Long Quiz 2 - Chapters 6-8

Question 1

Reasons why there is a lack of clear & widely accepted definition of emotional or behavioral disorders:

Answer 1

1. Disordered behavior is a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
   - no clear agreement exists about what constitutes good mental health
   - all children behave inappropriately at times
   - How often, with how much intensity, and for how long must a student exhibit problem behavior before he is considered to have a behavior disability?
2. Different theories of emotional disturbance use concepts and terminology that do little to promote meaning from one definition to another
3. Behavioral expectations and norms vary considerably across ethnic and cultural groups
4. Emotional or behavioral disorders sometimes occur in conjunction with other disabilities, making it difficult to determine whether one condition is an outcome or the cause of the other

Question 2

Federal Definition of Emotional Disturbance

(i) a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational
performance:

Answer 2

(A) An inability to LEARN that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, and
health factors;

(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS with peers and teachers;

(C) INAPPROPRIATE types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

(D) A general PERVASIVE MOOD of unhappiness or depression; or

(E) A tendency to develop PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS or FEARS associated with personal or school problems.

(ii) Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to
socially maladjusted children, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (i) of this section.

Question 3

Pros and cons of the Federal Definition

Answer 3

Pros:
Straightforward with a list of five types

Chronicity - “over a long period of time”
Severity - “to a marked degree”
Difficulty in school - “adversely affects educational performance”

Cons:
extremely vague

what do the terms ‘satisfactory’ or ‘inappropriate’ really mean?
- teachers have differing degrees of tolerance
- parents and teachers may differ in expectations for student behavior
- behavioral expectations vary across cultural groups

…making referrals for emotional or behavioral disorders to be a highly subjective process
…cannot distinguish behavior problems that represent ‘social maladjustment’ vs ‘true emotional disturbance’
…allowing schools not to serve many children

Question 4

Who drafted a new definition for emotional or behavioral disorder in response to the problems with the federal definition?

Their definition was also later adopted by the National Mental Health and Special Education Coalition and subsequently submitted to the U.S. Congress as a proposed replacement for the IDEA/federal definition.

Answer 4

Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD)

Question 5

CCBD Definition of Emotional or Behavioral Disorder

Answer 5

1. The term “emotional or behavioral disorder” means a disability that is characterized by emotional or behavioral responses in school programs so different
   from appropriate age, cultural, or ethnic norms that the responses adversely
   affect educational performance, including academic, social, vocational, or 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 in general