Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Definitions, Characteristics, Prevalence, and Causes, Slides of Educational Psychology

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Emotional or Behavioral

Disorders

Definitions and Characteristics

Important Terms

-^

Emotionally disturbed

--term now used in

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(1997)

-^

Behaviorally Disordered

--term used by

Council for Children with BehavioralDisorders, focuses attention on observableaspects of the children

Emotional disturbance (IDEA)

•^

The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the followingcharacteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree,which adversely affects education performance:– an inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual,

sensory, or health factors

• an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal

relationships with peers and teachers

Insert pictureH&K p. 285

–inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normalcircumstances–a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression or–a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fearsassociated with personal or school problems.

•The term includes children who are schizophrenic. The termdoes not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless itis determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed.

Insert pictureH&K p. 266

Definition of Emotional Disturbance

One or more of these fivecharacteristics

must

be exhibited by

the child.

Severe Behavior Handicapped

Five Characteristics

1

2 3 4 5

An inability to build or maintainsatisfactory interpersonal relationships withpeers and teachers

or

Inappropriate types ofbehavior or feelings undernormal circumstances

or

A tendency to develop physicalsymptoms or fears associated withpersonal or school problems

All three

of these qualifiers must exist for any of the five

characteristics which are exhibited.

Three Qualifiers

Over a long period of timeTo a marked degreeAdversely affects educational performance

If change is significant, documentation shoulddemonstrate the history of the transition inbehavior and its effect on the individual. Anycircumstances, however, may lead to behavioralchanges which are not transitory and do notreturn to the state which existed prior to theprecipitating event. Providing other aspects ofthe definition apply appropriately, the studentmight then be eligible for ED placement.

Nontransitory Situations

“Long period of time” must also be considered inrelation to the chronological age of the student.Less than a year for a very young child might beconsidered a long period of time, while that sameamount of time for a teenager might beinsufficient.

Chronological Age

In determining “marked degree,” the following key questions shouldbe answered:• Is the behavior in question considered significant by more thanone observer?• What are the rate, frequency, intensity, and duration ofoccurrence?• In which settings does the behavior occur?• Are there noticeable or predictable patterns to the behavior?• How is the behavior affecting others?• Is the behavior identified as a concern by norm-referencedbehavior measures?

Evaluative information from psychological tests may help tosubstantiate “marked degree,” but should not be used as theprimary source of information. For example, an observable event(providing adverse affect on education has been determined), suchas a suicide threat or gesture, should be evaluated by apsychologist using appropriate instruments, interviews, andobservations. On the other hand, results from personalitymeasures, which are not substantiated by any observable events,should be regarded with extreme caution.

Test Data