Elementary School Students with Emotional Disabilities

1. Elementary School Students with Emotional Disabilities Greta Francis, Ph.D., ABPP Bradley Schools Alpert Medical School of Brown University

2. Emotional Disabilities in School • 8% of students served by IDEA have emotional disabilities • Behavioral dysregulation • Peer problems • Depression • Anxiety

3. Examples • 1st grade boy who doesn’t follow directions • 4th grade girl with high anxiety

4. Social Emotional Learning • Teaching of social behavior appropriate for the time and setting • How to get along with others • How to get help when you need it • How to cope with distress

5. The Classroom Environment • Modeling of tolerance and acceptance • Differences are expected and accepted • Every student has a role • Staff teach and lead by example • Climate is positive

6. Tolerance • Be mindful of cultural/family differences • The best way to learn is to jump right in and learn through trial and error VERSUS The best way to learn is to watch and listen so don’t do anything until you are sure you will do it correctly. • How might these beliefs influence the behavior of our 1st grader & our 4th grader?

7. Teaching Tolerance • Sharing examples of ways in which people are the same and different • Communicating clearly that differences are ok • Giving opportunities for students to interact with people from diverse backgrounds • Responding in a “teaching way” if an insensitive comment is made

8. Classroom Strategies… • A goal is predictability • Positive consequences outweigh the negative • Clear rules and expectations • Consistent application of rules

9. …Classroom Strategies • Allow for flexibility and choice • Appropriate behaviors are taught, prompted, and reinforced • Reinforce small steps along the way • Use attention as a tool

10. Tackling Academic Work • Break tasks into manageable chunks • Set small goals and reinforce progress • Allow alternate ways of communication, if appropriate • Allow students to participate in their own way, if appropriate

11. Environmental Adaptations • Seating • Proximity to staff • Proximity to peers • Level of distraction in the room

12. Ideas for our 1st grader • He is very active in class • He often yells • He is out of his seat a lot • He has trouble waiting his turn • He has trouble playing cooperatively with peers

13. Ideas for our 4th grader • She is very quiet in class • She doesn’t raise her hand • She lacks confidence • She is afraid to try new things • She often says her stomach hurts & wants to see the nurse • She doesn’t ask for help when she needs it

14. SEL for all students • Teach affect recognition • Teach relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior • Teaching problem-solving skills • Teaching coping skills

15. Affect recognition • Develop a language to use to label feelings • Understand that how a person looks on the outside might not match how they feel on the inside • Recognize that different people may have different feelings in the same situation • How could we teach this to our 1st grader & our 4th grader?

17. Coping • Managing distress • Many strategies can be used • Belly breathing • Self-talk • Fidgets • Teaching, modeling, prompting, and reinforcement • How could we teach this to our 1st grader & our 4th grader?

18. Problem Solving

19. Problem Solving

20. Example… • What is the problem? • Jill took my toy and I want it back. • What are all the possible solutions? • I could grab the toy back, I could hit Jill and take the toy, I could play with something else, I could tell Jill I want my toy back.

21. …Example… • What will happen if I do those things? • If I grab the toy back or hit Jill, she will get mad and maybe hit me. • If I play with something else, then I might not get my toy back. • If I tell Jill that I want my toy back, she might give it back. • Pick a solution and try it out • I told Jill that I want my toy back and she gave it back to me.

22. …Example • How did I do? • I did a great job. I got my toy back from Jill and didn’t get into a fight.

23. Managing distress… • Catch signs of upset/distress early • Intervene proactively • Change task/expectation temporarily

24. …Managing distress • Listen & prompt coping • Ignore & redirect • If a meltdown happens, don’t take the student’s negative comments personally

25. Social Influence • Direct • Indirect • Problem-solving • Likeability

26. Direct • Rules • Consequences • Direction • Structure

27. Indirect • Tone of voice • Giving choices • Letting students make decisions • Proximity control

28. Problem-solving • Active listening • Allowing students to express their feelings • Identifying problems and generating solutions • Being seen as someone who will help

29. Likeability • Personal charisma • Getting to know students • Doing fun things with students • Remembering things like birthdays, interests

30. Student has done only 5 of 7 assigned math problems… • Direct: Staff says “finish up those last 2 problems” • Indirect: Staff walks over to the student and says “wow, you are almost done, only 2 left”

31. Student has done only 5 of 7 assigned math problems • Problem-solving: Staff says “it looks like you might be stuck so lets figure out a way to finish” • Likeability: Staff smiles and says “you promised me you’d finish your math today”

32. Developing Social Influence Skills

33. Self Assessment

34. Imbalance at Start of School Year

35. Better Balance for the Start of School Year

36. Goal • Use social influence as a tool • Use different kinds of social influence in different situations • Use different kinds of social influence with different students

37. Frustrating Student Behaviors • Those behaviors that push buttons & prompt emotional responses from staff • Those behaviors that can lead to power struggles between the student and staff • Staff can benefit by becoming aware of their own buttons & using strategies to cope

38. Common Traps • Passionate discipline • Life in prison • Too general • Cure all • Lecturing • Negative focus • Wishing

39. Passionate Discipline

40. Life in Prison

41. Too General

42. Cure All

43. Lecturing

44. Negative Focus

45. Wishing

46. Teamwork • Good teamwork among staff is a key to a helping students succeed in school • Get comfortable giving/receiving feedback from one another • Communicate regularly with one another • Plan and set goals collaboratively • Keep track of progress on those goals • Be nimble!

47. Thanks!

48. Selected References • Alderman, G.L. & Craver, J.R. (August, 1998). Difficult to manage students: A model for school consultation & inservice. Workshop presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.