Emotionally disturbed children may require additional care and counseling to eliminate the mental obstacles to learning. Thorough examination from mental health care professionals is required before a child can be introduced into a typical classroom.
Instructions
1. Identify children who may be emotionally disturbed and evaluate their ability to participate in a classroom. Signs of emotional disturbances include an inability to learn or retain new information, a difficulty in establishing interpersonal relationships, displays of inappropriate behavior and general moodiness or depression. These observable behaviors should be immediately referred to a school psychologist and the parents of the child.
2. Look for additional signs of emotional disturbances that can be measured, as opposed to observed, including aggression or self injury, hyperactivity, poor academic performance and excessive crying or tantrums. These more specific signs should be documented by teachers and school administrators and immediately discussed with parents.
3. Educate an emotionally disturbed child through enrollment in an academic program that provides both behavior modification techniques and emotional support. An individualized education program (IEP) can be developed with the participation of parents, teachers, school psychologists and administrators to address the specific problems and reinforce appropriate behavior.
4. Use additional resources, such as psychiatric outpatient programs and counseling, to educate children who are emotionally disturbed. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees that every child has the same opportunity for education. This means that psychiatric services and counseling may be available for emotionally disturbed children at no cost.
5. Ensure that paths to communication are open. Meetings between parents, teachers and mental health professionals should be frequent. All pertinent information about the child's mental health should be shared with the appropriate parties.
6. Set goals for emotionally disturbed children that will last throughout their entire academic careers. Seek vocational training and therapy to ensure that they grow up to be productive and healthy.
Tags: emotionally disturbed, disturbed children, mental health, children emotionally, children emotionally disturbed, emotional disturbances