Emotional disturbance is defined in IDEA as: 1: A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over along period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance:
An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;
An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;
A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or
A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
2: The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed. (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).
Emotional/Behavioral Disorders:
ADHD
Individuals can be restless, say things they don't mean to or at inappropriate times, have a hard time focusing in school, etc. For more information on ADHD, go to the ADHD tab.
Anorexia Nervosa
Individuals with Anorexia Nervosa fear weight gain and have distorted views on their bodies, thinking they are not skinny enough. Symptoms included are depression, irritability, and less socialization and can lead to serious health problems that may lead to suicide or a metabolism collapse.
Anxiety Disorders
Individuals expressing anxiety have unrealistic fears and worries about their social and academic successes
Bulimia Nervosa
Self-induced vomiting, binge-eating, etc. are characteristics to Bulimia Nervosa. Symptoms are the same as Anorexia Nervosa.
Childhood Schizophrenia
Symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, irrational behavior, strange thinking, delusions, etc. Its causes seem to be genetic, environmental, and biochemical (combinatorial). It needs to be treated early on in a child's life and requires intervention for the child to do well.
Conduct Disorder
Individuals with a conduct disorder will often be seen bullying, fighting, stealing, defying rules, and other issues that violate the rights of others. They will usually lack remorse or be bothered about the effects and consequences of their actions.
Elimination Disorder
When children are five or older and still having issues controlling their bowels and bladder, and they do not have a condition that may be in correspondence with lack of bowels and bladder control, then that child has an elimination disorder.
Intermittent Explosive Disorder
Individuals will have short, random outbursts of anger. The outbursts can happen with very little provocation and lead to aggressive or inappropriate verbal interactions.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Individuals will show patterns of anger and challenge authority figures. They can lash out, argue with teachers, not follow instructions given to them, even if there was nothing leading to such behaviors.
Pica
A person with Pica is persistently eating items with no nutrition such as paint, hair, cloth, etc. for at least one month. Children with pica went through some sort of pervasive developmental disorders in their childhood.
Reactive Attachment Disorders
Individuals with reactive attachment disorders have a hard time forming attachments with others and do not give attention to social opportunities or interactions. Reactive attachment disorders are caused early on in an individual's life, as early as infancy, when they are being neglected, not receiving the care they need, and are being abused in other ways.
Rumination Disorder
An individual will regurgitate and re-chew their food.
Selective Mutism
When children are put in new and unknown situations, surrounded by people other than their parent(s) or guardian(s), they will not speak.
Tic Disorders
Individuals with Tic disorders experience involuntary, recurrent movements and vocalizations that can often be rapid. Tourette's Syndrome is a disability that includes Tic disorders.
Characteristics: Children with EBDs usually have below-average IQs; have trouble to their homes, schools, and other environments; find it difficult to relate to and socialize with their peers, parents, teachers, and authority figures in a socially acceptable way; have problems processing and understanding verbal communication and being able to communicate; frequently daydream; and bully or are being bullied, depending on their disorder.
Causes There is no one cause for all EBDs. Some may be caused because of human biology and biochemical substances (i.e. injuries, abnormalities, etc.) while others are because of neglect, stress, abuse, poverty, dysfunctional family environments, poor parenting, and more of the like. The most important contribution to a child's well-being is the child's family.
Tips for Handling Emotional Behavior Disorder in the Classroom
1. Keep class rules/activities simple and clear Your EBD students (as well as some of your more focused students) will most likely struggle if you impose a long list of complicated rules and demands. Try to keep your classroom guidelines broad and simple—no more than 3 to 5 main rules. Let students know about them on the first day of class, and post them in the classroom as well. An example list might be:
Be on time
Try your best
Be polite
Respect one another
Along with simple and clear rules, there should be simple and clear teaching activities. Using activities that don’t have complicated directions allow students with EBD to follow along and interact with the rest of the class. Some activity examples are:
Responsive cards
Clickers
Choral responding (Unison responding)
Guided notes
By including clear activities in your classroom, your students will engage and interact with the lesson plan, ensuring that they learn alongside other students. 2. Reward positive behaviors While you will, at times, have to discipline children for improper behavior, remember that rewarding positive behavior is ultimately far more effective in the long run. Many students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorder tend to take any discipline as a personal attack, and because of this, they often learn very little from it. Try to celebrate the successes of these students more than you reprimand or punish their mistakes. When they receive positive feedback and rewards, they start to see that there is a positive benefit to good behavior. They will then start to see you as more of an ally than an adversary, and this will in turn motivate them to want to behave and do well in your classroom.
3. Allow for mini-breaks A lot of EBD kids lack the emotional balance and maturity needed to remain focused and on-task for long periods. Instead of reprimanding these students for their lapses, build in short rest periods or mini-breaks into the school day. Take time to periodically stop teaching and allow students to catch up if need be. Give them time to finish their assignment, and allow those who have finished to stretch, get out of their seats, and move around a bit. This will allow them to burn off any excess energy that might have built up from sitting still for a long period of time. (And it’s good time for you to stretch, too!)
4. Fair treatment for all Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders also often don’t respond very well to situations that appear unfair to them. This can trigger a cascade of negative emotions and acting-out behavior. To ensure that you are treating all of your students in a consistently fair manner, don’t bend your established rules for any student. Enforce the expected consequences every time, with every student. Allowing exceptions opens you up to accusations of being unfair.
5. Use motivational strategies Unfortunately, Emotional and Behavioral Disorder students tend to have had a lot of negative experiences in school. Therefore they often lack the desire or motivation to try to succeed. To avoid disruptive or off-task behaviors, take some extra steps to motivate these students. Offer them incentives for academic successes, large and small. Celebrate their hard work, and praise their good efforts consistently. This can go a long way in giving these students the motivation to excel in your class. While having EBD kids in your classroom can at first seem daunting, these are proven ways to help cultivate and keep a harmonious spirit of learning. More good news: many of these strategies for success can help your non-EBD students as well.
When it comes down to it, it's up to the teacher to help the student succeed; that's why it's really important to learn and adapt to each unique student.
Helpful links for parents who need information about EBD
Books
Works Cited Hardman, M. L., Egan, M. W., & Drew, C. J. (2017). Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. In Human Exceptionality: School, Community, and Family(12th ed., pp. 176-203). Cengage Learning. Tips for Handling Emotional Behavior Disorder in Classrooms. (2018, May 30). Retrieved from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/5-tips-for-handling-ebd-kids-emotional-behavior-disorder-in-an-inclusive-classroom/