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Randall Trice
English 1A
Prof Ogden
Due date 05.30.2016
Emotional disturbance
Mental illness such as emotional disturbance is over shadowed in our education
system. Emotional disturbance is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a
child's educational performance during my observation vacation it was bough to my
attention that ED student can not be tough like original student due to there disabilities
such as Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
Students that suffer from this illness cannot be mainstreamed in general education classes
due to their behaviors. Students with this disorder demonstrate an inability to learn in a
classroom setting and as a result, pose instructional challenges alongside with their
behavioral problems. Many of these students require intensive instructions to maintain
the academic skills they have been taught and to improve their academic deficits.
Students with emotional disturbance often struggle academically, in particularly in the
areas of literature art. I would like to identify how many students are having a difficult
time graduating from high school and how there is a small percent of students with ED
graduating compared to the national rate. How can the involvement of their parents assist
and change this statistic? How can we better support ED students?
You may ask why I am so interested with this topic and how I became educated with
students who suffer from this disability. Lets begin here, I currently work and have been
working at Hillsides Education Center in Pasadena for the past eight years. Hillsides is a

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facility that offers residential services, outpatient services, and educational classes for the
patient and their families. Students who suffer from emotional disturbance and have been
dismissed from their schools districts, due to aggressive behaviors, end up here as a last
resort. While working as a teachers Assistance and One to one aide, I have observed that
ED students struggle in all academic areas but excel in music and physical education.
Giving these students consistency such as a daily routine decreases behaviors and allows
the ED students to progress with reading and writing skills. Ive learned that these
students are able to control their behaviors once they receive the necessary support.
During my time in the ED class, I had the privilege of working with a fifth grader
who is a Caucasian female, weighs about 110 pounds, and is about 55. She was
diagnosed with mood disorder, which means serious change in mood Illness under mood
disorders include: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder (mania - euphoric,
hyperactive, over inflated ego, unrealistic optimism), persistent depressive disorder (long
lasting low grade depression), cyclothymic (a mild form of bipolar disorder), and SAD
(seasonal affective disorder). During my first few days working with this student, I
struggled to motivate her to follow the classroom subject outline which consist of, a
Daily starter, Math, Language Arts, PE, and Science. This student would come to school
over medicated so badly, she couldnt even function in class and she was extremely
aggressive towards her peers and myself. This student was highly impulsive and would
get up from her desk about nine to ten times an hour to touch the items on her peers
desk. I would follow her around the classroom for safely issues and she would become
physically aggressive towards me and sometimes had to be removed from the classroom.
With proper techniques we were trained with, we administered Proact to ensure the

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safety of all clients and ourselves. This type of behavior was a daily routine and I had to
figure out how I could better sever this student. My only options were to continue to push
the classwork or let her take a nap until the medication wore off, by letting her sleep until
she was able to function. For the first few months this worked and as I tired to add some
more tasks and structure, she revered back to being aggressive and defiance.
Students who suffer Emotional Disturbance dont have a red carpet laid out for
them to succeed academically. ED students have a hard time with just about anything and
everything that is in their daily lives. For example, tracing letter on a sheet of paper that
has the ABCs dotted out and outlined for them, seems like an easy task for us to do but is
the total opposite for them. The things we may think are easy at times can be a challenge
for someone who has a disability. We take these little steps without realizing how
fortunate we are to be able to take on a task and not get frustrated with it. For some,
asking them to tie their shoelaces is a challenge and may cause a behavior because they
are being asked to do something they did not want to do at that moment. Due to so many
obstacles an ED student has to face, many of these students dont make it through high
school and graduate, or continue their education at a university. I came across a website
called Who cares about Kelsey by T-REX CREATIVE and discovered that ED students
have the worst graduation rate based on all students who have disabilities. Nationally,
only 40 percent of students with EBD graduate from high school, compared to the
national average of 76 percent (T-REX CREATIVE). This quotes above discuses the
national graduation rate of all students in the United States that graduate from high
school.
On the other hand, collaborating with the parents on an IEP, would help develop the

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student process. You may ask, whats an IEP meeting? Its a meeting where the child
and school staff members meet together to discuss and decide on an educational program
for the student. There are IEP documents that parents and school administrators must sign
to indicate that the meeting not only took place, but that everyone was able to verbally
express themselves, and a written agreement that indicates what the students new goals
will be. Among other things, this document also shares a list that provides the services
and supports the child will receive.
Supporting a student with ED is challenging but by creating a welcoming and
friendly environment where the student could be comfortable, will change the way that
student sees the classroom. Having a set routine everyday will benefit these students
because they know what is expected from them everyday and they have goals that they
are able to conquer. A lot of breaks in between lessons and allowing them to feel a sense
of control through the daily routines helps ED students to feel good about themselves and
decreases the chances of behaviors. I truly feel that my job is rewarding in the sense that
I am doing something good for not only myself but for others. Day in and day out, my
focus is to make it better for those who suffer from this mental illness. If I truly care
about my job and do what Im suppose to be doing, Im not only giving students
courage to want to do better but to also become better by showing them, they can achieve
things regardless of the label society has given them. If we as a community encourage
rather than discourage people with ED, we will allow them to not only master the simple
things we all take for granite, but to excel in life itself. It is always a bitter sweet moment
when a student leaves the facility to return back to their school district and homes,
proving those who doubted them wrong.

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Work cite

"Emotional Disturbance | Center for Parent Information and Resources."

Center for Parent Information and Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May
2016

"Statistics." Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.

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