P.L. 94 -142
"The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance:
a) An inability to learn which cannot be explained by health, sensory, or intellectual factors.
b) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and
teachers;
c) Inappropriate types of behavior or feeling under normal circumstances
d) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
e) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal and school
problems.
(ii) The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed."
[Federal register, 1977. P. 42478]
Incidence
and Prevalence:
Emotional Disabilities
Prevalence Rate: Estimates have range from 0.1 % to 30% of the school population
U .S. Office of Education utilizes a 2% estimate
Severe Emotional Disturbance
There are an estimated 500,000 SED children in the U.S. Kaufman sets the rate at 0.5%
Characteristics
of behavior or emotional disabilities:
Many score in the slow learner or mildly retarded range. A score of90 to 95 points is the average.
It is estimated that only 30% score at the average level. In Florida, 50% could not pass a functional test and 75% could not pass the high school math competency test. (Cawley and Webster, 1991)
This is the most widely reported behavior. It includes out of seat behavior, hitting, fighting and stealing.
Too little interaction with others is also reported.
Major Theoretical Perspectives
Emphasis is on:
a) the child's autonomy and sense of self;
b) the child's perception of the world and learning, or
c) the child' s developmental forces and the symbolic mental processes which enhance or interfere with learning.
Emphasizes the social nature of schools, and the social construction of the teachers, children, and administrator's view of normal behaviors. This theory considers the role of labeling, primary and secondary deviance.
Emphasis is on learning in an operant conditioning paradigm. Treatment programs focus on the classic ABC formula. This theory does not include a developed classification scheme.
Emphasis is on the environment and the child. The belief is that discordance between the child and the social system is viewed as aberrant behavior. The context of the behavior is very important.
Risk Factors
Swift and Suvack's (1973) Factors which relate to School Achievement
School's Contribution to Behavior Disorders
Factors which may be associated with emotional disabilities:
Gender: Boys are more likely to be identified
Past studies have shown ratios from 2:1 to 5:1
Most juvenile delinquents (a legal term) receive no special education services.
Possible
disorders which cause a label of emotional disabilities or behavior disorders:
A disorder characterized by overt, aggressive, disruptive behavior, or covert antisocial acts such as stealing, lying, and life setting; may include both overt and covert acts.
Characterized by psychotic behavior manifested by loss of contact with reality , bizarre thought processes, and inappropriate actions.
Characterized by anxiety, fearfulness, and avoidance of ordinary activities because of fear of anxiety.
The National Society for Autistic Children believes that 5 out of every 10,000 have autism. This is higher than the rate for blindness. Autism is characterized by extreme withdrawal, self stimulation, cognitive deficits, language disorders, and onset before thirty months of age.
Characterized by abnormal social relationships, including bizarre mannerisms, inappropriate social behavior, and unusual or delayed speech and language.