Can you self-contain a child because of behavior???

hellokitty,

All placements are supposed to be an IEP team decision, including the parents. So if you give your input at the meeting that you think the child is fine in your room, then that will be taken into consideration. One person should not be able to unilaterally make a placement decision, but it does happen (illegally).

Janis

I thought that there had to be medical testing performed to provide proof that the student did in fact have a behavior disoreder that requires special treatment. I know that the IEP committe will meet and that is when it will be decided but I thought before the IEP test had to be given. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I do no that you as the teacher can say that you do not agree with the principals decision to remove that student from your classroom and if the parents do not agree with the principal then a lot of times the student is left alone.

Behavior disorders is NOT a medical decision. Medical would be like ADHD, combative disorder of childhood (?) or something likle that. Behavior disorders is purely an educational “diagnosis” and there are states that have programs to teach you to teach these kids. Theoretically the placement is considered to be in the “least restrictive setting”. This has tended to be interpreted as “mainstreamed”, but it doesn’t really mean this. Might be least restrictive to the kid (or that is semi my interpretation). But see there are interpretations.

As Janis says, this was decided in the IEP (if not it isn’t legal) but if it is, then the kid is in special ed. The parents must have decided on it or were overruled when they got to due process. A special class might be needed or desired if the child had difficulty with the routines and structure of a regular class, or if the committee decided this— whether true or not.

My best friends kid would have been placed by the IEP in a therapeutic school. She fought this, but many parents do not know how to fight it and give you such grief… OTOH the parent may have agreed to this.

—des

Des-
Thank you for clarifing something, but I thought that ADHD and such were behavioral issues…is this not the case?

ADHD is not the same as behavior disordered or emotionally disturbed, although there may be overlap. A child with ADHD could be in many different placements or need no special services at all. A lot of times they are labeled Other Health Impaired. For that, you do have to have a medical diagnosis.

Janis

to the original poster: How is this child classified now for special ed. services? How old? Level of functioning? and it also depends on your state as special ed. laws differ from state to state…if you post more info, perhaps the responses will be more to the point.

I didn’t mean to imply that ADHD was the same as behavior disordered or even that all kids with ADHD have behavior problems in the typical sense. I’m just saying there is a difference between a medical dx like ADHD or conduct disorder or ODD or… and behavior disorder which is an educational term. I don’t know what’s with the kid or if even the educational term would apply, though I don’t think there is much precision to it.

—des

Everything we do is a behavior.
There are behavior (as in not disrupting, completing work, sitting in one’s seat) issues for many reasons — that’s not the same as a behavior disorder.
Moving a child to a self-contained setting is a big move that should be made by the entire IEP team, and include a discusison of not just the “reasons for it” but also the goal that is intended to be met by the change in placement. Sometimes when the goal is actually, say, to placate the three parents who went to the principal to complain about another child, then asking this question leads to a rather pregnant silence. Then you need to be prepared with the goals that would be better met in the original setting than in self-contained, and discuss and consider the goals for the child, including of course the benefits of the least resrictive environment, though that all by its little self (“it’s more like mainstream therefoer it must be better”) is not very strong if more appropriate instruction would happen in another setting.

<<Can you legally self-contain a student because of his behavior? What are the laws regarding this? I have a student that they are talking about self-containing that I don’t think needs to be self-contained. He is one of my lower-functioning students, and his behavior isn’t any different than the behaviors of kids I had last year and some this year. I can’t understand why my principal would want to self-contain him. Please email me with any advice you can give me. Thanks.>>

I assume that the child is already in Special Ed.? Once there, it is a team decision to where he should be placed. In my opinion the issue should depend upon how much the behavior actually interferes with his learning and that of his peers. Has an FBA/BIP been completed for him? In our district, several have to be attempted before a child would be moved to a more restrictive setting.

I think that most of us are assuming that you are a Special Ed. Resource teacher and that the child already has a Special Ed. label. Are we assuming correctly? If not behavior issues in themselves do not automatically point to Special Ed. placement A child would require Special Ed. referral, multidisciplinery evaluations, and an IEP team meeting to decide eligibility and appropriate Special Ed. setting. Typically, a part-time placement in Special Ed in resource or inclusive setting would be attempted first with the necessary supports (related services, FBA/BIP, accommodations/modifications etc.) before moving the child to a more restricted setting such as a full-time self-contained class.

Marilyn