How to Help a Child With an Emotional Disability

Children who have emotional or behavioral disabilities (ED or BD) exhibit unusually withdrawn or aggressive behaviors. The key to helping children with ED is to pinpoint the behavior you want to change and create new behavior goals for the child.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Books On Emotional Disabilities
• Colored Markers
• Pens And Pencils
• Poster Boards
• Spiral Notebooks
• Rulers

1. Identify the behavior you want to change. Keep a written record of the behaviors the child exhibits during social and independent play and academic activity. For example: "I want A to play without hitting other children," "I want B to remain quiet during a test," "I want C to stay seated during a lesson." Once you describe the child's behavior in terms of observable actions, you will be able to monitor and mediate the behavior.

2. Create a new behavior to replace the behavior you want to change. If the child is aggressive toward others while working in a group you may want the child to take turns or talk in a quiet tone of voice while in a group. Remember to create an alternative behavior that is directly observable.

3. Establish rewards and/or consequences for behaviors. Overall, it's more effective to reward the positive behavior that you are trying to increase than to punish the behavior you are trying to decrease. If the behavior does not pose an immediate threat to you, the child, or other children - or does not disrupt the entire group lesson - try to ignore the disruptive behavior while rewarding the positive behavior. There are several trade and self-help books available with ideas for positive and effective reward systems.

4. Provide plenty of opportunities to practice new behaviors. Students with ED usually have difficulty working with others whether they are aggressive or withdrawn. You will want to set up social situations where the child can practice taking turns in a group or with a partner, and sharing and talking appropriately. Role-play appropriate responses to social conflicts.

5. Teach the child to monitor progress independently. Have charts in folders, in a locker or at home where the child can document progress in achieving a particular behavioral goal. Have the child write or verbally explain why a certain behavior is unacceptable and what behavior the child can do to change it.

6. Role-play and hold conflict-resolution meetings so the child can practice and discuss alternative responses to social situations.

Tips & Warnings

• Establish a positive and resource-filled learning environment for students. Be available at all times to mediate behavioral conflicts.
• Address academic learning disabilities as well as behavioral disabilities.
• Create and consistently use the same behavior-modification system at home and at school.
• Stay in daily or weekly contact with parents and other teachers.
• Use humor to diffuse aggressive situations between students and adults.
• Ask for help in monitoring and maintaining behavior modifications at home. School and district specialists are required to provide information and, in some cases, at-home counseling services for families and students with emotional disabilities.