Social and Emotional Disorders (internalizing disorders)
If your topic is social and emotional disorders with a focus on internalizing disorders, please post the answers to your four questions here.
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1. Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: • An inability to learn which 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. The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed. 2. Developmental characteristics of persons with school phobia are physical aggression, disobedience, destructiveness, extreme fear, guilt, or self doubt, short attention spans, strange movements or postures, no tolerance for frustration, unwilling to face reality, no concept of time, and excessive dependence on the teacher. 3. If a student has been absent from school for a period of time without the teacher being notified it is important to call home and see what the reason is. If it seems like the child will not be coming back for a while, the other students should write him letters saying they wish he would come back. When the child does come back welcome him. If the child still does not want to come to school it is important to advise the parents to send him anyway. Assure them that the school has dealt with this problem before and not to argue with him or yell at him before sending him off to school. In most cases the child should calm down after a certain amount of time back in the classroom. In more extreme cases sometimes it is best to offer to adjust the student’s schedule. Allowing them to go home for lunch or have a parent come to the school for lunch. Sometimes the child just wants to talk to a parent so calling home is important to them a few times during the day. It can also be arranged that the child’s parent can spend part of the day in the school. If this does not help then the child may come to school for part of the day and eventually add on more time until they have attended a full day of school. Sometimes it can be as simple as allowing the child to bring a security item such as a stuffed animal to school so that they feel safe. 4. There are plenty of websites on school phobia that can give examples and suggestions of how to deal with a child with this disorder. After observing the child, if the child does not already have a psychologist it is best to suggest his/her parents to see one. If you are teaching an older grade after first or second, it may be clear that the child already sees a psychologist due to previous observation. Getting in touch with that psychologist may be a way to find out some personal information on the child instead of general information of the disorder.
Blog Assignment 1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code.) My disability was social and emotional disorders. The federal and state law defines these disorders by using the term used in IDEA ’04 for emotional or behavioral disorders. These are described as disabilities characterized by behavioral or emotional responses that are very different from all norms and referent groups and have adverse effects on educational performance. I furthered explored social and behavioral disorders by focusing in on internalizing disorders. These disorders are defined as behaviors directed inward. The example of there disorders that I researched was eating disorders, more specifically, anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, disturbed body image, chronic absence or refusal of appetite for food, causing severe weight loss. Bulimia is defined as chronically causing oneself to vomit or otherwise remove food to limit weight gain.
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (This would include cognitive, social, emotional, and physical, as well as levels of functioning.) There are many developmental characteristics of a person with this disability. These characteristics have been listed as a person being withdrawn, lonely, depressed, and anxious. People with these disorders also have been noted as progressively getting thinner to unhealthy weights.
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic support as well as social support. If I were a teacher in a general education classroom, I could use information on characteristics of people with eating disorders to help identify those students who suffer. Then after clearly identifying who suffers from these problems, I would seek further help and assistance form not only the school’s support team, but the school nurse as well. I would make sure that for social reasons, that I would make the child feel as comfortable and confident as possible by making sure I put them in comfortable situations in class. I would also do my best to express my concerns to my student and let them know they have someone to come talk to if they need to. As far as academically speaking, I would use assignments in class that would enhance character building and assignments that would ensure a sense of self worth in class. I also might give my student an assignment like the one that I am doing now that way they may recognize the problem they have through research, and might be able to come to terms with the fact that they need help themselves.
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (This would include websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials; a two to three line description is required for each resource.) Minimum: Five resources. There are many resources out there that could aid me in further expanding my knowledge and allowing me to help those who suffer from such disabilities. These resources include the book “Introduction to Special Education”, which is the book we are currently studying form in my special education class. This book helps give definitions and clearly describes these disorders. It also gives information on characteristics that would help you identify a person with these disorders and gives you ideas on how to deal with such people. Another source I would use is webmd.com. This is a website that gives you more medically accurate information on disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. It allows you to learn what is going on with your body during these disorders and it allows for you to find ways to find help. Another source I would use is the school nurse, or a health assistant that would be available. These people have been trained not only to work with children but to understand and know how to treat such disorders. They would be able to help that student get back into a healthy lifestyle and could help teach them as well as replenish there body with the nutrients and vitamins that’s necessary. Yet another source I could use would be “Radar Programs”. This is a program specifically designed to help those who suffer from eating disorders. It promises confidentiality and allows people to come to them to find help. These people are trained in training others in how to conquer their fears and how to learn what is a “healthy body image”. Lastly, I could also use a source such as http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=337. This is a website that not only the victims of these disorders can go to, but their families, friends, and loved ones can as well. This site expresses the importance of how to appropriately handle such situations as dealing with someone you care about who is being harmful to themselves. It also helps by being very informative about the disorders themselves and is a very easy to use website. Through the use of all these sources, I will be not only able to educate myself, but others as well about eating disorders that way we can become more aware, and more able to help fix these problems.
1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code.) Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: • An inability to learn which 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. The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason. (dictionary.com) A depressive disorder is a syndrome (group of symptoms) that reflects a sad mood exceeding normal sadness or grief. More specifically, the sadness of depression is characterized by a greater intensity and duration and by more severe symptoms and functional disabilities than is normal. The Medicine Net http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm 11-24-2007
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (This would include cognitive, social, emotional, and physical, as well as levels of functioning.) Depression symptoms are characterized not only by negative thoughts, moods, and behaviors, but also by specific changes in bodily functions (for example, irregular eating, sleeping, crying spells, and decreased libido). The functional changes of clinical depression are often called neurovegetative signs. This means that the nervous system changes in the brain cause many physical that result in diminished activity and participation. The Medicine Net http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm 11-24-2007
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic support as well as social support. The most important thing I would do for the depressed child is to help him or her get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. This help may involve encouraging the child to stay with treatment until symptoms begin to go away or to seek different treatment if no improvement occurs. It may also mean monitoring whether the depressed child is taking medication. It may even go as far as reporting a worsening depression to the child’s physician/ therapist and/or parent/guardian. The second most important way to help is to offer emotional support. This support involves understanding, patience, affection, and encouragement. Engage the depressed student in conversation and listen carefully. I will not disparage feelings expressed, but point out realities and offer hope. I will not ignore remarks about suicide but instead, always report them to the child’s therapist/parent/guardian. Encourage the student to participate in activities that once gave pleasure, such as hobbies, sports, or religious or cultural activities. However, I will not push the child to undertake too much too soon. The child needs company and diversion, but too many demands can increase feelings of failure. I will not accuse the child of faking illness or of laziness. I will not expect him or her "to snap out of it." Eventually, with treatment, the child will get better. Moreover, I will keep reassuring the child that, with time and help, he or she will feel better. The Medicine Net http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/page10.htm#tocl 11-24-2007
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (This would include websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials; a two to three line description is required for each resource.) Minimum: Five resources. There are many resources that can and will help me as a teacher to properly serve the child. These include: School Nurse/Psychologist/ Therapist- this person can help me serve the child by supplying me with progress reports, updates, and vital information that I need to know to tend the specific needs of the child. The Principal- the principal can supply and support useful ideas to interact with the child on their road to healing. They can arrange for the student to work in setting that are comfortable for them whenever they experience extremity of their disorder. The Family Social Worker- This person can supply the school with updates on the progress of the student and their behavior outside of the classroom and in their home life. National Foundation for Depressive Illness Inc.- The International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression (iFred), is an 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to researching causes of depression, and to combat the stigma associated with depression. This organization will help me find out background information that is essential to helping me care for the child. http://www.ifred.org/ Wind of Madness Depression Guide- this site allows users to post journals and real life scenarios online. I feel like this website will help me in assisting the child because I will be able to relate however the child is feeling or going through to improve the behavior and encourage the child to keep working to move past their illness.
1) The 2nd disability category I was assigned, Social and Emotional Disorders (Internalizing Disorders) with a focus on depression, differed from my first disability category I was assigned which was deafness. First of all, this category dealt with social and emotional problems whereas Deafness (my first category) dealt with hearing loss and trouble. Emotional disturbance is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which affects performance: An inability to learn which 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, etc. Whereas Deafness is defined as a hearing impairment which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that cannnot be accommodated in special education programs soley for children with deafness.
2) The developmental characteristics of depression are characterized by negative thoughts and feelings, negative moods and behaviors and also causes specific in bodily functions (eating irregularly, changes in sleeping patterns). The developmental characteristics of deafness are much different. Children who are deaf, have trouble reading. They do not understand how words sound so they struggle to read them or pronounce them. Their inability to read hinders their educational careers as well as any opportunities to develop in outside sources. Their reading ability is so low that they have trouble reading newspapers, closed captioning, and internet tools. Also, deaf people have trouble speaking due to a number of different factors. Since they can not hear words or sounds, they do not know how to pronounce them.
3) The most important thing I would do for the depressed child is to help him or her get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. This help may involve encouraging the child to stay with treatment until symptoms begin to go away or to seek different treatment if no improvement occurs. It may also mean monitoring whether the depressed child is taking medication. It may even go as far as reporting a worsening depression to the child’s physician/ therapist and/or parent/guardian. The second most important way to help is to offer emotional support. This support involves understanding, patience, affection, and encouragement. Engage the depressed student in conversation and listen carefully. I will not disparage feelings expressed, but point out realities and offer hope. I will not ignore remarks about suicide but instead, always report them to the child’s therapist/parent/guardian. Encourage the student to participate in activities that once gave pleasure, such as hobbies, sports, or religious or cultural activities. However, I will not push the child to undertake too much too soon. The child needs company and diversion, but too many demands can increase feelings of failure. In classrooms with deaf children, I will be sure to understand the degree of their disability. By doing this, I will be able to know which modifications and altercations are needed to be done to make sure that the classroom environment is comfortable for them and that my lessons are understandable. I will make sure that the student with the hearing disability is seated up front near the speaker so he/she can see the facial expressions, gestures, movement of the lips, etc so hopefully he/she will be able to understand. Along with this, I will be sure to use a lot of visual aids. I will also use power point presentations, and other teaching aids. As a teacher I will do my best to make the students disability a minor aspect of who they are. For the deaf students, I will ask the school to find an interpreter for those students so they are able to learn along with the rest of the class. Finally, I will do my best to see that all the students get along and fit in together. I will have a zero tolerance policy of bullying or making fun of those with disabilities. I want my classroom environment to be a rather comfortable and enjoyable one. This question was interesting to answer because with both disabilities, one must offer emotional support and be there for the student as much as possible. Dealing with hearing loss can be extremely depressing, just like dealing with depression.
The second disability category I was assigned to was Social & Emotional Disorders (Internalizing Disorders): Specifically School Phobia.
1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA & NJ spec ed code.)
Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: • An inability to learn which 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. The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed.
School Phobia however an anxiety disorder in children who have an irrational, persistent fear of going to school. Their behavior is different from children who are truant and express no apprehension about missing school. Children who have school avoidance want to be in close contact with their parent or caregiver, whereas truants do not. School phobic children are often insecure, sensitive, and do not know how to cope with their emotions. They appear anxious and may become physically ill at the thought of attending school.
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and levels of functioning.)
Symptoms of school phobia are:
* Frequent stomachaches and other physical complaints such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, or headaches that cannot be attributed to a physical ailment. * Clinginess, tantrums, and/or panic when required to separate from a parent or caregiver. * Fear of the dark or being in a room alone. * Trouble going to sleep and/or having nightmares. * Exaggerated fears of animals, monsters, school, etc. * Constant thoughts concerning the safety of self or others.
Both home and school issues need to be considered when searching for the reasons that contribute to school avoidance. Home Issues: A child may…
* Be experiencing a family change like a move, illness, separation, divorce, death, depression, or financial problems. * Have been absent from school due to a long illness. * Enjoy a parent's undivided attention when not in school. * Be allowed to watch television, play video games or with toys rather than complete schoolwork. * Have an overprotective parent who reinforces the idea that being away from him or her could be harmful. * Be apprehensive of an impending tragedy at home. * Fear an adult at home might hurt a family member while the child is at school. * Be afraid of neighborhood violence, storms, floods, fires, etc.
School Issues: A child may…
* Fear criticism, ridicule, confrontation or punishment by a teacher or other school personnel. * Have learning difficulties -- for example, afraid to read aloud, take tests, receive poor grades, be called on to answer questions or perform on a stage. * Be afraid of not making perfect test scores. * Be sensitive to a school activity such as singing a certain song, playing a specific game, attending a school assembly, eating in a lunchroom, or changing clothes for physical education in front of peers. * Exhibit poor athletic ability, being chosen last for a team or being ridiculed for not performing well. * Fear teasing due to appearance, clothes, weight, height, etc. * Feel socially inadequate due to poor social interaction skills. * Be a victim of peer bullying during school, walking to or from school, or on the school bus. (see Educator's Guide to Bullying). * Receive threats of physical harm. * Have difficulty adjusting to a new school (see Helping Children Cope with School Transitions). * Have toileting issues concerning the use of a school restroom. * Be environmentally sensitive to new carpet, fragrant cleaning supplies and/or poorly ventilated classrooms.
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic and social support.
* Arrange for a school staff member greet the parent and child at the door and take the child to the class. * Discuss the situation with the school nurse who can attend to the child's complaints and then return him or her to class. * Help the child build self-confidence by discovering his or her strengths and by providing opportunities for the child to excel. * Identify particular activities the child enjoys doing and those that produce anxiety. * Monitor bullying activities that may be taking place. * Include the student in a friendship group facilitated by the school counselor. * Adjust work assignments to match the student's academic skills. Have a child with poor academic skills tested for special education services. *Use a behavior contract to be reinforced with a reward such as a sticker
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials: 2 or 3 line description for each resource is required.)
School Nurse: this person can help me serve the child by supplying me with progress reports, updates, and vital information that I need to know to tend the specific needs of the child.
Child's Health and Awareness: http://www.drpaul.com/behaviour/schoolphobia.html A website that is inspired by DR. PAUL's belief that "knowledge is comfort" and that accurate and accessible health and wellness information is one of the best tools for ensuring a family's good health.
Overcoming School Phobia: http://www.panic-anxiety.com/ A website designed for discovering the key to curing anxiety and finding ways to deal with and cope with phobias.
This blog is designed as a resource tool for teacher candidates learning about special education and students with special needs. Pairs within the class will create their own blogs about specific students with special needs, such as children with ADHD, and then link that blog to this central site.Each blog will contain information about the federal and state definition of the disability group, the general physical, social, cognitive, and emotional developments, as well as useful resources for teachers.
5 comments:
1. Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance:
• An inability to learn which 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.
The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed.
2. Developmental characteristics of persons with school phobia are physical aggression, disobedience, destructiveness, extreme fear, guilt, or self doubt, short attention spans, strange movements or postures, no tolerance for frustration, unwilling to face reality, no concept of time, and excessive dependence on the teacher.
3. If a student has been absent from school for a period of time without the teacher being notified it is important to call home and see what the reason is. If it seems like the child will not be coming back for a while, the other students should write him letters saying they wish he would come back. When the child does come back welcome him. If the child still does not want to come to school it is important to advise the parents to send him anyway. Assure them that the school has dealt with this problem before and not to argue with him or yell at him before sending him off to school. In most cases the child should calm down after a certain amount of time back in the classroom.
In more extreme cases sometimes it is best to offer to adjust the student’s schedule. Allowing them to go home for lunch or have a parent come to the school for lunch. Sometimes the child just wants to talk to a parent so calling home is important to them a few times during the day. It can also be arranged that the child’s parent can spend part of the day in the school. If this does not help then the child may come to school for part of the day and eventually add on more time until they have attended a full day of school. Sometimes it can be as simple as allowing the child to bring a security item such as a stuffed animal to school so that they feel safe.
4. There are plenty of websites on school phobia that can give examples and suggestions of how to deal with a child with this disorder. After observing the child, if the child does not already have a psychologist it is best to suggest his/her parents to see one. If you are teaching an older grade after first or second, it may be clear that the child already sees a psychologist due to previous observation. Getting in touch with that psychologist may be a way to find out some personal information on the child instead of general information of the disorder.
Blog Assignment
1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code.)
My disability was social and emotional disorders. The federal and state law defines these disorders by using the term used in IDEA ’04 for emotional or behavioral disorders. These are described as disabilities characterized by behavioral or emotional responses that are very different from all norms and referent groups and have adverse effects on educational performance. I furthered explored social and behavioral disorders by focusing in on internalizing disorders. These disorders are defined as behaviors directed inward. The example of there disorders that I researched was eating disorders, more specifically, anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, disturbed body image, chronic absence or refusal of appetite for food, causing severe weight loss. Bulimia is defined as chronically causing oneself to vomit or otherwise remove food to limit weight gain.
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (This would include cognitive, social, emotional, and physical, as well as levels of functioning.)
There are many developmental characteristics of a person with this disability. These characteristics have been listed as a person being withdrawn, lonely, depressed, and anxious. People with these disorders also have been noted as progressively getting thinner to unhealthy weights.
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic support as well as social support.
If I were a teacher in a general education classroom, I could use information on characteristics of people with eating disorders to help identify those students who suffer. Then after clearly identifying who suffers from these problems, I would seek further help and assistance form not only the school’s support team, but the school nurse as well. I would make sure that for social reasons, that I would make the child feel as comfortable and confident as possible by making sure I put them in comfortable situations in class. I would also do my best to express my concerns to my student and let them know they have someone to come talk to if they need to. As far as academically speaking, I would use assignments in class that would enhance character building and assignments that would ensure a sense of self worth in class. I also might give my student an assignment like the one that I am doing now that way they may recognize the problem they have through research, and might be able to come to terms with the fact that they need help themselves.
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (This would include websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials; a two to three line description is required for each resource.) Minimum: Five resources.
There are many resources out there that could aid me in further expanding my knowledge and allowing me to help those who suffer from such disabilities. These resources include the book “Introduction to Special Education”, which is the book we are currently studying form in my special education class. This book helps give definitions and clearly describes these disorders. It also gives information on characteristics that would help you identify a person with these disorders and gives you ideas on how to deal with such people. Another source I would use is webmd.com. This is a website that gives you more medically accurate information on disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. It allows you to learn what is going on with your body during these disorders and it allows for you to find ways to find help. Another source I would use is the school nurse, or a health assistant that would be available. These people have been trained not only to work with children but to understand and know how to treat such disorders. They would be able to help that student get back into a healthy lifestyle and could help teach them as well as replenish there body with the nutrients and vitamins that’s necessary. Yet another source I could use would be “Radar Programs”. This is a program specifically designed to help those who suffer from eating disorders. It promises confidentiality and allows people to come to them to find help. These people are trained in training others in how to conquer their fears and how to learn what is a “healthy body image”. Lastly, I could also use a source such as http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=337. This is a website that not only the victims of these disorders can go to, but their families, friends, and loved ones can as well. This site expresses the importance of how to appropriately handle such situations as dealing with someone you care about who is being harmful to themselves. It also helps by being very informative about the disorders themselves and is a very easy to use website. Through the use of all these sources, I will be not only able to educate myself, but others as well about eating disorders that way we can become more aware, and more able to help fix these problems.
1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code.)
Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance:
• An inability to learn which 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.
The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason. (dictionary.com)
A depressive disorder is a syndrome (group of symptoms) that reflects a sad mood exceeding normal sadness or grief. More specifically, the sadness of depression is characterized by a greater intensity and duration and by more severe symptoms and functional disabilities than is normal.
The Medicine Net http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm
11-24-2007
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (This would include cognitive, social, emotional, and physical, as well as levels of functioning.)
Depression symptoms are characterized not only by negative thoughts, moods, and behaviors, but also by specific changes in bodily functions (for example, irregular eating, sleeping, crying spells, and decreased libido). The functional changes of clinical depression are often called neurovegetative signs. This means that the nervous system changes in the brain cause many physical that result in diminished activity and participation.
The Medicine Net
http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm
11-24-2007
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic support as well as social support.
The most important thing I would do for the depressed child is to help him or her get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. This help may involve encouraging the child to stay with treatment until symptoms begin to go away or to seek different treatment if no improvement occurs. It may also mean monitoring whether the depressed child is taking medication. It may even go as far as reporting a worsening depression to the child’s physician/ therapist and/or parent/guardian.
The second most important way to help is to offer emotional support. This support involves understanding, patience, affection, and encouragement. Engage the depressed student in conversation and listen carefully. I will not disparage feelings expressed, but point out realities and offer hope. I will not ignore remarks about suicide but instead, always report them to the child’s therapist/parent/guardian.
Encourage the student to participate in activities that once gave pleasure, such as hobbies, sports, or religious or cultural activities. However, I will not push the child to undertake too much too soon. The child needs company and diversion, but too many demands can increase feelings of failure.
I will not accuse the child of faking illness or of laziness. I will not expect him or her "to snap out of it." Eventually, with treatment, the child will get better. Moreover, I will keep reassuring the child that, with time and help, he or she will feel better.
The Medicine Net
http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/page10.htm#tocl
11-24-2007
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (This would include websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials; a two to three line description is required for each resource.) Minimum: Five resources.
There are many resources that can and will help me as a teacher to properly serve the child. These include:
School Nurse/Psychologist/ Therapist- this person can help me serve the child by supplying me with progress reports, updates, and vital information that I need to know to tend the specific needs of the child.
The Principal- the principal can supply and support useful ideas to interact with the child on their road to healing. They can arrange for the student to work in setting that are comfortable for them whenever they experience extremity of their disorder.
The Family Social Worker- This person can supply the school with updates on the progress of the student and their behavior outside of the classroom and in their home life.
National Foundation for Depressive Illness Inc.-
The International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression (iFred), is an 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to researching causes of depression, and to combat the stigma associated with depression.
This organization will help me find out background
information that is essential to helping me care for the
child.
http://www.ifred.org/
Wind of Madness Depression Guide- this site allows users to post journals and real life scenarios online. I feel like this website will help me in assisting the child because I will be able to relate however the child is feeling or going through to improve the behavior and encourage the child to keep working to move past their illness.
1) The 2nd disability category I was assigned, Social and Emotional Disorders (Internalizing Disorders) with a focus on depression, differed from my first disability category I was assigned which was deafness.
First of all, this category dealt with social and emotional problems whereas Deafness (my first category) dealt with hearing loss and trouble. Emotional disturbance is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which affects performance: An inability to learn which 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, etc.
Whereas Deafness is defined as a hearing impairment which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that cannnot be accommodated in special education programs soley for children with deafness.
2) The developmental characteristics of depression are characterized by negative thoughts and feelings, negative moods and behaviors and also causes specific in bodily functions (eating irregularly, changes in sleeping patterns).
The developmental characteristics of deafness are much different. Children who are deaf, have trouble reading. They do not understand how words sound so they struggle to read them or pronounce them. Their inability to read hinders their educational careers as well as any opportunities to develop in outside sources. Their reading ability is so low that they have trouble reading newspapers, closed captioning, and internet tools. Also, deaf people have trouble speaking due to a number of different factors. Since they can not hear words or sounds, they do not know how to pronounce them.
3) The most important thing I would do for the depressed child is to help him or her get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. This help may involve encouraging the child to stay with treatment until symptoms begin to go away or to seek different treatment if no improvement occurs. It may also mean monitoring whether the depressed child is taking medication. It may even go as far as reporting a worsening depression to the child’s physician/ therapist and/or parent/guardian.
The second most important way to help is to offer emotional support. This support involves understanding, patience, affection, and encouragement. Engage the depressed student in conversation and listen carefully. I will not disparage feelings expressed, but point out realities and offer hope. I will not ignore remarks about suicide but instead, always report them to the child’s therapist/parent/guardian.
Encourage the student to participate in activities that once gave pleasure, such as hobbies, sports, or religious or cultural activities. However, I will not push the child to undertake too much too soon. The child needs company and diversion, but too many demands can increase feelings of failure.
In classrooms with deaf children, I will be sure to understand the degree of their disability. By doing this, I will be able to know which modifications and altercations are needed to be done to make sure that the classroom environment is comfortable for them and that my lessons are understandable. I will make sure that the student with the hearing disability is seated up front near the speaker so he/she can see the facial expressions, gestures, movement of the lips, etc so hopefully he/she will be able to understand. Along with this, I will be sure to use a lot of visual aids. I will also use power point presentations, and other teaching aids. As a teacher I will do my best to make the students disability a minor aspect of who they are. For the deaf students, I will ask the school to find an interpreter for those students so they are able to learn along with the rest of the class. Finally, I will do my best to see that all the students get along and fit in together. I will have a zero tolerance policy of bullying or making fun of those with disabilities. I want my classroom environment to be a rather comfortable and enjoyable one.
This question was interesting to answer because with both disabilities, one must offer emotional support and be there for the student as much as possible. Dealing with hearing loss can be extremely depressing, just like dealing with depression.
The second disability category I was assigned to was Social & Emotional Disorders (Internalizing Disorders): Specifically School Phobia.
1. How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA & NJ spec ed code.)
Emotional disturbed is defined by the IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance:
• An inability to learn which 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.
The term includes children who are schizophrenic or autistic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed.
School Phobia however an anxiety disorder in children who have an irrational, persistent fear of going to school. Their behavior is different from children who are truant and express no apprehension about missing school. Children who have school avoidance want to be in close contact with their parent or caregiver, whereas truants do not. School phobic children are often insecure, sensitive, and do not know how to cope with their emotions. They appear anxious and may become physically ill at the thought of attending school.
2. What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability? (cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and levels of functioning.)
Symptoms of school phobia are:
* Frequent stomachaches and other physical complaints such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, or headaches that cannot be attributed to a physical ailment.
* Clinginess, tantrums, and/or panic when required to separate from a parent or caregiver.
* Fear of the dark or being in a room alone.
* Trouble going to sleep and/or having nightmares.
* Exaggerated fears of animals, monsters, school, etc.
* Constant thoughts concerning the safety of self or others.
Both home and school issues need to be considered when searching for the reasons that contribute to school avoidance.
Home Issues: A child may…
* Be experiencing a family change like a move, illness, separation, divorce, death, depression, or financial problems.
* Have been absent from school due to a long illness.
* Enjoy a parent's undivided attention when not in school.
* Be allowed to watch television, play video games or with toys rather than complete schoolwork.
* Have an overprotective parent who reinforces the idea that being away from him or her could be harmful.
* Be apprehensive of an impending tragedy at home.
* Fear an adult at home might hurt a family member while the child is at school.
* Be afraid of neighborhood violence, storms, floods, fires, etc.
School Issues: A child may…
* Fear criticism, ridicule, confrontation or punishment by a teacher or other school personnel.
* Have learning difficulties -- for example, afraid to read aloud, take tests, receive poor grades, be called on to answer questions or perform on a stage.
* Be afraid of not making perfect test scores.
* Be sensitive to a school activity such as singing a certain song, playing a specific game, attending a school assembly, eating in a lunchroom, or changing clothes for physical education in front of peers.
* Exhibit poor athletic ability, being chosen last for a team or being ridiculed for not performing well.
* Fear teasing due to appearance, clothes, weight, height, etc.
* Feel socially inadequate due to poor social interaction skills.
* Be a victim of peer bullying during school, walking to or from school, or on the school bus. (see Educator's Guide to Bullying).
* Receive threats of physical harm.
* Have difficulty adjusting to a new school (see Helping Children Cope with School Transitions).
* Have toileting issues concerning the use of a school restroom.
* Be environmentally sensitive to new carpet, fragrant cleaning supplies and/or poorly ventilated classrooms.
3. If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic and social support.
* Arrange for a school staff member greet the parent and child at the door and take the child to the class.
* Discuss the situation with the school nurse who can attend to the child's complaints and then return him or her to class.
* Help the child build self-confidence by discovering his or her strengths and by providing opportunities for the child to excel.
* Identify particular activities the child enjoys doing and those that produce anxiety.
* Monitor bullying activities that may be taking place.
* Include the student in a friendship group facilitated by the school counselor.
* Adjust work assignments to match the student's academic skills.
Have a child with poor academic skills tested for special education services.
*Use a behavior contract to be reinforced with a reward such as a sticker
4. What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials: 2 or 3 line description for each resource is required.)
School Nurse: this person can help me serve the child by supplying me with progress reports, updates, and vital information that I need to know to tend the specific needs of the child.
Child's Health and Awareness:
http://www.drpaul.com/behaviour/schoolphobia.html
A website that is inspired by DR. PAUL's belief that "knowledge is comfort" and that accurate and accessible health and wellness information is one of the best tools for ensuring a family's good health.
Overcoming School Phobia:
http://www.panic-anxiety.com/
A website designed for discovering the key to curing anxiety and finding ways to deal with and cope with phobias.
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