Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Respond to your colleagues’ postings. Respond in one or more of the following ways:
Please no plagiarism and make sure you are able to access all resource on your own before you bid. One of the references must come from Flamez, B. & Sheperis, C. J. (2015) and/or Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2007). I have also attached my discussion rubric so you can see how to make full points. Please respond to all 3 of my classmates separately with separate references for each response. You need to have scholarly support for any claim of fact or recommendation regarding treatment. I need this completed TODAY 02/09/19 at 9pm.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Respond to your colleagues’ postings.
Respond in one or more of the following ways:
· Ask a probing question.
· Share an insight gained from having read your colleague’s posting.
· Offer and support an opinion.
· Validate an idea with your own experience.
· Make a suggestion.
· Expand on your colleague’s posting.
1. Classmate (B.Tho)
Exceptionalities
Mental health services are limited especially when working with a child or adolescent that has an emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD; Samuel, 2018). Behaviors can be aggressive and emotional responses can be extremely intense (Samuel, 2018). There are significant challenges that arise with a child or adolescent with EBD. One area that is a challenge for a child with EBD is the school environment (Samuel, 2018). Families, educators, and peers all play an important role in the success of a child with EBD.
Emotional or Behavioral Disorder
Children and adolescents with EBD struggle to maintain positive relationships with their families, their teachers, and their peers (Samuel, 2018). They struggle with being able to regulate their emotions and impulses. Because of this inability to always effectively self-regulate their behaviors can be extremely disruptive to their environments (Samuel, 2018). 1 out of 10 children have been diagnosed with an emotional or behavioral disorder that affects their ability to successfully navigate a school setting (Kutash, Duchnowski, & Green, 2015 as cited by Samuel, 2018). This author works in a high school with a significant EBD population and interacts with these students regularly. It has been observed that a rigidity within their school setting is not always positive or helpful. This author has witnessed students with EBD be labeled derogatory terms and as burdensome. This type of thinking and atmosphere is detrimental to the success of students with EBD. These students are secluded from their peers in the classroom and during lunch times. Exclusion is never a positive or helpful intervention. This labeling and exclusion can intensify maladaptive behaviors which in turn carries over to the home environment. Families struggle with EBD because of the disruptive and maladaptive behaviors. Emotional outbursts, lack of social skills, hypersexual activity, lack of boundaries and oppositional behaviors are characteristics of a student with EBD (Samuel, 2018). These behaviors negatively affect the parent-child relationship and the sibling relationship, if applicable. A student with EBD will suffer in their peer relationships and can be at a higher risk of being the victim of bullying (Samuel, 2018).
Interventions
Samuel (2018) identified Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) as an effective intervention program within a school setting and showed an overall decrease in disciplinary referrals with the implementation of PBIS. The program consisted of a five-person team including a school counselor and parent representatives and the program included specific goals and a token economy (Samuel, 2018). This is a positive intervention that has proven to be effective within the school. Families were notified of how the student was performing at school keep families updated and to continue the positive behaviors in the home environment (Samuel, 2018). Families can implement a token economy at home to help modify and encourage positive behaviors. This would also provide consistency and continuity for the child. This is designed to teach emotion regulation and positive conflict resolution.
Conclusion
Children and adolescents with EBD exhibit disruptive behaviors that can negatively impact their home and school environments (Samuel, 2018). Implementing positive behavior interventions in the school setting can significant help reduce disciplinary issues at school (Samuel, 2018). Families can implement a token economy at home to help promote positive behaviors and reduce maladaptive behaviors.
References
Samuel, A. (2018). The Effects of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports for Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders. Retrieved from
http://repository.stcloudstate.edu/sped_etds/55
2. Classmate (B.Apo)
Exceptionality
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis that includes significant social communication deficits/delays along with restricted patterns of interests and behaviors. The essential features of autism spectrum disorder are persistent impairment in reciprocal social communication and social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. These symptoms are presented form early childhood and limit or impair everyday functioning American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Impact on Family Functioning
Many children with ASD require intensive educational, behavioral, and healthcare services, which require significant financial time, and care coordination investments for families. In general, parents of children wit special health care needs are at increased risk of under- or unemployment, financial stress, family burden, poor health-related quality of life, worse physical and mental health, and poorer psychological well-being (Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau, 2014).
Parenting stress may result from the child’s social and behavioral problems, alienation and experience of bullying, as well as deficits in planning and organizing his/her own activities and being less independent than peers. A number of this children suffer from emotional problems, depression and anxiety, which may also contribute to their parents’ stress.
The non-obvious character of the disorder leads to a lack of understanding for both the children’s and parent’s problems, and to questioning of parental competences, and the challenge stemming from child rearing can significantly affect family life and expose it to crises (White, McMorris, Weiss & Lunsky, 2012).
Intervention
The scientific basis for the use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with adolescents and adults with mood or adjustment problems is extensive and diverse. In fact, CBT is one of the most widely used non-pharmacologic treatments for individuals with mental and emotional disorders, especially depression, and its use with individuals with autism spectrum disorders is growing. CBT focuses on replacing negative or ineffective patterns of thought and behavior with structured strategies that are effective in improving mood and adaptive functioning. In the autism research base, the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of “self-management,” a type of CBT, is described by the NPDC-ASD as follows: “Self-management interventions help learners with ASD learn to independently regulate their own behaviors and act appropriately in a variety of home, school, and community-based situations. With these interventions, learners with ASD are taught to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, accurately monitor and record their own behaviors, and reward themselves for behaving appropriately. As learners with ASD become more fluent with the self-management, some of the implementation responsibilities shift from teachers, families, and other practitioners to the learners themselves (Lindgren & Doobay, 2011).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing
Flamez, B. & Sherperis, C. J. (2015). Diagnosing and treating children and adolescents: A guide to clinical and school settings. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Lindgren, S. & Doobay, A. (2011). Evidence-based interventions for autism spectrum disorder. University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.
Zuckerman, K.E., Lindly, O.J., Bethell, C.D., & Kuhlthau, K. (2014). Family impacts among children with autism spectrum disorder: The role of health care quality. Acad Pediatr. 14(4): 398-407
3. Classmate (A.Mat)
Personal statement:
While speaking about children with exceptionalities, I reflected upon the meaning of the word. I really and truly like the term as it reflects part of the reality the child and the ones around are going through. While I entirely disagree with the term disabilities, abnormalities, handicap, disturbance, or impairment, I consider that from many aspects children with exceptionalities are the gifted ones. It is unsure if this is due to a disadvantage or a trend in evolution, but children with exceptionalities have acquired something that regular children did not: the capacity to survive against all the odds.
Orthopedic impairment
Brief description
The term means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures) (Special Ed. topics).
Two ways the exceptionality may impact family functioning and how.
At home, children with orthopedic impairment face multiple challenges. From interaction with siblings and others of their age to parents who need to accommodate their jobs to provide additional medical services for their children, those children may face adversity, ridicule or abuse. Parents will have to receive special education in how to deal with the specific disability, depending on special conditions of their child. The parents may be most of the times frustrated, discouraged or angry.
One way that the family might be impacted is through financial burdens. While the federal legislation provides several subsidies such as disability pay or assistance through the medical system, there is much more to be needed while having a child with a specific physical challenge. Devices, home improvements, special bathrooms, restrooms, and bedrooms are expensive and not all covered by grants or insurance. Also, medical procedures, repeated and necessary all life long are most of the time beyond the means of the families.
Another way the family might be impacted is due to severe, constant and burdening psychological stress due to permanent care and protection. Children and siblings might tease the child with exceptionality, or society as a whole should not understand how important it is to provide the necessary accommodations for such a child. Summer camps, vacation rentals, restaurants and movie places, even a simple trip to the amusement park, may turn into an ordeal given specific situations.
But the most painful impact is the parents thought that one day when they will be long gone, there would be no one to take care of their child.
Students with orthopedic impairments will have different physical challenges and therefore require different accommodations. Typically, students with such impairments have the same cognitive abilities as their peers without disabilities. In the general education program, the student may need special seating arrangements to help him with posture and mobility, as moving around the classroom or moving around school hallways may be difficult. Schools may also need to arrange the schedules of these students in a way that prevents them from having to travel long distances from one class to another. Providing elevator access can also help. Collectively, parents, medical professionals, teachers, counselors, and other school staff can work to provide children with orthopedic disabilities the support they need in the classroom. The child’s needs may change over time, and the officials involved in his individualized education plan can make amendments to the plan to accommodate new needs. They may also need assistive technology devices to help them communicate or lessons that address their disability, such as those that will help them improve their gross and fine motor skills.
One therapeutic intervention you might use to improve family functioning
One therapeutic intervention is family counseling with or without their child. Listening to the parents unloading their worries, being there for them with a helpful nonjudgmental demeanor, means a lot for a family under such stress. Also, when the therapeutic alliance is established, a counselor can help discuss with the family practical and reliable plans for the future of their child. This will ease the burden of not knowing what will happen after they are gone. Making the parents understand that their child is as blessed as any other child, understanding their child needs and struggles will also help the family pass difficult moments (Foley-Nicpon, Choate & Bolenbaugh, 2018).
As a social justice advocate, the counselor should make sure he or she gets involved in the child school activities while helping the school team understand additional needs the child might have and also providing for the family a circle of support, pertinent literature and brochures, places where they can feel comfortable discussing with other patents in the same situation or places where they can go with their child and feel safe and welcome.
Also, I will discuss the possibility that their child has some other exceptionalities such as unusual gifts in a specific area. These types of children who have a disability in an area but are exceptionally gifted in a different area are called children with multiple exceptionalities (Wormald, Rogers, & Vialle, 2015). For some children in this category, their special educational needs or disabilities are seen as their sole distinguishing label (especially in cases where the children’s special needs are physically or more apparent such as visual impairment or hearing impairment). Such children are at greater risk of not being identified as having high learning potential and thereby lose out of support to develop their abilities. These children then miss out on opportunities for challenge and enrichment which are the basis of good provision within the education system. As a counselor, we must discover those areas that were underdeveloped and encourage the parents to pursue accommodations.
Foley-Nicpon, M., Choate, A., & Bolenbaugh, M. (2018). “Nothing Fits Exactly”: Experiences of Asian American parents of twice-exceptional children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(3), 306–319. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1177/0016986218758442
Wormald, C., Rogers, K. B., & Vialle, W. (2015). A case study of giftedness and specific learning disabilities: Bridging the two exceptionalities. Roeper Review, 37(3), 124–138. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1068288&site=eds-live&scope=site
https://www.cec.sped.org/Special-Ed-Topics/Who-Are-Exceptional-Learners
Bottom of Form
Required Resources
Readings
· Flamez, B. & Sheperis, C. J. (2015). Diagnosing and treating children and adolescents: A guide for clinical and school settings. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Chapter 5 “Autism Spectrum Disorder”
- Ali, M. M., Salleh, N. M. (2008). Similar of different? Examining views on exceptionality among individuals with and without special needs. International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations, 7(6), 335–342.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Estell, D. B., Farmer, T. W., Irvin, M. J., Crowther, A., Akos, P., & Boudah, D. J. (2009). Students with exceptionalities and the peer group context of bullying and victimization in late elementary school
. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(2), 136–150.
© 2009 by HUMAN SCIENCES PRESS. Reprinted by permission of HUMAN SCIENCES PRESS via the Copyright Clearance Center. - Orfus, M., & Howe, N. (2008). Stress appraisal and coping in siblings of children with special needs. Exceptionality Education Canada, 18(3), 166–181.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Xiong, N., Yang, L., Yu, Y., Hou, J., Li, J., Li, Y., Liu, H., Zhang, Y., & Jiao, Z. (2011). Investigation of raising burden of children with autism, physical disability and mental disability in China
© 2011 by ELSEVIER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNALS. Reprinted by permission of ELSEVIER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNALS via the Copyright Clearance Center. - DSM-5 Bridge Document: Exceptionalities
Optional Resources
- Rose, C. A., Espelage, D. L., Aragon, S. R., & Elliot, J. (2011). Bullying and victimization among students in special education and general education curricula. Exceptionality Education International, 21(3), 2–14.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Roskam, I., Zech, E., Nils, F., & Nader-Grosbois, N. (2008). School reorientation of children with disabilities: A stressful life event challenging parental cognitive and behavioral adjustment. Journal of Counseling & Development, 86(2), 132–142.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Woods, A. G., Mahdavi, E., & Ryan, J. P. (2013). Treating clients with Asperger’s and autism. Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health, 7(1), 1–8.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
