Written By: Jacqueline Ball EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED Music By: Matchbox Twenty: Unwell

 ED is defined as a lifelong condition in which individuals have display these characteristics: A. WHAT IS EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED?  Inability to learn  Inability to build interpersonal relationships with peers and/or teachers  Inappropriate behavior in “normal” circumstances  Displays moods of unhappiness or depression  Develops physical systems of fear (Smith, Polloway, Patton & Dowdy, 2012, p. 196)

 Prior to the All Education Handicap Children Act of 1975 only about 1% of students were identified as Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED)  The name was changed under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997 to Emotional Disturbance (EB)  Some states have begun to classify these group of people as having Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD)  “A term used to better describe students who receive special education services” (Smith, Polloway, Patton & Dowdy, 2012, pp.195) 4/25/13 A Brief History B. EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED :

CASUAL FACTORS, INDICATORS AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS C. Possible Factors  Heredity  Diet  Stress  Family Functioning (NICHCY,2004)

“ ED is commonly used as an umbrella term for number of mental disorders” (NICHCY Fact Sheet, 2010) Emotional Disturbed Disorder has 6 subgroups  Conduct disorder: seeks attention, disruptive, acts out  Socialized aggression: joins group that are disrespectful  Attention problems: attention deficits, easily distractible, poor concentration  Anxiety/Withdrawal: self-conscious, low self-concept, depressed  Psychotic behavior: hallucinates, deals in fantasy world, bizarre behavior  Hyperactive: motor excess, difficulties sitting still, listening to others (Smith, Polloway, Patton & Dowdy, 2012, pp.293) CASUAL FACTORS, INDICATORS AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS CONTINUED C.

D. INCIDENCE & POPULATION  The federal figure of students ranging in ages from 6–17 that have been diagnosed with Emotional Behavioral Disorder is estimated to be about 0.92%  Kauffman and Landrum (2009a) as cited in our text suggest that 3 – 6% of overall student population are EBD.  37% of those diagnosed with EBD also have one additional disabilities, while 27% have two or more disabilities (USDOE, 2009)  Approximately 32.4% of students ages 6-21 were taught in [general education] regular class setting, almost 80% of the time. (USDOE, 2009)

Exceptionality Affects Learning Implications  Provide systematic instruction  Sequence tasks  Ensure lessons are structured  Allow students to be active learners  Provide clear direct requests  Teach students to self monitor E. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS  Milas and colleagues is quoted is saying, “students with EBD [tend] to:  Fail more courses in school  Retained more frequently  More likely absent from school  Drop out of school (Smith & Colleagues, 2012)  Displaced often

Exceptionality Affects Student’s functioning in classroom  Social skills deficit  Unsatisfactory interaction with teacher and peers  Classroom disruptions  Achieve at lower levels in math and reading (Reid & Colleagues, 2004) Implications  Use peer tutoring to promote skills  Select target areas to reinforce  Provide appropriate language models  Increase self-control EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS CONTINUED E. There was a interesting study done by Stoutjesdijk, Scholte & Swaab (2011) concluding that children with EBD in special schools are more severely disabled, function on a lower cognitive level, experience more risk factors, and come from more poorly functioning families compared with children with EBD who receive regular education.

EMOTIONAL & BEHAVIORAL DISORDER INTERVENTIONS F. Modifications  Do less of the same task  Give a study guide  Different activity but same skill Accommodations  Test in a small group  Allowed to take monitored breaks  Test at a time that is beneficial to the student.  Given extra time on assignments and test  Reduce the amount of work to be done  Partner repeat or read to each other Differentiation Strategies Lower difficulty of assignments Give preferential seating Use various ways to deliver content/ material (media, direct instructions) Include life skills Utilize graphic organizers  Do work with a partner  Allow to use calculator  Use of dictionary of writing test

EMOTIONAL & BEHAVIORAL DISORDER INTERVENTIONS F. Adaptations  Provide structure and routines  Be consistent  Promote academic engagement  Create a classroom where students work independently  Arrange desk to ensure monitoring  Establish room procedures (Smith, Polloway, Patton & Dowdy, 2012, pp.293)  Alternative way to identify students who need services  Allows for early identification  Implemented school wide or class wide  Intervention has III tiers  Tier I = Universal approach  Effective for 80-90% of stud.  Tier II = Selected interventions  Small group at risk  Approx % of stud.  Tier III = Intensive individualized intervention  1-5% of the stud. need this (Pavri, 2010) Response to Intervention (RTI) “The 3 tiered intervention model recognizes that one size does not fit all when considering placement and curriculum.” (Albrecht, 2009, pp. 6)

 To understand their own culture as well of that of others is critical. (Albrecht, 2009, p. 7)  Shepard (2010) states that teachers should “follow the assessment process (as quoted by Smith & colleagues, 2012)  Ensure successful inclusion  Focus on positive behaviors and reinforcement  Assume the role as an advocate to individual students Collaborate with other teachers and professionals  Ensure that curriculum and environment [enriches] and enhances lives and learning opportunities of ALL students  Implement a student behavior management plan  [Adhere to what is stated in IEP] G. ROLE OF GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS (Smith, Polloway, Patton & Dowdy, 2012, pp.195)

 It is known that those with EBD have the need for consistent modeling of appropriate behavior  A pilot study was done by Blood & Johnson (2011) utilizing an iPod Touch for video modeling and self monitoring for a student with EBD.  Conclusions:  Revealed positive affects regarding the unwanted behaviors through the video modeling and self-monitoring  Said to be easy to implement, effective, practical and less intrusive  Could be seen as a distraction to the “target” student and those around him (wasn’t an issue during the study)  More research needs to be done, but those who did the study thinks this is a “promising new method delivering effective classroom-based interventions for students with EBD.” ADDITIONAL INFORMATION H.

I. CALIFORNIA AND NATIONAL RESOURCES, SUPPORT- GROUPS & WEBSITES National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) California Mental Health Advocates for Children and Youth California Association of Local Mental Health Boards & Commissions Cary Martin, President 711 East Longview Avenue Stockton, CA Office: (209) Mood Disorders Support Group P.O. Box 1747 Madison Square Station New York, NY Phone: (212) 533-MDSG

ISSUES WITH EBD 1. Medication for EBD There is still much controversy over medicating students with disabilities. Our text pointed out some pros and cons of using medication. Some of the pros include “increasing attention, reduces aggression.” On the other hand the cons include “the [adverse] side effects of the medication.” Though medication will help with alleviating the unwanted behaviors, medication adds to the problem in a negative way. I personally feel medication are not always the right choice, but have seen successful cases. J. 2. Correctly Identifying EBD One of the major concerns that I find with this disability as with other disabilities is properly identifying students. One label vs. another can have a damning effect on students later down the road in terms of future education and even employment. It is under- -stood that not implementing early intervention of any disability can too, cause future problems. I just wanted to stress the importance of the assessment process when it comes to identifying students. In most cases (if not all) the doctor is the one who make the final diagnosis. However, once a student is identified, it is up to us to make sure his/her needs are met.

REFERENCES Albrecht, S.F. (2009). The Message from the Pioneers in EBD: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future. In Teaching Exceptional Children Plus. Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp Blood, E. & Johnson, J. (2011). Using an iPod Touch to Teach Social and Self-Management Skills to an Elementary Student with Emotional/ Behavioral Disorder. In Teaching and Treatment of Children. Vol. 34, No. 3, 2011, pp NICHCY (2010) Emotional Disturbance Fact Sheet #5, Retrieved 4/25/13 K.

Smith, T., Polloway, E., Patton, J., & Dowdy, C. (2012). Teaching Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Settings. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education Inc. Stoutjesdijk, R., Scholte, E., & Swaab, H. Special Needs Characteristics of Children with Emotional and Behavorial Disorder That Affect Inclusion in Regular Education. In Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 2012 (originally published in November 2011) Pavari, S. (2010) Social-Emotional-Behavioral Domain: Perspectives from Urban Schools. In Teaching Exceptional Children Plus. Vol. 6, Issue 3, 2010, p YouTube Video (no date) Best Practices & Accommodations for an Emotional Disability. In YouTube website retrieved 4/25/13 REFERENCES CONTINUED K.