The work I did on addressing the behavioral and emotional disabilities lead me to post a blog last weekend which dealt with the subject of Oppositional Defiance Disorder.   I questioned if it was real or a "social construct" created to shuffle kids off to the side.  I have to fess up:  in part I did it to get the conversation rolling, and it certainly did.

Whether Oppositional Defiance Disorder is an "inate" or "inherited" trait, or whether ODD is a constellation of "learned" traits, that we as educators may even contribute to, a child who has developed these behaviors can be a real challenge.  Some of my readers noted, correctly, that the real rub is whether we have effective strategies to help these students succeed both in establishing appropriate relationships with peers and adults, and whether they can learn to control their own behavior.

What I don't agree with is that children with ODD are necessarily making moral decisions that lead them to behave the way they do.  If anything, we should be offering these students a steady hand and creating the kind of environment that will help them succeed.  As I approached the challenge, I thought about the sorts of structure and support that are important to create a calm and safe environment where students can learn more appropriate "replacement" behaviors that will help them move on to appropriate and successful participation in the general education curriculum.

I hope that we can also, as special educators, help our general education peers provide the same sort of structured positive behavior support in their classrooms that will help these students succeed.   As some of my readers correctly pointed out, whether ODD is an organic disorder or a learned disorder, our responsibility is to provide teaching and behavior support that will help them succeed and create a safe and positive learning environment for all children.

This past week I began my first class for my BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyist,) Management and Modification of Children with Special Needs.   My instructor, Nancy Brown, comes from a career of teaching the emotionally challenged population in self contained programs.  I look forward to hearing and sharing the strategies my classmates, many of them special educators or teacher preparing to be counselors, have to share.

At the same time, half way through the year I'm finding a lot of people are looking for resources to help them deal with difficult children.  I took a look at the articles that are already here, and found them lacking.  My predecessor was Canadian, and seemed to work with middle class children, rather than the sort of severe or challenging children that many of us deal with daily.  That is especially true for teachers in inner city schools, or teachers in rural communities with low socio-economic status. I felt it was time to revisit and rewrite the article about Behavioral and Emotional Disabilities.

My first job was to go back to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) IV and actually look at the criterion for some of the behavioral disorders that qualify as "Emotional Disturbances" under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.   As I read the criteria, I had to ask myself "How much of this is conditioned by the environment?"  "How many of these behaviors may actually be appropriate survival mechanisms?"

The DSM IV TR begins the definition with:  "A pattern of negativist, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at lea st 6 months . . ."

The behaviors they describe are:

1. Often loses temper
2. Often argues with adults
3. Often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult's requests or rules Read More...

The New York Times published a front page article "New Definition of Autism Will Exclude Many, Study Suggests" Thursday (January 19, 2012,) ABC News picked it up and it's been splashed all across the media.  Ironic, since I addressed the proposed changes in February of 2010, and our former Autism Guide, Lisa Jo Rudy, wrote an article about the changes last July.

The DSM V is the yet (2013) to be published Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the handbook for diagnosing psychiatric and psychological illness or disorders.  The latest iteration was the DSM IV TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Four, Text Revision) published in 2000.  Considered the "Bible" of diagnosis, a DSM diagnosis is required for medical reimbursement for services provided by insurance companies.  The DSM IV is also used Read More...

I spent two day last week with Dr. Ron Leaf, a co-director of the Autism Partnership, an international organization based in California that provides Applied Behavior Analysis services on both coasts and on several continents.  He spoke about and offered demonstrations of ABA both to manage and improve behavior and to support academic skills.

One of his hobby horses is function.  Do the things we teach children with disabilities improve function?   It's critical especially for children who will not have the ability to got to college.  Many children with disabilities can, but there is a larger group that will not.  Will the skills they learn help them function independently in the community?  Will it help them get to work, will it help them purchase the food they need to live on their own?   When there parents get too old to keep them at home, who will be responsible for these disabled adults?

I'm lucky:  I have a principal that understands that function is the most important for my students with Autism.   I have struggled to find a structured, visual way to help them learn to count money, tell time, and read a calendar.   Last week after two days with Dr. Leaf, I took my boys by public bus to the Museum of Natural History.  It was really about the bus trip and purchasing lunch at McDonald's.   My guys were stellar, but I also felt really great that the skills that we were learning and reinforcing would be generalized into a community setting.

So, to help my readers out, I have made the method I use to teach counting coins available to you.  I hope you find them helpful!