Tracy Wheeler 11/2012

*Emotional Impairments

• Educational Definition of Emotional Impairment

• Educational vs. Medical diagnosis

• Assessments to determine EI

• Common Characteristics

• Effective Interventions

* Educational Definition of Emotional Impairment

*Emotional Impairment - As defined under federal law at 34 CFR §300.8(c)(4), the student exhibits one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects 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; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

The determination of disability shall not be made solely because the student's behavior violates the school's discipline code, because the student is involved with a state court or social service agency, or because the student is socially maladjusted, unless the Team determines that the student has a serious emotional disturbance.

* Rule outs……

*Educational Determinations

vs. Medical Diagnosis

*students identified as having conduct disorder are eligible for services in some States, but not in others. Conduct disorder is a persistent pattern of anti-social, rulebreaking, or aggressive behavior, including defiance, fighting, bullying, disruptiveness, exploitiveness, and disturbed relations with both peers and adults (Cohen, 1994; Forness, 1992; Forness, Kavale, & Lopez, 1993). 

* Students with emotional disturbance who are eligible for services under IDEA typically exhibit mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, conduct disorders, or other psychiatric disorders (Forness et al., 1994; Mattison & Felix, 1997). Comorbidity of emotional and behavioral disorders is common (Caron & Rutter, 1991; Friedman, Kutash, & Duchnowski, 1996). In addition, the co-occurrence of emotional disturbance and other disabilities may intensify students’ behavioral problems and further compromise academic performance. Many students with emotional disturbance are at great risk for substance abuse disorders (Capaldi & Dishion, 1993; Leone, 1991; Leone, Greenberg, Trickett, & Spero, 1989) and negative encounters with the juvenile justice system (Gilliam & Scott, 1987; Leone, 1991). These problems may exacerbate the impact of emotional disturbance and of any co-occurring disabilities.

*Students with emotional disturbance are particularly vulnerable to environmental changes such as transitions and to a lack of positive behavioral support during transitions. These students’ presenting behavior, as well as its intensity, is episodic, subject to change over time (Strayhorn, Strain, & Walker, 1993), and may serve to direct attention away from underlying issues such as depression (McCracken, Cantwell, & Hanna, 1993; Wehby & Symons, 1996; Wehby, Symons, & Shores, 1995). 

*Nationally, the identification rate for emotional disturbance has remained stable at approximately 0.9 percent since OSEP began collecting these data in 1976 (Oswald & Coutinho, 1995). This rate is significantly less than the predicted prevalence of emotional disturbance within schools. For example, the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of P.L. 94-142 estimated a prevalence rate of 2 percent for students with emotional disturbance (U.S. Department of Education, 1980). Similarly, many experts believe that an identification rate of 3-6 percent would be more accurate (Eber & Nelson, 1994; Friedman et al., 1996; Grosenick & Huntze, 1980; Institute of Medicine, 1989; Kauffman, 1994; Smith, Wood, & Grimes, 1988).

As scientific knowledge has progressed,

researchers have come to conclude that emotional and behavioral disorders are

much more complex than that explained by any single model alone. We cannot

attribute a particular difficulty solely to biology, the environment, or the family.

Most often difficulties are an ongoing dynamic between biological, dispositional,B E S T P R A C T I C E S

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environmental, sociocultural, and other factors.

*Identification rates are lower for girls and young women among students identified with emotional disturbance (U.S. Department of Education, 1994). In the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS), more than three-fourths (76.4 percent) of secondary students with emotional disturbance were male, the highest proportion of males to females in any of the disability categories (Marder & Cox, 1991).

Girls and young women are more likely to exhibit internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression that do not usually interfere with classroom management, while males are more likely to demonstrate the externalizing behaviors that do disrupt the classroom. Other possible explanations include the gender-specific expectations of teachers and evaluators (Caseau, Luckasson, & Kroth, 1994; Talbott & Lloyd, 1997) and a lack of gender-appropriate diagnostic criteria (Zoccolillo, 1993).

* Coie, Miller-Johnson, & Bagwell

* (2000) have categorized developmental risk factors into the following categories:

* (a) constitutional factors (e.g., hereditary influences, prenatal/birth

* complications); (b) family factors (e.g., poverty, abuse, conflict); (c) emotional

* and interpersonal factors (e.g., low self-esteem, difficult temperament, peer

* rejection); (d) intellectual and academic factors (e.g., below average intelligence,

* learning disability); (e) ecological factors (e.g., neighborhood disorganization,

* racial injustice); and (d) non-normative stressful life events (e.g., early death of a

* parent, outbreak of war, other traumatic events).

* Examples of resilience factors include (a) good intellectual functioning, (b)

* easygoing disposition, (c) a close relationship with a caring parent figure, (d)

* authoritative parenting (i.e., warm, structured, and having high expectations), and

* (e) bonds to prosocial adults outside the family (Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). Youth

* with many of the above risk factors are more prone to emotional and behavioral

* disorders. However, when youth have a number of resilience factors, the risk of

* developing EBD decreases. Thus, when working with youth, it is important to assess

* what risk and/or resilience factors are present in their lives.

At times, certain behaviors of concern may be simple to explain.

At other times, a youth’s challenging behavior may be more complex. When

working with youth who display complex and challenging behavior, it is extremely

helpful to have input from a diverse group of professionals in order to explain the

behavior in question.

P

* Research in the neurosciences has proven that challenging kids lack important thinking skills. Researchers have learned a lot about children's brains over the last 30 years, and a lot of that research suggests that challenging kids came up on the short end of the stick when it comes to certain cognitive skills...for example, flexibility, frustration tolerance, and problem solving (and a bunch more). So in the same way that some students may lack skills related to developing proficiency in math, or reading, or spelling, or writing (these students are often referred to as having learning disabilities), other students lack skills related to developing proficiency in handling life's social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. These students can be thought of as having a learning disability as well...just a different kind of learning disability involving different kinds of skills. Why are these students crying, screaming, swearing, hitting, scratching, bullying, or disrupting your classroom? Because they don't have the skills to handle life's challenges more proficiently.

*Behavior Management

*Addressing skill deficits

* Teach alternative ways to express anger. Teach

* different ways of expressing anger, other than swearing, such

* as (a) finding a quiet place to calm down, (b) crying in

* privacy, (c) squeezing a stress ball, (d) taking a walk, (e)

* breathing deeply, (f) giving oneself a time-out, (g) writing a

* letter, or (h) doing self-soothing exercises. Encourage

* students to use these strategies when feeling anger or

* frustration.

* Share feelings with others. Encourage students to

* find someone they feel comfortable talking to and have them

* share their feelings with this person regularly. Allow time to

* do this each day or on an “as-needed” basis.

* Role-play strong emotions. Give students different

* scenarios that would result in strong emotions. Have them

* role-play ways of describing their feelings without swearing.

* Provide feedback. Display popsicle sticks in a holder

* on the teacher’s desk (or use straws stuck into a ball of clay

* or a cup). Each time a student swears, take a stick away,

* making sure the student sees it being taken. But give no

* further attention to the matter. This will give feedback to the

* student without giving a lot of attention. At the end of the

* day, let the student trade in the remaining sticks for a

* reward. When the student has remaining sticks, take one

* stick away for the following day to slowly decrease the rate

* of swearing.

* Use journaling for self-expression. When students

* are upset, allow them to write letters or in a journal, using

* any language they want. When they are finished and have

* calmed down, have them tear up the letter or piece of paper.

* Talk about the importance of getting rid of hateful language.

* Make a ceremony out of defeating the words, rather than

* letting the words defeat them.

* Redirect attention. If students are trying to get a

* reaction from the teacher (i.e., negative attention), make

* sure to give lots of attention to these same students when

* they are using appropriate language. When they swear, try to

* remain calm. Do not respond to a request or statement until

* the student uses appropriate language.

* Create incentives. Create a classroom-wide reward

* program in which everyone gets points for using appropriate

* language throughout the day. Encourage students to ignore or

* not respond to other students if they use inappropriate

* language. At the end of the day, the students who have the

* most points can cash them in for a reward.