EBD Blog

Cameron Marlow of the MIT Media Lab is collecting data about Weblogs. If you maintain a blog or contribute to one, you can help the folks there develop a statistical picture of the people who contribute to blogs by completing an anonymous survey. I gave at home. The image is a link.

Mrs. Ris recounts her experiences in and observations about teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders at a site she updates periodically. It offers lots of good insights. Here are two examples. In the first, after giving directions to students about what they should do over the summer, she ends the entry with an observation that others teachers will really understand.

Finally, I close my classroom door with the familiar lump in my throat. I am used to this weird feeling of relief and expectation. Still, closing the book on this group of kids, this set of challenges and worries, this chance to make a difference, feels right. Before long I’ll be planning new and wonderful activities for next year.

For now, I count my blessings.

I am so lucky to be a teacher.

In an earlier entry, she starts with a recounting of several events during a school day. This is one that will resonate especially clearly with those who have taught special education.

Today was one of those days when our special ed program felt more like a hospital unit than the local elementary school. For my colleagues, and anyone else who is interested, here is a recap: (not in any particular order. Gawd, it would take too much out of me to try and remember the actual timeline!)

One first grader arrived almost an hour tardy, ran into the building from his car, his mom drove off without signing him into the office; he zoomed eighty miles an hour through the halls and down to our room, arriving out of breath, no backpack, no lunchbox … and no meds! He growled through a good part of the morning lessons.

One little one was in crisis over 50% of the day…. In and out of the counselor’s office, back to class, then flipping out, screaming and crying, running and kicking. (It’s part of a bipolar cycle, not much we can do about it.)

New kid kicked me twice, HARD, on the upper thigh. Later complimented me on my watch and bracelet combination. He’s got a sense of style, that one.

‘Nuther new kid peed on the walls of the time out booth in anger.

The gen ed principal was helping to calm a frantic kid…then he hocked a big loogie at her and it dripped down her nose. Now she REALLY knows the answer as to why we don’t get more of our students fully prepared for the state standardized tests.

Wonderful! But, don’t believe me. Go read it yourself. Mrs. Ris holds forth at MentorMatters.

BlackEnterprise.com has an extended article on using prevention and early intervention to avoid identifying African-American students as having disabilities. From the abstract:

In this article, the author encourages the use of prevention and early intervention methods to prevent and reduce overrepresentation of African American students in the special education categories of mental retardation, emotional disturbance, and specific learning disability. The author discusses ways to adapt A. A. Ortiz’s (2002) “Prevention of School Failure and Early Intervention for English Learners” to meet the needs of African American learners. The author also provides examples of daily school practices to improve the education of African American learners and possibly reduce their representation in special education, as well as enhance the quality of schooling for all students.

Link.

This is not about children in schools, but it is a powerful lesson.

A Romanian nun has died after being bound to a cross, gagged and left alone for three days in a cold room in a convent, Romanian police have said.

Members of the convent in north-west Romania claim Maricica Irina Cornici was possessed and that the crucifixion had been part of an exorcism ritual.

Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

Later the story explains furthur, “Mediafax news agency said Cornici suffered from schizophrenia and the symptoms of her condition caused the priest at the convent and other nuns to believe she was possessed by the devil.”

Here’s a link for the BBC version from which I’ve quoted.

Annie Johnson and Bob Gibson of the Charlottesville (VA, US; that’s EBDBlog’s neighborhood) Daily Progress reported on bullying in local schools. “It’s the same story across the country – the problem of students bullying their peers – and it doesn’t end with a curse word or slap in the face.”

Starting July 1, it will be even more of an issue. That’s when anti-bullying legislation championed by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, goes into effect. The new law requires schools to add policies and give notice to parents in the battle against bullying.
[snip]
When the anti-bullying laws take effect, all schools will have to start notifying the parents of students victimized by the more serious forms of harassment, such as physical assault and battery and direct threats on someone’s life, stalking or repeated threats, Bell said.

The reporters continue with inteviews of experts on bullying.

• John Boyd, a counselling psychologist, suggested that “Sometimes bullying is actually a symptom of an emotional disturbance.”
• Peter Sheras, a professor of clinical psychology, said that bullies often have (a) been bullied themselves, (b) had contact with legal officers, and (c) grown up with anxiety disorders.

Read the full story.

At a conference hosted by the Houston Area Urban League, speakers described the tremendous need for mental health services, especially among children and youths. Lois Moore, of the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center, told the meeting that among children in the Harris County (TX) area, there are about 186,000 who have mental health problems including 108,000 with serious emotional disturbance.

For contrast, consider this: In 2002 the state of Texas reported that it had 35,323 6- to 21-year olds identfied as having SED.

Hooray for these leaders who dare to stand up and tell the truth about children’s need.

The mental health care crisis faced by black Houston-area residents “seems to be even more acute” than in four other large cities, a leader of the National Urban League said Tuesday.

At the same time, Houston obviously has a “greater level of expertise and a very scholarly expertise” among black mental health professionals, said Sandra Goodridge, director of health and quality of life for the National Urban League.

Link to Anne Marie Kilday’s story from the Houston Chronicle.

Claudia Rinaldi has launched a blog devoted to disseminating information about assessing and teaching students who have Latino or Hispanic backgrounds and are experiencing difficulties in school.

I decided to start this blog because I am finding that although researchers and teachers are interested and committed to helping the Latino/Hispanic students who are experiencing trouble in school, the lack of information regarding what works is prevalent among school professionals. Moreover research around the country seems to be gathering strength though still limited in scope.

Here are links to her blog and to her general site.

Writing in Seattle University’s Spectator Online, Austin Burton reported on a class of students studying special education putting on skits to describe behavior problems and how teachers can handle them.

Members of the SPED 545 – School Consultation and Intervention course – part of SU’s College of Education graduate program, performed skits designed to show different ways for special-education teachers to deal with students with Emotional Behavior Disorder. Ten skits were performed in all, usually by groups of two – one acting as the teacher and another as the student.

Link.

A BBC (England) report of a study about bullying indicates that electronic means are being used by children to intimidate other children. It’s not just a U.S. problem, no? And folks wonder where captors—of whatever nationality or ethnicity—get the idea to intimidate their captives?

One in five young people has been bullied by mobile phone or via the internet, a study suggests.
The survey by the NCH children’s charity found 14% of 11 to 19-year-olds had been threatened or harassed using text messages.

Bullies had used images taken with mobile phone cameras to intimidate or embarrass one in 10 young people.

This included singling out overweight or spotty youngsters and recording and sharing acts of playground violence.

The findings follow reports of so-called “happy slapping” attacks – where assaults on children and adults are recorded on mobile phones and sent via video messaging.

Link.

In an article entitled “Learning together,” Mark Waller of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA, USA) provides a sympathetic glimpse of children with disabilities—a boy with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, another whom he describes as having a form of autism, and a third he says has a severe form of autism. Waller’s story is mostly about inclusion, but his descriptions of the students ring true.

Patrick Pearson struggled with a pair of broken glasses and a surge of nervous energy. His glasses had snapped in half, he said, after a classmate tried to grab them, prompting a brief tangle.

He ceaselessly fiddled with the glasses during his morning classes at Green Park Elementary School in Metairie. He taped them together. The frames popped off his face and hit the floor. He squinted through one lens, contorting his face at other students. A teacher scolded him.

When he went to his class for gifted students just before lunch, Patrick’s behavior veered toward crossing the line. A small group was reading a whodunit story set at the North Pole and discussing clues to the mystery. Patrick repeatedly interrupted. He complained he couldn’t read without his glasses.

From the details and scope of the coverage, it appears that Waller worked on this story over some time. Unlike some treatments of inclusion, this is not a rah-rah or bah-humbug treatment. It’s pretty balanced. And the descriptions of the situations themselves are worth the read.

Link to Waller’s story.