This week we read about emotional and behavioral disorders. I have worked with many students who have an emotional behavioral disorder. After reading through the characteristics of this disorder, I found most of them to be true. Emotional behavioral disorders are difficult because they can stem from a variety of causes. I have seen students with emotional behavioral disorders and one factor that can affect their school performance is if a trigger occurs. This trigger can set off the student and potentially ruin their entire school day. One way to deal with this disorder is buy finding tools that help the student to maintain a positive attitude throughout the day and escape from the triggers. Some of these tools can include assistive technology devices.
I thought the Emotional or Behavioral Disorders sildeshare created a solid foundation when first learning about the disorder. The article on Emotional Behavioral Disorders, gave education recommendations that I am familiar with and have used in the past. It is important to observe the behaviors and triggers to find the best tools and an effective plan. Emotional and behavioral disorders can alter a student's performance but as educators we need to find and use the best tools that will help the student learn and succeed in the classroom and in life. Using assistive technology devices can help to ensure that the student is performing at an appropriate level and is learning in the most suitable environment with the best tools at hand.
The article, Reducing Overload in Students with Learning and Behavioral Disorders: The Role of Assistive Technology, talks a lot about the different assistive technology devices that students with a behavioral disorder can use. I have personally used the stopwatches and computer devices. The stop watches are a great tool because this allows the student to take a break from what they are doing and monitor the time they have. The computer devices allows the student to communicate in a different way when necessary, take a break from their triggers, and manage their classroom behaviors. There are many more assistive technology tools and resources in this article that I hope to use in my own classroom. Every student is different and each of these tools will work differently with each student.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI think the one thing all of these articles are missing, that you hinted at is the need to be proactive as opposed to reactive when working with students with EBD. Assistive technology can help with that. I always used some type of picture symbol reminder for students when they felt anxious or upset.
So often I think teachers play defense when it comes to students with behavior disorders instead of playing offense. They react to what the child does and tries to fix the problem that way which most of the time does not work very well or those same behaviors show up again down the road. Teachers shouldn't react they should prevent. You are completely correct when you say that they need to figure out what are the triggers of the behaviors. Once a teacher figures that out they can plan accordingly and try to avoid that student interacting with the triggers.
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