Define and discuss the characteristics of emotional/behavioral disabilities (EBD). Emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) maybe defined as mental, emotional, psychological, or behavioral deficits characterized by the inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships, the inability to learn or retain academic information, consistent inappropriate feelings or behavior under normal conditions, pervasive unhappiness or depression, or developing physical symptoms and unreasonable fear associated with learning processes (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). For pre-school learners, many of the preceding appear in the pre-school environment and is generally documented during an extensive assessment period (Georgia Department of Education, 2015). This helps verify that an emotional/behevaioral problem is occuring. The EBD is emotionally based and may not explained by intellectual, cultural, sensory, or general health issues (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has documented that approximately 8.3 million children suffer from some form of EBD (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). As auch, this problem is significant in the general population.
Explain the educational implications and how IDEA plays a role in ensuring students are given the appropriate support in the classroom. EBD severely influences a student’s learning processes and outctomes and includes anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, conduct disoders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and many other psychotic disorders (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). This is why special needs are warranted. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act indicates that all emotional disturbances are included in special need service provisions (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). Further, the IDEA defines emotional disturbance to include areas beyond emotion (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2010). This helps to ensure that appropriate support is provided to all learners in the classroom, no matter their specific level of limitation.
Discuss any of your own personal insights and/or strategies for teaching students with EBD. What challenges have you typically found or would anticipate with teaching students with EBD? How can these challenges be mitigated? Students with EBD often do not desire to be in a classroom setting or they lack motivation to achieve in school assignments. This is why the instructor must have a clear plan and focused guidelines to implement towards learner engagement and positive academic outcomes. To facilitate this the instructor could use handouts and guided notes, encourage students to respond more frequently to prompts, use response cards, allow choral responding, and implement rewards at appropriate benchmarks (Toms & Whitewater, 2016). Ultimately, the instructor must consistently draw the EBD learners into the learning process through innovations, creativity, and positive reinforcement mechanisms.
