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Emotional disability is a term used in education to describe a student’s emotional conditions that interfere with academic achievement. It can refer to diagnosed conditions or poor academic performance with signs of emotional disability. Duration, behavior, and academic performance are analyzed to prove emotional disability. Both schools and parents can initiate tests to assess emotional disability, and if diagnosed, resources may be available to help the child.
Emotional disability or emotional disorder is a general term used in many educational settings (especially K-12) to describe a student’s emotional conditions that markedly interfere with academic achievement or learning ability. The term emotional disability can refer to the child who has several diagnosable conditions, such as bipolar disorder or depression. It may also mean that a child continues to perform poorly academically, while showing signs of emotional disability and does not have a mental illness that fits the standard psychological diagnostic.
It is very difficult to get an exact definition of what emotional disability is and how it is differentiated from misbehavior from another cause, especially if a child is thought to be socially maladjusted. A socially impaired child may not be eligible for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), while an emotionally disabled child is. Unfortunately from time to time, even though there is no legal definition of socially maladjusted, a child with a true emotional disability is labeled as such to avoid providing care and services to that child.
Some of the things that are analyzed to prove emotional disability include the duration of the condition. All children can experience feelings of emotional distress, especially if they are experiencing a period of grief or if things in their home life are temporarily chaotic. Duration is not always clearly defined, but is usually assessed by examining several years of records to determine that the condition has existed for some time. Of course, a child with recent onset bipolar or schizophrenia may qualify without this, provided a doctor makes a diagnosis.
Aside from the length of time, the child who may be emotionally disabled may be withdrawn, have extreme difficulty interacting with peers, may be particularly needy, or may display a great deal of anxiety. Other indicators include performing unevenly, poorly, or significantly out of line with ability on standardized tests, and regressive or disproportionate reactions to things (like homework or a bad grade) that are not really in the child’s control. Not all of these things occur in every child who has an emotional disability, but a pattern of such things that emerges and seems constant can suggest the condition.
Both the school and parents can initiate tests to assess emotional disability. If the request comes from the parents, they shouldn’t just ask verbally. Instead, to get prompt fulfillment of the request, parents should put the test request in writing, identifying what concerns exist. Schools are generally required to test based on this request or to identify reasons why they will not. School districts are also required to pay for such tests, including evaluation by a psychiatrist.
If a child is diagnosed with emotional disability, the school and parents plan what resources may be available to best help the child. This may include visits with a school counselor but does not necessarily include visits with a psychiatrist. Expectations of the student may be changed or, if the condition is severe, the child may attend another school or class for emotionally disturbed children. The goal of these classes is to help the child return to mainstream education at a later date.
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