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o to give you a basic background of the field of study concerning individuals with emotional behavioral disorders, we actually start in 1886. So this period actually marked one of the earliest formal distinctions between mental illness and intellectual disabilities.
So emotional disturbances were historically lumped with other conditions. So this distinction actually laid that groundwork for understanding, emotional and behavioral disorders or Edbd
as being separate from intellectual disabilities.
And then, in the early 19 hundreds, we had what was known as a mental hygiene movement, and this was a reform movement that emphasized the importance of mental health and prevention and humane treatment, and part of that movement. We had Clifford Beers, and he was a former psychiatric patient who published a memoir known as a mind that found itself, and that actually brought a lot of public attention to
mental health conditions and advocated for better treatments and services. And then, of course, we had the famous Sigmund Freud, and he introduced the psychoanalytic theory around this time which highlighted the role of unconscious motives and early childhood experiences and shaping emotional and behavioral development. So his work.
It had a lot of issues. But it also did lay the groundwork for understanding social influences on behavior.
And then, in the 19 twenties, through the 19 thirties, we had our 1st true early research on emotional disturbances and behavioral disturbances. So John B. Watson, he was actually from the school that was known as behaviorism, and he conducted what is now known as the little Albert experiment.
and without going into too many of the details of that experiment. What the gist of it showed was that emotional reactions like fear, could be conditioned responses. So this actually suggested that behavior. Even if it was a maladaptive behavior or an emotional behavior, it could be learned and possibly unlearned through environmental manipulation. So that was actually
key behavior-based intervention that was used later in education.
And then in the 19 forties through the 19 sixties.
was actually the true birth of the field of Edbd. So this began to be recognized as a separate area of research and practice.
So we had figures like
Bruno Bedeheim, and he was a pretty controversial figure who worked with the emotionally disturbed children and promoted things like residential treatment and psychodynamic approaches. So some of his theories were actually very harmful. He was the one who coined the phrase refrigerator mother on the theory of autism.
and that was later discredited. But he was really influential in establishing treatment programs for children with severe emotional disturbances. And then we had Albert Bandura, and he introduced the concept of observational learning through his Bobo doll experiment.
showing that children can learn aggressive behavior simply by watching others. So his social learning theory became foundational in developing behavioral interventions and social skills training for our students with Edbd.
so the major conceptual models that emerged in the 19 sixties to better understand and support individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders.
These models actually reflected different theoretical perspectives and provided frameworks for assessments and interventions and later educational planning. So first, st we had the behavioral model from Skinner and the core idea behind the behavior model is that behavior is learned and shaped by interactions with the environment.
particularly through reinforcement and punishment. So he really emphasized observable behaviors rather than focusing on things like internal thoughts and emotions.
And his main focus was on behavioral modification. So increasing desired behaviors and decreasing problem behaviors using techniques like positive reinforcement. So things like token economies and functional behavioral assessments which we still use today. And we had, I mentioned it before. But the psychodynamic model from Sigmund Freud. And that core idea
was that emotional and behavioral issues stem from unconscious mental processes and unresolved inner conflicts. And they're often rooted in early childhood experiences. He was very obsessed with this idea that humans have very distinct stages of development, and all maladaptive behaviors are due to getting stuck in certain points of development.
Then we had the psycho educational model, and this kind of built on the psychodynamic model. But it was tailored to educational context. So the focus was on how unconscious motivations and underlying emotional conflicts affect a child's learning and classroom behavior.
We also, around this time we got the ecological model, so that emphasized the interaction between the child and their multiple environments. So at home, their school, their community
and then the humanistic model. So that was based on the belief that individuals are inherently good, capable of self growth and motivated by desire to reach their full potential, so that emphasized student voice and self-determination and the development of problem solving and coping skills. That was a big part of it.
the biogenic model. So that attributed emotional and behavioral disorders to physiological or neurological abnormalities, such as chemical imbalances, brain dysfunctions or genetic factors that perhaps could have been passed along by their parents so that really emphasized the role of biology and medication in managing behaviors.
So let's get into some of this terminology. So the term emotional disturbance was 1st introduced by Eli Bauer in the 19 sixties during
his work to define and identify students who require special education services due to significant emotional and behavioral difficulties. So the goal of Bauer's work. He aimed to help schools identify children whose emotional and behavioral issues seriously interfered with their ability to learn and interact socially or generally function in a typical classroom setting.
and he proposed one of the earliest formal definitions of what later became the category of emotional disturbance under special education laws like Ida.
So the classification
of individuals with emotional or behavioral disorders focuses on 2 main approaches. The 1st one is clinically derived classification systems.
So these systems are developed by mental health professionals. So your psychologist, your psychiatrist.
And this is meant to classify and diagnose mental disorders based on patterns of symptoms and the primary tool, for that is something that we mentioned in a prior lecture is the Dsm-five that is actually the most widely used system in those clinical settings. The second.
the second approach
are the statistically derived classification systems. So these systems are based on large scale research studies that group behaviors into categories using statistical analysis rather than clinical judgment alone.
So they kind of focus more on the 2 major behavioral categories of externalizing behaviors under controlled disorders.
And then those internalizing behaviors so over controlled disorders. But we'll get into that more later.
So idea actually provides a specific definition for emotional disturbance to determine eligibility for special education services.
So the definition actually emphasizes the duration and the intensity. And that impact on educational performance. So here's that breakdown. So a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time, and to a marked degree that adversely affects the child's educational performance.
So the criteria are one. It's an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors. So the student struggles academically. But it's not due to any known cognitive delays, no vision or hearing impairments or medical conditions. So it suggests that there's
actually emotional or psychological issue that is, in interfering with their learning.
The second part is an inability to build and maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. So the student might have a lot of difficulties making friends, and they often
either are forced to isolate or they self isolate, or they show improper social behaviors like aggression. So those problems are consistent and they're not limited to just one specific environment or one specific relationship. So just because they don't like their math teacher doesn't necessarily mean that they have emotional disturbance.
The 3rd part of that criteria is inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, so the student may respond extremely or unpredictably to ordinary events, so they might exhibit very severe anger or fear or sadness. So these
reactions are not actually developmentally appropriate.
The 4th is a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. So any ongoing signs of sadness or lack of interest in activities, and that is different from temporary mood changes. So this affects day to day functioning which we will talk more about later on this lecture.
and then the 5th part of that is a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems, so the student might frequently complain of headaches or stomach aches or other physical symptoms without medical cause, and these symptoms are often linked to emotional stress, such as anxiety about school or home life.
And another thing regarding emotional disturbance. Schizophrenia is explicitly named in idea's definition of emotional disturbance.
and this inclusion really clarifies that students with serious psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, they are eligible for special education services under the emotional disturbance category if their condition persists over a long period of time is intense in degree, and it also has to adversely affect their educational performance.
And then the term
does not apply to children who are only socially maladjusted unless emotional disturbance is also present. So social maladjustment refers to this pattern of intentional rule, breaking or defiance or antisocial behavior. So any sort of delinquency that may stem
from in a from just day to day activities. No.
so Ida makes a clear distinction here. So a student who is only socially maladjusted, so they skip school. They act out without an emotional cause, does not actually qualify under the emotionally disturbed category. However, if the student is both socially maladjusted and emotionally disturbed, then they would meet the full idea criteria, and they can qualify for special education services
under that emotionally disturbed classification of idea. So the distinction is really just an attempt to prevent over identification of students who engage in misbehavior without an underlying emotional disorder.
So what an emotional disturbance is not
so as mentioned in the previous slide. Emotional disturbance is not social maladjustment or a conduct disorder. But this is highly debated. So students who are socially maladjusted often show chronic patterns of antisocial rule, breaking or delinquent behavior, and these students may lie, they may steal, they may vandalize, skip school.
join a gang where they show little remorse for their actions, and
You can see where the debate would start to pop up about labeling a student as emotionally disturbed. So some professionals would argue that social maladjustment is separate from emotional disturbance because the behaviors are intentional and they are goal directed and not rooted in an emotional illness. Others would argue that many students with conduct disorders may
also have co-occurring emotional disorders like depression and trauma, and that they should qualify under the emotional disturbance classification, and that would meet Ida criteria
The problem behaviors have to be willful. So that is truly the defining feature. So the defining feature of social maladjustment is that the behavior is often seen as voluntary
or willful. So the student is viewed as choosing to act out, and would be able to stop the behavior if they wanted to, or if the consequences were severe enough. So an example of this is a student consistently disrupts class, but only when a particular teacher is present, or they participate in bullying or theft as part of peer pressure.
Then that would be a maladjustment and not an emotional disturbance.
So if you contrast that with students with an emotional disturbance, the students with emotional disturbance often exhibit behaviors that are less controllable, and those are very emotionally driven, and not simply a matter of choice. They want to behave better, but they're unable to regulate their emotions or cope with stress effectively, without some interventions.
So students classified as socially maladjusted
are those whose behavior pattern actually reflects a disregard for those social norms and expectations. But without that underlying emotional disorder. So their difficulties are typically rooted in that social conduct rather than emotional dysregulation.
So the big problem with defining emotional disturbance lies in the lack of universally accepted definition which creates a lot of confusion. So there is no universally accepted definition of emotional disturbance or behavioral disturbance. So different fields use different criteria and terminology for their emotional and behavioral disorders. So
the terms that are used in the field of education aren't the same that are used in the field of psychology, which aren't the same as used in the field of psychiatry. So you can see where a lot of confusion comes from.
So schools use Ida's definition of emotional disturbance which focuses on that educational impact. And then clinicians use that Dsm-five definition that's focused on the psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses.
And that leads to a lot of disagreements about who qualifies for services and what kind of supports do they need? And because of the lack of consistency. Multiple overlapping terms are used to describe students with emotional and behavioral challenges. These include things like behaviorally disordered, emotionally conflicted, socially maladjusted and socially impaired.
So with regards to the prevalence of emotional or behavioral disorders. During the 2016 to 2017 school year, approximately 332,700 students, aged 6 to 21 in the Us. Received special education services under the category of emotional disturbance.
and Ed was the 6.th Most common disability category for students in this age group, and despite this, it is widely considered the most under identified disability category meaning that many students who likely would qualify are not actually formally identified or served.
So what are the different emotional behaviors that we see in schools?
This can be separated into 2 broad categories, externalizing and internalizing behaviors. So externalizing behaviors are those outward directed behaviors, typically disruptive, aggressive, or acting out behaviors that are really noticeable in a classroom or a social setting, so they tend to draw a lot of attention to that leads to more frequent office referrals. So you have things like socialized aggression.
so that would involve antisocial behaviors carried out in peer groups, such as bullying, gain, activity, vandalism, or theft. And these behaviors are often deliberate and involve others rather than occurring in isolation.
And then there's hyperactivity. So that's characterized by that impulsivity and inattention and excessive movement that we discussed in a previous lecture. So students
may struggle to sit still and focus and control their impulses, and they often act without thinking of consequences. So this is pretty common with students with Adhd. But it can appear in those with emotional or behavioral disorders.
And then there's also pervasive developmental disorders. And historically, that term was used to describe group disorders, including autism
that involve significant social communication or behavioral challenges, though it's now classified under autism, spectrum disorder. In that Dsm. 5, that I mentioned before. So students with these symptoms may show externalizing behaviors, especially if overwhelmed, or they are struggling to be understood and become frustrated
and then internalizing behaviors. These are inward directed behaviors typically more withdrawn and anxious or depressive. So these students often suffer in silence, and it may go unnoticed because their behavior is not disruptive.
so that includes things like withdrawal, so that social isolation, avoidance of interaction, reluctance to participate. So these the students may appear to be very lonely, very quiet.
emotionally flat when they speak so they may struggle a lot with forming peer relationships.
Anxiety, so that involves excessive fear, worry, nervousness often related to school performance or social situations, and those symptoms
can present themselves as things like stomach aches, headaches, or avoidance behaviors like just flat out refusing to go to school, and then, of course, depression, so that persistent sadness, maybe low self-esteem, severe fatigue, loss of interest in normal activities.
and may also include changes to their eating or sleeping habits, feeling of hopelessness, or even thoughts of self-harm.
Some of the common characteristics of students with Edbd manifest in 3 different categories. The 1st are the learning characteristics.
So students
with emotional disturbances can have average or above average or below average intelligence. So it's really not defined by cognitive cognitive ability, however, emotional and behavioral challenges often do interfere with learning.
There's also a risk for chronic school failure, because many of these students experience consistent academic struggles, and that can result from misinstruction due to behavioral related removals or difficulty focusing or just a lack of motivation.
and then also due to poor academic performance and behavior issues. Students with Ed are often held back a grade which can negatively affect their self-esteem, and that, as we mentioned in a previous lecture, increases the risk of them dropping out of school.
The social characteristics would include things like difficulty building and maintaining relationships. So they often struggle with those peer and teacher relationships due to maybe some poor social skills or trust issues or difficulty interpreting some social cues, and then
some can exhibit physical or verbal aggression. So defiance oppositional behavior, and that really makes it hard to maintain some positive interactions with others
and then experiencing rejection. So their behaviors, they often lead to social isolation, peer rejection, and lots of disciplinary exclusion which can worsen the emotional difficulties and further impair social development.
And then there's language and communication characteristics
so deficits in the areas of pragmatics. So that refers to social uses of language, how students use language in context. So things like turn taking, staying on topic, understanding tone. So students with emotional behavioral disorders often struggle in this area and then, limited or inappropriate language use so they may use language that's
limited in vocabulary, inappropriate for the situation. So lots of profanity or aggression and then
they can be disorganized or unclear with what they're trying to communicate, especially during really emotionally distressing situations.
So understanding these characteristics really helps us as educators design targeted interventions that address these issues.
So when we look at the male and female perspective. In school settings boys are actually disproportionately identified with emotional disturbance
compared to girls. So the Us. Department of Education reports ratio of approximately 5 to one meaning that for every one girl identified with emotional behavioral disorder, there are about 5 boys, so that disparity
might occur because boys more often exhibit the externalizing behaviors, and those externalizing behaviors are a lot more noticeable because they're more outward. They're more disruptive. And because they include things like aggression defines hyperactivity and acting out in class. And so it's just easier for teachers and staff to observe it. And that leads to more referrals for evaluation and special education services.
And then girls often exhibit internalizing behaviors. So internalizing behaviors, again, are those inward focus and less visible. So the things like anxiety, depression, withdrawing from everyone.
And because these behaviors are less disruptive, it may be mistaken for like shyness or passivity, and then the girls are under identified as having an emotional behavioral disturbance. And so then they're more likely to miss out on services, even though
Now, what are the potential impacts of emotional and behavioral disorders on individuals?
So for one, there's lots of academic struggles. So students in this population, they fail more courses and score lower on minimum competency tests than students of other disability categories like a specific learning disability
and then
emotional and behavioral challenges actually interfere with things like being able to focus and stay on task or complete assignments, or regulate their behavior in the classroom, and those struggles often lead to low grades and retention, and if you're having to repeat a grade, then that also increases the risk for school disengagement and dropout.
and only about 50% of students with Edbd graduate from high school compared to
much higher rates for students with other disabilities, and a contributing factor of this includes repeated suspensions or expulsions, chronic absenteeism, lack of effective academic and behavioral supports.
and students with emotional disturbances miss an average of 18 to 20 days of school per year, which is much more than their peers
and the absenteeism. This could be due to several things like anxiety and depression, which leads to school avoidance, lots of suspensions, and
certainly hospitalizations and any treatment programs. So that misinstruction really deepens those learning gaps, and then it weakens the relationships between their peers and their teachers.
and then students with Edbd are disproportionately involved in the juvenile justice system.
So they are actually 13 times more likely to be arrested in high school than their peers of other disabilities, and there are also 4 times more likely to be arrested than their peers without disabilities, and
these arrests are often tied to aggression and school-based incidents and poor impulse control and lack of emotional regulation. So also, within 5 years of leaving high school, approximately 58% of individuals with Edbd have been arrested, which is a staggering number.
And this reflects a cycle of
exclusion and a lack of support and unmet mental health needs.
and that continues after they exit the school system. So many of these young adults actually struggle with unemployment and homelessness and lack of access to adult mental health services.
The other thing that is really important to look at when assessing this disability is whether the behavior is a result of
transitory situations or non-transitory situations. And what this means
is so what we mean by transitory is, if there was a recent experience that has had an impact on the child. So idea's definition of emotional disturbance excludes short term or temporary behaviors caused by specific life events. So we have to ask if these are normal emotional behavioral responses
to stressful life events like a death in the family or divorce, a financial crisis, etcetera. So the behaviors resulting from these traumas are typically short lived. They may be intense, but they are considered appropriate responses to the situation.
and with time and counseling and family support the student usually returns to a baseline functioning. Special education is not warranted unless those behaviors are persistent long after the event they intensify rather than improve, and they clearly impair the students. Learning
now non-transitory, while many emotional or behavioral changes in students are situational and short lived, some events can have lasting effects. So if the student behavior does not return to normal after a stressful or traumatic event, then the issue might be non-transitory.
So when evaluating emotional disturbance in non-transitory cases, the school must document the history of the behavior change over time and then show how the students behavior has persisted beyond the initial event, and then describe how the behavior has negatively impacted their educational performance. And this helps distinguish between brief emotional reaction and an ongoing emotional behavioral disorder.
If the so, if the behavior has lasted over a long period of time. It's intense to a marked degree, and it adversely affects their educational performance. Then that is, when the student may actually be eligible for special education services under the emotionally disturbed category of idea.
Now, there are 4 really important emotional and behavioral dimensions that we look at when determining referrals and assessments for special education services. The 1st is the frequency or the rate of occurrence. So how often the behavior happens
so a behavior that occurs repeatedly or daily is more concerning than something that happens occasionally so frequent behaviors that would actually signal a pattern rather than an isolated event.
The next thing we're looking at is the intensity. So that's the severity of the behavior. So how extreme or disruptive the behavior actually is, so are they throw on their desk, or are they tapping their pencil
and then duration? So that's concerning the length and time behavior persists
so emotional or behavioral disorders? Again, they have to be chronic, not short lived. So behavior must persist over a long period of time as defined by Ida for them to qualify for special education services. And then the 4th dimension is the age appropriateness of the behavior, so that refers to whether the behavior is typical of a child's developmental stage.
So a behavior that might be normal for a toddler. So like throwing a tantrum may be inappropriate for a 14 year old to throw a tantrum in the same way.
So when problematic behaviors occur in the classroom, how you respond can actually be pretty critical. So after the behavioral event occurs, you should always take data on all the relevant details of what happened, and when it happened, and how long it lasted, and what occurred immediately after. But in the moment I want you to 1st thoughtfully respond to
these critical behaviors rather than reacting impulsively. So stop, think, and process. So
the behavioral event, plus your automatic thought, equals the teacher action going forward.
So the 1st part of this is the event. So this is the triggering situation. Something the student does that is challenging, disruptive, or it could just be very emotionally charged, so like the student yells at a peer and throws a pencil across the room.
And then the second part of this is the automatic thought. So this is the immediate internal reaction or assumption that you, as the teacher, has in response to the event, and these thoughts happen quickly, and it kind of forces you to reflect.
So
a knee jerk reaction to this would be the student yelling and throwing his pencil across the room is. He's doing this on purpose. He's doing this to make me look bad. The student never listens. Those are the automatic thoughts that shape the teacher's interpretation of the event.
So if the thought is negative or biased, that can, that may lead to an unhelpful or even harmful response, and you can't help your 1st initial thoughts, but you can recognize the thoughts that you are having and then moving forward. So that brings us to the perception. So how the teacher interprets the students behavior, and that's often filtered
through our own experiences and assumptions. So I, as a teacher, might perceive the behavior as disrespectful or defiant, or threatening, or might recognize it as a sign of distress or a learned response to trauma.
And then that brings in emotion so based on the perception of the automatic thoughts. The teacher is starting to experience some feelings which could be anger or frustration, fear, disappointment, or even guilt.
And then.
once you're acknowledging all that that brings us to the response. So what the teacher says or does in reaction to the students behavior, it can be reactive or strategic reactive would be yelling right back at the students and sending the student out and punishing without explanation, or it could be strategic. So, using a calm tone, setting clear limits, asking what's going on, offering breaks, using some de-escalation techniques.
So the teacher behavior is that action that we're most concerned about after this student's problematic behavior has occurred. So
the teacher behaviors that observable outcome to the response. And it's not just about what the teacher says, but also your body language, your tone of voice, your facial expression, and the big part of this is your choice of intervention, strategy. So the goal is for use. The teacher to model self-regulation, maintain a safe and supportive environment, and help the student learn alternative behaviors.
So when it comes to the prevention of Edbd, there has been some research concerning the teaching of resiliency and pbis, so resiliency refers to the students ability to adapt well in the face of adversity or trauma, or just stress in general
and research shows that resilient children are less likely to develop emotional or behavioral disorders, even when exposed to risk factors that increase the likelihood of an emotional disturbance, like poverty or abuse or neglect.
So these protective factors, associated with resiliency include social competence. So those are positive relationships. So that's the ability to interact positively with others, make and maintain friendships and communicate effectively.
So in school.
you would have programs that teach social, emotional learning and peer mentoring that can enhance social competence and prevent emotional disturbances.
then we have problem solving skills so that ability to think through situations, generate solutions, evaluate consequences and then make decisions. And in school that would be things like teaching strategies like conflict, resolution or role playing or cognitive behavioral intervention support
cognitive behavioral interventions that actually support these skills.
acting independently. So being self-directed, having a sense of autonomy and being able to function without constant supervision. So in school teachers can support independence by using choice, making task analysis.
self monitoring and goal setting strategies would often help these students and then clear goals and aspirations. So, having a vision for the future that includes personal, academic or career goals. So in school, having programs that emphasize things like college and career, readiness or personal goal setting
and individualized education plan. So your Ieps can actually help do this in a very clear, positive, self-directed way for these students, so that fosters that aspiration and purpose that can be encouraging to students of this population.
and there are also been a lot of good evidence as far as positive behavioral interventions and supports. And we talked about that before in some prior lectures and positive behavioral supports. That's that proactive school-wide framework that focuses on teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors rather than constantly punishing misbehavior.
So there are 7 critical components to building resiliency
that are widely recognized as being foundational.
especially to children and adolescents.
so that ability to bounce back from adversity and being able to cope with stress and thrive emotionally and behaviorally. There's 7 key components. So the 1st is competence. So that's the ability to effectively handle a task and challenge social situations.
Confidence. So the belief in one's own abilities or worth connection, so positive relationships with family, their peers, their teachers, and their community
and character, so possessing values, and a sense of integrity and fairness and responsibility and contribution, so feeling that one's actions make a positive difference to others or the community, and actually being recognized for that. And then, of course, coping. So the ability to manage stress and emotions and adversity and healthy ways. So
teaching relaxation techniques or problem solving techniques or teaching them to just ask for help from a teacher that would help build these coping skills and then, of course, control. So controls that perception that the person has influence over their own life and outcomes. So
that brings us back to encouraging things like goal setting and
empowering them to make decisions on their own and teaching self regulation.
Now, unfortunately, in many cases, students with Edbd classifications receive their education in settings separate from their peers without disabilities. So more than 50% of these students are educated in separate classrooms, special schools or residential facilities.
And why more than 50% are in these settings is because many of these students with emotional and behavioral disturbance, they exhibit some serious
Behavioral challenges that significantly interfere with the learning and social interaction.
so they often require very intensive specialized interventions that general education settings or inclusive models may not be able to provide adequately, or that they're refusing to provide adequately. So these
actually lead to a lot of concerns about educating students in the least restrictive environment. And
there's been some debate on whether it this is
leading to unnecessary segregation of these students with disabilities.
Now you may wonder what programs exist for these students once they age out or graduate from high school. So section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. That's that civil rights law that's designed to protect individuals with disabilities.
And that would include those with behavioral disorders, and that protects them from discrimination.
And this applies to any program.
or that is actively receiving Federal funding. So that goes beyond public schools that includes colleges or workplaces.
And Ada is actually an even broader scope, including that includes private employers, public accommodations, and transportation, so both laws require reasonable accommodations and equal access for individuals with disabilities
which for adults with emotional behavioral disorders that may include modified work, schedules, behavioral supports or counseling services, quiet workplaces or sensory breaks
and adjusted academic deadlines or alternative testing arrangements. So after high school adults with emotional behavioral disorders may attend colleges, universities, or vocational schools so
unlike idea.
They would not be required to have an individualized education program.
so instead, under Section 504, and Ada. Post-secondary schools must provide those reasonable accommodations to support the students. Access to learning, and that can include extended time on exams or note, taking assistance, of course, counseling and mental health services, and then maybe even priority registration for classes to reduce the stress.
So oftentimes these students will have to self advocate and request accommodations.
and then adults with emotional behavioral disorders, they face a lot of challenges, obtaining and maintaining employment due to symptoms like emotional regulation difficulties with social skills and impulsivity.
So section 504 and Ada, they would in. They wouldn't protect. It would protect employees from discrimination and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to support their job performance and retention. So
employment training programs often include things like job coaching and mentoring or soft skills training so to help them work on like communication and problem solving or supported employment models. So that would be things like on the job support with skill, development.
And then, of course, those vocational rehabilitation services are often coordinated through state agencies that help these adults with emotional behavioral disorders develop those skills and hopefully find these employment opportunities.
And just a quick note about the families of people with emotional disturbance and behavioral disturbance.
The families of children
of this population are often unfairly blamed for their child's emotional and behavioral challenges, and these families frequently face significant difficulties, such as increased stress, financial burden, social isolation and high demands on their time and energy.
And so to support these families effectively, educators must prioritize, establishing and maintaining that open, positive communication, and really trying to foster that collaboration and understanding between you and the families.
And then, on a final note, there are some trends and issues and some controversies that you should be aware of concerning our students with emotional disturbance, and there are ongoing challenges in supporting individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders, including a shortage of qualified teachers which affects the quality of education and support. Public policy and societal attitudes often contribute to a pretty big stigma and
inconsistent funding, and while poor collaboration among
education and mental health and social service agencies that can actually lead to a lot of fragmented care, so it's not consistent across the board.
So we need to focus on creating effective systems of care. So coordinating networks of services. That's pretty essential. But it's also very difficult due to funding hurdles. So addressing these issues is pretty critical for improving the outcomes for our students with emotional behavioral disorders. So something to chew on.
