Overview

The emotional disturbance (ED) category is the seventh most prevalent type of disability found among school-aged children. Emotional disturbance “refers to a condition in which behavioral or emotional responses of an individual in school are so different from his/her generally accepted, age-appropriate, ethnic or cultural norms that they adversely affect performance in such areas as self-care, social relationships, personal adjustment, academic progress, classroom behavior, or work adjustment” (Lehr, n.d., pg. 1). Children who have mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. qualify for this disability. To qualify for ED, students must exhibit extreme behaviors in at least two different settings and be based on multiple data sources. In most states, this disability category does not include those with social maladjustment disorders. However, some states recognize anti-social behavior in this category, so educators may see the label emotional behavioral disturbance (EBD).

Strengths

Students who are diagnosed with ED have many strengths. These students typically have typical intelligence and can excel academically if taught the correct tools to help manage their behavior. The key is to shift from focusing on these students’ deficits (poor behavior and emotional dysregulation) to focusing on the strengths they bring into the classroom. Many students labeled ED disproportionately come from BIPOC and low socio-economic backgrounds. They spend a lot of time out of the classroom due to poor behavior, thus missing vital academic learning, causing them to fall behind their peers. This creates a negative vortex that reduces the opportunities and chances of success in a general education setting. To bring out these students’ strengths, teachers must be taught how to interact and teach proactively, positively, and culturally responsive (Lehr, n.d.; Taylor, 2002).

Needs

Most of the time, the only need these students have is to be noticed, loved, understood, and treated with dignity, worth, and acknowledgment of their capabilities (Taylor, 2002). They must be allowed to stay in the classroom and learn strategies to regulate their behavior. Teachers must know how to mitigate acting out behaviors in a way that shows students they are physically and emotionally safe.

Supporting Students with Emotional Disturbance

Common Teaching Strategies

According to Positive Action, here are some ways to help promote learning among students with emotional disturbance:

• Choice-making opportunities
• Previewing
• Mnemonic instruction
• Adjust task difficulty
• Personalized method of instruction
• Interval duration during reading sessions
• Life-space interviewing
• Story mapping
• Classroom positive behavior chart (9 Effective Teaching Strategies for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders)

Emotional Disturbance

References

Lehr, C. A., (n.d.). Students with emotional/behavioral disorders: Promoting positive outcomes. ICI WebPub System. Retrieved from https://publications.ici.umn.edu/impact/18-2/students-with-emotional-behavioral-disorders

National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Students With Disabilities. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.

Taylor, M. O., (2002). Identifying and Building on Strengths of Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances. Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2873. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2867

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). Sec. 300.8 Child with a disability. Retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/a/300.8