  book)
• Individuals with these disorders should receive
  medical treatment in addition to therapy and
  special educational approaches in school.

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Prevalence of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• 2002 federal IDEA data
• Ages 6-21 a bit more than 8 of all students
  receiving SPED services in school and less than
  1 of entire school population in US
• a consistent rate over last 2o years
• OVER-represented are African American students
  as opposed to Hispanic students, Asian students
  and Caucasian students

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Prevalence of Emotional Behavioral Disorders
(EBD)

• GENDER more males than females ( LD, ADHD)
• QUESTION How many do not receive service but
  need it due to mal-adjustment clause and/or
  cultural hiding
• Clinic community data more children than
  reported in school data have ED estimates range
  from 5-20 of all school-age children

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Historic events in the field of EBD

• Fascination with mental illness throughout
  history BUT systematic study of emotional and
  mental illness of children not until late 19th
  century
• Research difficult b/c
• No consistent definition of terms
• Still often addressed as one separate disorder,
  not one connected to others environment
• Professionals parents reluctant in admitting
  that children could have emot.-mental illnesses
• Mental illness still associated with devil or
  satanic possession unethical to assign this to
  children

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Historic events in the field of EBD

• 1960s Once SPED was part of public school
  responsibility, emot. disorders still considered
  a field for doctors psychologists to address,
  not teachers other educ.prof.
• 1930-50s period of classification of emot.
  disorders in children
• the period during which 3 schools of thought
  influenced therapeutic educational approach (do
  it to this day

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Historic events in the field of EBD

• 3 schools of thought influencing therapy
  teaching of children w/ emot. disturbances
• (1) FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
• Mental illness caused by poor personality traits
  gt teach good ones hygiene gt no mental disease
  
• (2) ORGANIC APPROACH
• Mental illness caused by neurological dysfunction
• (3) BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
• Mental illness, misbehavior caused by
  inappropriately learned behaviors

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Causes of EBD

• BIOLOGICAL hereditary
• schizophrenia (10-15 if 1 parent)
• depression (20-60 if parent) can also be
  psychol.-environm. when abuse, illness, neglect
  occurs -gt p. 255
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• bi-polar disorder (manic-depressive) (book
  Redfied-Jamison The unquiet mind)

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Causes of EBD

• PSYCHOLOCIAL
• chronic stress
• (2) mal-treatment (abuse neglect) see website
  info on early childhood info form
• physical, emotional, sexual
• in 81 of the cases the perpetrator is a parent
• (3) stressful life events (death, divorce,
  illness, witnessing violence)
• (4) Additional family factors (emot. unstable
  guardian, sibling rivalry

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EBD TERMS

• Resilience
• individual prevails despite all odds w/o
  long-term harm often a mentor involved somehow
• Correlated constraints
• when multiple factors lead to mal-adjusted
  behavior and keep individual from changing to the
  better
• gt watch movie w/ Jaime Escalante Stand and
  Deliver
• Positive Behavior Support
• Instead of punishment, use reward system based on
  analysis of what triggers negative positive
  behavior

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Characteristics of EBD

• EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES
• A) internalizing
• Signs of depression, low affect, feelings of
  worthlessness, suicidal thoughts (see p. 256),
  atypical crying or other behavior, fear-anxiety
  spells, excessively avoided or maltreated by
  peers, shows signs of neglect and/or abuse
• B) externalizing
• Tantrum patterns,excessive arguing, reoccurring
  patterns of aggression against objects or
  persons, repeated cheating, lying, stealing,
  self-mutilation)

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Characteristics of EBD

• SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES
• (1) Difficulties developing maintaining social
  relationships that are not abusive (no ethnic
  differences here)
• poor inter intra-personal skills
• (2) Not accepting, respecting cultural,
  linguistic, cognitive differences in people
• (3) Bullying (tips, see www.nmha.org)

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Characteristics of EBD

• COGNITIVE-ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES
• ED OFTEN consequence of unidentified academic
  difficulties (LD!!)
• ED occurs concomitantly with other disabilities
  (e.g., LD, ADHD)
• Students with ED can be significantly hindered
  from success in academic areas
• Low-average IQ found among students with ED can
  be due to environmental influences and/or
  medication that negatively influences memory but
  helps control aggressive-compulsive behavior

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Identification procedure of EBD

• FORMAL- norm referenced (company made compared
  to all children of same age/grade)
• Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance (SAED,
  1998)- related to fed. Definition criteria
• IQ test (Wechsler WISC IV, 2003)
• Subject skills performance test achievement
  tests (Woodcock III, 2001)
• Strengths-based assessment (Behavioral-Emotional
  Rating Scale BERS)
• Medical information from doctor, psychologist,
  psychiatrist

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Identification procedure of EBD INFORMAL

• in class or out of class (criterion-referenced,
  teacher made compared to other peers)
• Observation check lists regarding amount and
  quality of peer interactions
• Rating scales of how teachers, peers, guardians
  and individual him/herself perceives behavior and
  academic performance
• Interviews with student/guardians
• FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT (p.269) using ABC
  approach
• A what is antecedent to behavior? What triggers
  is?
• B what is behavior in detail of sequence?
• C what is consequence of behavior?

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Identification procedure of EBD Eligibility
criteria

• According to federal definition
• (1) Student must have been identified with one or
  more of the 5 criteria through documentation
• (2) students characteristics must adversely
  affect his/her educational performance through
  documentation
• (3) mal-adjustment must have been out-ruled
  through documentation

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Types of services for students w/ EBD

• VARY CONSIDERABLY ACROSS STATES
• Early Childhood First Steps to Success
• Elementary-Secondary Schools
• Inclusion (80 per day only 25 of ED students)
• Resource (less than 25)
• Self-contained (55)
• Separate schools, facilities (18)
• Day treatment programs (w/ individ. Group
  family therapy, vocational training, crisis
  management)
• students live at these schools, attend
  classes receive therapy suicide recovery,
  severe depression, severe aggression

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Types of services for students w/ EBD

• TRANSITION
• Essential to guarantee successful integration
  into job world
• Best to provide general (not occupation-specific)
  vocational training and on-the -job training
• Transition plans should include
• Cooperative learning experiences
• Personal and interpersonal role play of typical
  challenging job-related other adult-world
  situations
• Use of assistive technology to help organize and
  control emotions (p.274)

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Best Teaching strategies for students w/ EBD

• Strict, explicit rules with clear explanations of
  consequences for classroom interactions
• Clear problem-solving strategies are taught and
  practiced(see SIDES-strategy p. 257, anger
  management p 266)
• Positive behavior support (PBS) as a main
  principle- not punishment
• Personal written behavior contracts with students
• See p. 253 case
• SCHOOLWIDE PBS necessary, see p.267

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Best Teaching strategies for students w/ EBD

• Based on ABC data in the Functional Behavior
  Analysis, instruction is based on a
• BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION PLAN that carries the
  characteristics from previous slide but also
  specifics for individual (pp.271)

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Best Teaching strategies for students w/ EBD

• Explicit interpersonal and intra-personal
  sensitizing through activities in all content
  areas (see Emotional intelligences, by Daniel
  Goleman)
• INTRA- PERSONAL SKILLS I know why and how I
  react in certain social situations I know how to
  control my impulses
• INTER-PERSONAL SKILLS I can interpret other
  peoples verbal and non-verbal messages, react
  appropriately, and control my immediate impulses

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Issues affecting the field of EBD

• Nature of emot. disturbances has become more
  serious and more common
• Too many teens cannot receive the treatment they
  need
• 60-75 of the over 1 million children that get in
  contact with the juvenile justice system have a
  mental health disorder
• 50 of juvenile offenders in jail will not return
  to jail if provided w/ intensive long-term
  treatment that teaches anger management,
  self-ccntrol
• Misdiagnosis inadequate treatment common for
  minority cultures, low SES students

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Parent Perspectives EBD

• Lack of parent advocacy groups at schools for
  students with ED
• Parent behavior during IEP meetings often
  negatively interpreted b/c of all the negative
  info about the child they become defensive
• Parents struggle not to reject the child with ED
  emotionally b/c s/he causes negative atmosphere
  at home and at school
• May make them neglect the children in the family
  that are not acting up
• Parents need professionals to care about their
  child