Chapter 5: Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

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Chapter 5 Emotional or Behavioral Disorders
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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder IDEA
Definition

• The term emotional disturbance refers to a
  condition exhibiting one or more of the following
  characteristics over a long time and to a marked
  degree that adversely affects a students
  educational performance
• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by
  intellectual, sensory, or other health factors.
• An inability to build or maintain satisfactory
  interpersonal relationships with peers and
  teachers.
• Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under
  normal circumstances.

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder Definitions

• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or
  depression.
• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
  associated with personal or school problems. The
  term includes schizophrenia but does not apply to
  children who are socially maladjusted.

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder Proposed
Definition

• Characterized by behavior or emotional responses
  in school programs so different from appropriate
  age, cultural, or ethnic norms that the responses
  adversely affect educational performance,
  including academic, social, vocational, or
  personal skills
• More than a temporary, expected response to
  stressful events in the environment
• Consistently exhibited in two different settings,
  at least one of which is school-related and

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder Definitions

• Unresponsiveness to direct intervention applied
  in general education, or the condition of a child
  such that general education interventions would
  be insufficient.
• One major difference between these two
  definitions is that the IDEA definition excludes
  students with social maladjustment, a term that
  usually refers to students whose behavior
  conflicts with society in general but is an
  adaptive, often peer-approved response to their
  environment.

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder
Characteristics

• Always experience emotional or behavioral
  challenges.
• Sometimes experience social and academic
  challenges.
• May exhibit
• Anxiety disorder- the most common childhood
  disorder. It is characterized by excessive fear,
  worry, or uneasiness and includes the following
  Phobia, Generalized Anxiety disorder, Panic
  disorder, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Eating
  disorder, and Post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorder
Characteristics

• Mood disorder- extreme mood deviation in either a
  depressed or an elevated direction or sometimes
  both at different times.
• Oppositional defiant disorder- causes a pattern
  of negativistic, hostile, disobedient, and
  defiant behaviors.
• Conduct disorder- is a persistent pattern of
  antisocial behavior that significantly interferes
  with school, family and social functioning.
• Schizophrenia- is a disorder in which people
  typically have tow or more of the following
  symptoms hallucinations, withdrawal, delusions,
  inability to experience pleasure, loss of contact
  with reality, and disorganized speech.

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Behavioral Characteristics

• Externalizing behaviors
• aggressive
• acting out
• noncompliant
• Internalizing behaviors
• withdrawn
• depressed
• anxious
• obsessive and compulsive

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Cognitive and Academic Characteristics

• Most have I.Q.s in the low average range and over
  half have concurrent learning disabilities.
• The relationship between academic and social
  behaviors seems to be reciprocal Students who
  experience failure in one area also tend to
  experience failure in the other.

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Causes and Prevalence

• Causes
• The cause may have several factors interacting
  together. The evaluators professional
  experiences and beliefs influence decisions about
  causality. Determining a cause is only useful if
  it leads to effective interventions and
  preventions.
• Biological- All behavior and all personality
  are in some way genetically influenced, and to a
  greater degree than most of us take into account.

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Causes and Prevalence

• Environmental Stressors
• Living conditions leading to stress such as
  poverty and unstable relationships.
• Single-parent households
• Lack of system support
• Child abuse- physical, sexual or emotional. Can
  lead to poor self-image, inability to trust,
  aggressive, destructive behaviors, substance
  abuse, withdrawal, etc.
• School factors- experiencing peer rejection, and
  aggression

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• Prevalence
• Estimates vary from 9 to 10 percent of school
  population
• Less than 1 percent identified for IDEA benefits

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Evaluation Process

• Identification tools
• Seven-step model (Zirpoli and Melloy, 2001)
• Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale
• Direct observation

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Seven-Step Model

• Step 1 Decide if a problem exists
• Step 2 Determine whether the intervention is
  warranted
• Step 3 Determine if medical and/or
  psychological reasons exist that contribute to
  the problem behavior
• Step 4 Perform a functional assessment
• Step 5 Determine if the problem is the result
  of a skill or performance deficit

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• Step 6 Develop a behavior management
  intervention
• Step 7 Conduct ongoing evaluation

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Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale

• Unlike traditional deficit-oriented assessments,
  this scale identifies a students emotional and
  behavioral strengths in the following five
  domains
• Interpersonal strength- a childs ability to
  regulate his or her emotions and behaviors in
  social setting
• Family involvement- the quality of family
  relationships
• Intrapersonal strength- a childs perspective of
  his or her competence and accomplishments
• School functioning- a childs success in school
• Affective strength- ability to express feelings
  and accept affection

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Direct Observation

• Requires the teachers and other school personnel
  to watch and record the behavior of a single
  student or a group of students for a specified
  duration of time. Target behavior is tallied
  according to
• Frequency- how often the behavior occurs
• Duration- how long the behavior lasts
• Latency- how long it takes for the behavior to
  begin once there is an opportunity
• Topography- the shape of the students response
• Magnitude- the intensity of the students response

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Assuring Progress in General Curriculum

• Students with emotional or behavioral disorders
  are less likely to be included in general
  education classrooms that are students with other
  disabilities however, programs such as the
  wraparound approach facilitate inclusion.
• Self-management and conflict resolution are two
  important skills for universally designed
  instruction.
• Service learning is an effective tool for
  community collaboration.

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Effective Teaching Practices

• Curricular Goals
• Learning socially valued ways to express emotions
  and to behave (emotional and behavioral goals)
• Increasing social skills to develop reciprocal
  friendships
• Increasing academic skills and career options
• Implement Instruction
• Applied behavioral analysis
• Positive behavioral support
• Peer mediation

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Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

• Principle I Behavior is controlled by its
  consequences.
• Principle II Behavior is strengthened or
  maintained by both positive and negative
  reinforcement.
• Principle III Behavior is weakened by
  withholding the consequences that have maintained
  it (extinction).
• Principle IV Behavior is weakened by
  punishment.

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• Principle V Consequences must consistently and
  immediately follow the behavior they control.
• Principle VI Behavior is strengthened,
  weakened or maintained by modeling.

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Programs and Participation

• Early Childhood Years- The Johns Hopkins
  University Prevention Intervention Research
  Center established two first-grade programs, one
  focusing on curriculum and behavior, another on
  family-teacher communication, both showed
  reductions in emotional and behavioral disorders
  by the time students were sixth graders.
• Elementary Years- LaGrange Department of Special
  Education (LADSE)- uses wraparound approach to
  providing services

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• Middle and Secondary Years- Frank Lloyd Wright
  Middle School incorporates the circle of courage,
  derived from Native American ideas, as an
  alternative to zero tolerance.
• Transition and Postsecondary Years-
  YouthNet/Reseau Ado links support groups and
  mental health services with young people who are
  homeless or street involved.