Emotional or

Behavioral Disorder
Four Dimensions of Behavior
1. the frequency (or rate) at which the
behavior occurs
2. the intensity of the behavior
3. the duration of the behavior
4. the age-appropriateness of the
behavior
Disturbed Behavior Disturbing Behavior
• occurs in many • they occur in a
settings, is certain place and
habitual, and is time and in the
part of the presence of
individual’s certain individuals.
behavior pattern.
Typical and Atypical Behavior
Tourette’s syndrome
-exhibit peculiar behaviors such as
uncontrollable motor movements (tics) and
inappropriate vocalizations such as barking,
profanity, or other socially inappropriate
comments that are not developmentally
typical at any age.
Federal Definition
EBD means a condition exhibiting one
or more of the following characteristics
over a long period of time and to a
marked degree that adversely affects a
child’s 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.
 A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
associated with personal or school problems.
Contemporary Terminology and Definitions
The latter term is generally accepted in the
field today because it:
 has greater utility
 is more representative of the students who
experience problems with their emotions,
their behavior, or both
 is less stigmatizing than emotional
disturbance.
 Contemporary Terminology and Definitions
 characterized by behavioral or emotional responses in
school programs so different from appropriate age,
cultural, or ethnic norms that the responses adversely
affect educational performance, including academic,
social, vocational, and personal skills
 more than a temporary, expected response to stressful
events in the environment
 consistently exhibited in two different settings, at least
one of which is school-related; and
 unresponsive to direct intervention applied in general
education, or the condition of the child is such that
general education interventions would be insufficient
Contemporary Terminology and Definitions
"Emotional and Behavioral Disorder" is an
umbrella term under which several distinct
diagnoses (such as schizophrenic disorder,
affective disorder, anxiety disorder, or other
sustained disorder of conduct or adjustment,
manic-depressive disorder, oppositional-
defiant disorder, and more) fall.
by Becton Loveless
Brief History
• 1886 was a legal distinction made between
“insanity” and “feeblemindedness”

• 1909, Ellen Key published The Century of the

Child, a most prophetic work in that much
progress was made in educating and treating
children and youth with emotional or
behavioral disorders during the twentieth
century.
Brief History
• 1910, the term emotional disturbance was
first used

• 1940–1960 marked the birth of special

education for children and youth with
emotional or behavioral disorders as a
specialized field of study.
 Etiology of EBD
Biological Risk Factors
These emotional or behavioral disorders can be the
result of either genetic influences or biological
insults.

Biological insults such as injury, infection, lead

poisoning, poor nutrition, or exposure to toxins
(including intrauterine exposure to alcohol, illicit
drugs, or cigarette smoke).
 Etiology of EBD
Psychological Risk Factors
Environmental factors such as parental discord, a
parent’s mental illness or criminal behavior,
overcrowding in the home, and large family size.

Poverty has been shown to be a significant risk

factor
 Prevention of EBD
Research on Resiliency
• resilient children appear to be socially competent;
they are adept at establishing and maintaining
positive relationships with both peers and adults
• resilient children have excellent problem-solving
skills; they seek resources and help from others.
• resilient children are autonomous; they have a
strong identity and are able to act independently.
• resilient children develop clear goals and high
aspirations; they see their futures as hopeful and
bright.
 Prevention of EBD
Research on Positive Behavioral Support
• prevents the development or worsening of
problem behavior and
• encourages the teaching and reinforcement
of prosocial expectations and behavior
across all environments for all students by
all staff.
Characteristics of Children and Youth with EBD
Learning Characteristics
• typically score in the low-average range on
measures of intelligence
• typically experience significant academic deficits.
• fare much worse than average in terms of grades,
grade retention, high school graduation rates,
dropout rates, and absenteeism.
• experience academic difficulty because of a lack of
motivation or maladaptive behaviors
Characteristics of Children and Youth with EBD
Social Characteristics
• difficulty building and maintaining satisfactory
relationships with peers and adults
• experience rejection by both peers and adults
Characteristics of Children and Youth with EBD
Language/Communication Characteristics
• use fewer words per sentence, have difficulty
staying on a topic, and use language that is
inappropriate to social conversation
• often experience language deficits such as
difficulties with receptive or expressive language
and pragmatics.
Assessing Students with EBD
Person-centered planning
forces IEP team members to look beyond the
“next year” and to consider long-term solutions and
interventions that will successfully address the
“vision” for the student.
Strength-based assessment
is a reaction against the deficit orientation or
model of traditional assessment approaches
Assessing Students with EBD
Functional behavioral assessment
acknowledges that students engage in
inappropriate behavior for many reasons.
identify several factors that influence or
may trigger a student’s misbehavior.
 Educational
Considerations
Physical Environment Interventions
Time Management
involves proactive interventions such
as maximizing student engagement time,
scheduling appropriately, and teaching
time management skills.
Physical Environment Interventions
Transition Management
• giving students specific directions about
how to move from one activity to another
• establishing, teaching, and having students
rehearse transition routines
• rewarding students for making orderly
and smooth transitions.
Physical Environment Interventions
Proximity and Movement Management
• placing the desks of disruptive students
near the teacher’s desk or main work area;
• interacting briefly and frequently with
students; and
• providing praise, reprimands, and
consequences when in close physical
proximity to students.
 Classroom Arrangement
- Is a physical layout of the classroom as
well as classroom décor.
- Physical layout includes student seating
and grouping arrangements; location of
materials, equipment, and personal items;
removal of tempting or dangerous items
and locations of the teacher’s desk.
 Classroom Arrangement
 Students should be seated in locations that provide
teachers with easy visual and physical access at all
times (Salend,2011)
 Savage (1999) recommends using row for direct
instruction, circular patterns for discussion , and
clustered arrangements for group work.
 Classroom Arrangement
 Place disruptive students in the “ action zone “ in the
classroom. The action zone consist of seats across the
front of the classroom and down the center. Research
reviewed by Savage (1999) suggests that students
seated in the action zone attend more to task,
participate more, have higher levels of achievement,
and demonstrate more positive attitudes.
 Disruptive students should be seated near the
teacher to allow for proximity control and frequent
monitoring.
Academic and Instructional Interventions
Academic Curriculum
• Teachers should incorporate students’
interests into the curriculum, educators can
enhance both the behavior and the academic
engagement of these students.
• Teachers should endeavor to design a
curriculum that is both relevant and
motivating for students with emotional and
behavioral disorders.
•
Academic and Instructional Interventions
Instructional Delivery
• Beginning each lesson with a statement of goals •
Beginning each lesson with a review of previous,
prerequisite learning
• Presenting new material in small steps, with student
practice following each step
• Providing active and sufficient practice for all
students
• Asking many questions, checking frequently for
student understanding, and obtaining responses from all
students
Academic and Instructional Interventions
Instructional Delivery
• Providing systematic feedback and corrections
to students
• Providing explicit instruction and practice for
seatwork activities and, when necessary,
actively monitoring students during these
activities
• Continuing to provide practice until students
are independent and confident (Rosenshine &
Stevens, 1986)
Instructional Delivery
• Mnemonic strategies are tools for helping students
recall facts and relationships. Mnemonic strategies
have been found to be extremely effective in
promoting academic achievement among students
with disabilities, including those with emotional or
behavioral disorders.
• Self-monitoring strategies, such as assignment
checklists and self-monitoring checklists, can be
used to assist students with emotional or
behavioral disorders.
Instructional Delivery
• Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a
standardized set of observational procedures
for repeatedly measuring growth in core
reading, writing, and arithmetic skills

• Content enhancements include graphic

organizers, content diagrams, semantic maps,
advance organizers, guided notes, and study
guides.
Social Skills Training
• often uses direct instruction to teach
students appropriate social behaviors.
• It assumes that behavioral problems in the
classroom reflect social skill problems and
that social skills are learned behaviors that,
consequently, can be taught.
• Social skills training attempts to increase
students’ social competence.
Interpersonal Problem Solving
• focuses on teaching students the “thinking”
skills necessary to avoid and resolve
interpersonal conflicts, resist peer pressure,
and cope with their emotions and stress.
• Students are taught to identify their
problems, consider and select from a range of
alternative solutions, and evaluate the results
of their selection.
Conflict Resolution
• programs are similar to problem-solving
approaches.
• designed to teach not only problem-
solving skills but skills related to
negotiation and mediation.
 Provision of Related Services
• Counseling services are essential for many students with
emotional or behavioral disorders. Research shows,
however, that students with emotional or behavioral
disorders seldom receive counseling services, and when
these services are provided, they may be of poor quality
(Etscheidt, 2002).
• School health services often take the form of
medication administration and monitoring. For many
students with emotional or behavioral disorders,
psychopharmacological interventions have proven to be
very successful in improving academic and social
functioning (Forness et al., 2003).
Management of Behavioral Crises at School
• crisis prevention and management
programs have been implemented to
teach educators how to effectively and
proactively address students’ violent,
aggressive, and/or self-injurious
behaviors.