behavioral & emotional problems

what do you mean when you say “severe behavioral and emotional behaviors?”

if any student is taking up all your time and preventing the education of others in the classroom, the LRE must be reconsidered.

If students are disruptive in a classroom - they do not have the right to remain. Your focus is on educating the students who should be in an inclusive classroom. Rules we should follow are if the student interfers with the other students right to learn and the teachers right to teach then their rights do not supercede everyone elses. Why do we feel compelled to educate all students in the same box? Why is an inclusion environment such a great place to be? When do the distruptive students learn appropriate behaviors and at whose expense?

When I say severe behavioral and emotional problems, I mean like sudden outburts, anger and frustration when doing work, disrupting the rest of the class because of frustration or what not. I guess really, I’m asking in general. I’m in a teacher preparation course for inclusive instruction and I am trying to do a little research in this area. I enjoy working with these types of students because I feel they need special attention, but at what point, do you have leave it for another time because you have a classroom full of other students that need to be taught? It’s not fair to them to have time taken away from their education to be able to meet the needs of one student who decides they want to throw a suddent outburst or have are distraught all the time. I guess I’m just looking for a little more insight on how to focus on the needs of these students, without taking away from the rest of the children within the class.
Thanks for any suggestions or ideas you may have……

The least restrictive environment is one in which the student can function and learn effectively. If the student is getting frustrated to the point of having outbursts, then the placement may not be appropriate and may need to be reconsidered.

I also agree with Samantha that disruptive students should not be permitted to impede the education of the other students. Your student needs a carefully designed behavior management program with the possibility of a time-out room or area so he or she can learn more appropriate responses to frustration without disrupting the whole class.

Without more specifics, it’s hard to recommend a course of action, but the student should be given work at which he or she can be successful to minimize frustration and some sort of reward system for appropriate responses to frustration. I also think counseling would be a good idea.
Good luck.

The least restrictive environment is one in which the student can function and learn effectively. If the student is getting frustrated to the point of having outbursts, then the placement may not be appropriate and may need to be reconsidered.

I also agree with Samantha that disruptive students should not be permitted to impede the education of the other students. Your student needs a carefully designed behavior management program with the possibility of a time-out room or area so he or she can learn more appropriate responses to frustration without disrupting the whole class.

Without more specifics, it’s hard to recommend a course of action, but the student should be given work at which he or she can be successful to minimize frustration and some sort of reward system for appropriate responses to frustration. I also think counseling would be a good idea.
Good luck.

First of all, before a sp. ed. student is put into inclusion, that student should have already established that he/she can control one’s behavior in a classroom setting, i.e., that he/she can do the necessary academic tasks without disruption provided a behavioral system is put in place. The regular class should never be a “dumping ground” for sp. ed. students that the sp. ed. teacher does not want to deal with. The whole idea of inclusion is to integrate the sp. ed. student back into the regular class at a pace that said student can handle. Some will never be able to leave sp. ed altogether; some may be able to at some point; then again, there are some who will never be able to handle a regular class because of issues they have. It is essential, therefore, that a child should be carefully evaluated for feasibility of inclusion placement, working with the potential regular class teacher to see how feasible placement is. Inclusion could even be done on a trial basis. However it is done, if it is not working, it should cease.

Now, to address your question of why inclusion is such a great place to be:
a student who has special needs, in nearly every case where the disability is not severe, has a yearning to “be like the other kids”, i.e., to learn in the environment the others are learning in. Sometimes this is not possible, but sometimes, in certain classes, with the right regular class teacher, the student could not only do well, but flourish in a regular class. If a child has made a commitment to try to his/her absolute best in the inclusion class, why not give them that chance? It is a dream to shoot for……a chance to get out of the special class. While my students enjoy having me for their sp. ed. teacher(thankfully I can honestly say that), the majority of them(there are a few exceptions) would love to be in more regular classes. Being there increases their self-esteem(“I’m not so bad after all……I’m with the other kids”) and helps them realize that they can indeed function like everyone else.

The key is to carefully screen prospective inclusion students to see if it is feasible, behaviorally and academically speaking, to try it, and it is essential, I think, to include the regular class teacher’s input.Too many times, inclusion is abused. When it’s done correctly, it is a positive thing.

Our school is all inclusive (I guess that is the term). My son has had an autistic boy in his class since kindergarten(he is now in 6th grade and this is a reg class not a sped ed class - we don’t have sped ed classes at our school). This child is incredibly disruptive - frequent outburts, head banging, uncontrollable etc. He does have an aide, but he’s still VERY disruptive.

Many of the parents in my son’s class always request to have the ‘other’ teacher, so their kids don’t have to have this child in the same classroom.

I have not had a problem with this child being in his class. It taught him compassion from an early age - it was a big deal getting to be ‘A”s helper in the younger grades. My son gets very upset when he sees other boys tease him or call him names.

So I think it’s been a good thing.

If he doesn’t belong in the Sped class or a reg class - where do you put him? Are you saying he doesn’t have a right to go to school?

Absolutely this young person has the right to an education but so does everyone else. I will continue to stress that the IEP students rights do not supercede the rights of the rest of the population. I can say this without guilt and I am a 20+ years of being a sped teacher. I’m very tired of placements based on pressure from parents and not what is in the best interest of the child. In Jim’s post he was very accurate and I suppose my questions were more statements then a need for a response because I know how it is suppose to be and why. It does not happen that way in many situations. If I had a child in this class with the abusive autistic child I would test the law and file a suit. It’s about time we really assessed placements. Because your school does not have a pull-out program does not make it right. On the issue of the gains your son has had with this child in class, my daughter was in a class with a disruptive sped student who was gaining little educationally by the placement and by the time she graduated from high school she only had resentment at the time lost on her education. I had trouble dealing with this attitude being a sped teacher but the honest side was that she resented a loss in her education. I have to respect that!

Absolutely this young person has the right to an education but so does everyone else. I will continue to stress that the IEP students rights do not supercede the rights of the rest of the population. I can say this without guilt and I am a 20+ years of being a sped teacher. I’m very tired of placements based on pressure from parents and not what is in the best interest of the child. In Jim’s post he was very accurate and I suppose my questions were more statements then a need for a response because I know how it is suppose to be and why. It does not happen that way in many situations. If I had a child in this class with the abusive autistic child I would test the law and file a suit. It’s about time we really assessed placements. Because your school does not have a pull-out program does not make it right. On the issue of the gains your son has had with this child in class, my daughter was in a class with a disruptive sped student who was gaining little educationally by the placement and by the time she graduated from high school she only had resentment at the time lost on her education. I had trouble dealing with this attitude being a sped teacher but the honest side was that she resented a loss in her education. I have to respect that!

We have not seen any educational issues from this placement at all? My son gets straight A’s and it has not been a problem. It has taught him how to get along in a diverse environment - that is what you face in the real world - in the business world it’s called ‘workforce diversity’. If my son was struggling and it was a big distraction to his education, I may feel differently. That’s just not the case here.

This placement was not based on pressure from the parents. It was placed because that was the only option the school would provide. The parents didn’t want inclusion -they were forced.

I’m surprised you would suggest taking the school system to court over this? What kind of repercussions/retaliation would one expect from such actions?

Samantha - I’m surprised that you of all people would suggest that?

I have the impression that you feel that these children are choosing to have sudden outbursts. Many children really do not have power over their actions, it is imperative that we all realize this. It is the role of the professionals and parents to work together closely with thechild in order to determine what they can or cannot contorl. From there, it would be necessary to develop a system to support the child.

Good post, Fern.

Janis

“Where do you put them?” should not be the question, but where can they learn what they need to learn in an environment that is nurturing and safe and geared to their needs and where their needs will not diminish the education of the other students in their classes. It is wonderful that your child has learned more compassion from having this child in his class; however, he is the exception. Many included kids face ridicule and bias from other kids and teachers alike.

If a child with disabilities can be included in a regular classroom and still learn and maximize his or her potential without disrupting the others education, then that is where that child needs to be. If, on the other hand, the child in question has not learned appropriate classroom behavior and cannot control outbursts, head banging, and other disruptive behaviors, then he or she needs to be in a specialized school or program where there is a strong behavior management program, very strong structure and routine to minimize change (which is extremely agitating to autisitic children) with teachers who know how to guide these students in dealing appropriately with stressful situation and a (trained) teacher-student ratio that provides that child with the support he or she needs. ED kids need programs usually in a self-contained setting, which minimizes the child’s having to adjust his or her behavior to a variety of personalities, a setting with counseling available and a behavior management system with reinforcement schedules that are geared for ED kids who have different needs than other kids.

If a child has no control over his or her behavior, then the behavior is chemically or organically determined, in which case medication is probably indicated. In most cases where students have outbursts based on frustration, these are learned behaviors, albeit inappropriate and counterproductive behaviors. The student may not consciously choose the behavior, but the student can learn to change the behaviors. In that sense the child is in control of his or her behavior.

Yes, the professionals need to understand the child’s motivation, but you also need to have professionals who know what to do about the behavior. We do our children a great disservice when we understand so well, but we do not help them adjust, adapt, and change or hold them accountable for their behavior. When we indulge inappropriate behavior, we condone it and enable the student to continue.

Disruptive children should not be allowed to disrupt a class on a regular basis and impede the education of the rest of the class. The disruptive child needs to understand that. That being said, appropriately trained professionals should help that child re-integrate appropriately into the classroom, but only when he or she is ready.

I agree with you. It’s sad that our school system can’t provide a proper education environment for these types of children.

I do disagree (and take offense) that it’s not provided because of the demands of parents.

First, I would hope that would be a last resort. Second, there is probably a different attitude about this type of placement depending on the age level of the student. I think the older the student is the more placed their concern for getting an education is and they expect more. However, there are always those students at the HS level who are just putting in the time. We have a lot of parents that pressure for what would not be considered to be the LRE. Schools fold to the pressure and everyone loses.

>The student may not consciously choose the
> behavior, but the student can learn to change the behaviors.
> In that sense the child is in control of his or her behavior.

many times the child does not have a chemical imbalance, but something in the environment or the place of learning, etc. needs to be changed. change the environment, and often the behavior changes.

> Disruptive children should not be allowed to disrupt a class
> on a regular basis and impede the education of the rest of
> the class. The disruptive child needs to understand that.
> That being said, appropriately trained professionals should
> help that child re-integrate appropriately into the
> classroom, but only when he or she is ready.

i don’t disagree - but i think its important to realize that in some cases it is not always the student who needs to do the changing. sometimes it is the reaction of the other students, or the teachers reaction, etc. - especially in younger grades when students are learning to learn, and learning to socialize, etc.
one must carefully determine what it is that is triggering the behavior.

well said - thank you

fern - i enjoyed your post. i just wanted to point out that for many kids, they face ridicule possibly even more if they are only in a self contained classroom and out of the mainstream. i believe, especially in the younger grades, that by including these students (the ones as you identified) the ridicule diminishes - they just become part of the class and their idiosyncracies are more easily overlooked. no doubt, my own child will face ridicule many times in his life - but right now, the place he gets it the least is in his reg ed classroom/school. there, he is just one of the kids who is a little different, and capable in different ways than others.

i have also found that the teachers get the glory as well since they are doing a remarkable job in his education and can see first hand the gains.

>It is wonderful that
> your child has learned more compassion from having this child
> in his class; however, he is the exception. Many included
> kids face ridicule and bias from other kids and teachers alike.