Behaviour Disorders Definitions

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is generally characterized by a recurrent pattern of negative, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behaviour toward authority figures that occurs over a specific period of time.

• Children and youth often lose their temper, argue with adults, refuse to obey the requests or rules of adults, deliberately do things to annoy other people, blame others for their own mistakes, and can be touchy or easily annoyed, angry, resentful, spiteful, or vindictive.
• Much of the defiant behaviour is directed at authority figures but may sometimes target siblings, playmates, or classmates.
• The child’s home life, school life, and peer relationships must be significantly impaired.
• ODD usually appears before eight years of age and no later than early adolescence. Many youth with ODD have other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or attention difficulties. Their behaviour problems often develop as a result of these conditions.
  
  Credit: www.edu-resource.com

Conduct disorder (CD) is generally characterized by severe and persistent antisocial behaviour and is associated with a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated.

• Problem behaviour may include aggressive conduct, disruptive but non-aggressive conduct (such as theft or deceit and serious rule violations), bullying, cruelty, stealing, weapons use, fire setting, lying, running away, and truancy.
• Conduct disorder is diagnosed when the behaviour has been present for a certain amount of time, begins at specific ages, and is causing significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning. The behaviour is typically seen across a range of settings, including home, community, and school.
• Conduct disorder may also be associated with other disorders, including learning disorders and mental health problems such as ADHD, substance use disorders, anxiety, and depression.
• Conduct disorder usually begins in late childhood or early adolescence, but has been seen in children as young as age five. It rarely develops after 16 years of age.

Source:  Supporting Minds: An Educator's Guide to promoting Mental Health and Well-Being, p.74

Children who are Gifted

 

Text source: Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools

Source: http://blog.connectionsacademy.com/encouraging-gifted-child-explore-stem/

Behavioural Problems

Common characteristics of students exhibiting behavioural problems include

• deliberate destruction of property
• frequent lying
• serious violation of rules
• skipping school
• outburst of anger, low tolerance for frustration, irritability
• reckless, risk-taking acts 

                                          Image credit: www.tes.com
In the Special Education in Ontario: Policy and Resource Guide (p. A14), a behaviour exceptionality is defined as follows:
A learning disorder characterized by specific behaviour problems over such a period of time, and to such a marked degree, and/or such a nature, as to adversely affect educational performance, and that may be accompanied by one or more of the following:

1. An inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships.
2. Excessive fears or anxieties.
3. A tendency to compulsive reactions.
4. An inability to learn that cannot be traced to intellectual, sensory, or other health factors, or any combination thereof.

Examples of underlying reasons include: 
■  family context (doing what has been taught or modelled at home)  
■  social context (doing what has been necessary for survival outside of school)  
■  differences between school and home/neighbourhood expectations (e.g., structure, routines, rules)  ■  need to “build a wall” or push people away to pr otect oneself 
■  fear or threat, especially for students who have experienced any form of maltreatment or abuse; what looks like overreacting is adaptive in the face of real threat but maladaptive in the absence of threat
■  need for attention, recognition; seeking these in ways that may have worked elsewhere (but are not acceptable at school)  
■  poor interpersonal skills; may misread facial cues, other non-verbal communication, or v erbal communication; not taking the current context into account; impulsive reactions; may not know how to act in the current situation  
■  cover for weakness; acting in a way that makes others see them as “bad” rather than “dumb”  

Strategies in the classroom (Reithaug, 1998):

 

Credit: education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources

• structure, predictability, and consistency
• immediate, frequent and specific feedback with consequences
• academic success
• responsibility and independence
• positive problem solving
• poistive alternatives to current behaviours
• enhanced self-confidence
• positive school-to-home support systems
• evidence that he or she is making changes for the better

Learning Disabilities

Three strategies that I would readily apply in my classroom with regards to Learning Disabilities:

1.  Project-based work – My last school was a huge fan of this approach.  Often, we were given a project (that was theme-based) that each class needed to complete.  For example, in celebration of the great author Roald Dahl, each class had to study one of his books and then create a piece of art to put in the corridor.  Another example of this is that we would have a ‘Science Week’ whereby each class studied a particular part of Science with a theme. For example, our theme last year was ‘Move-It’ so my class studied the science behind roller-coasters then had to create one out of foam tubing. These projects were incredibly beneficial to all students!
2. Cooperative Learning – Small group work composed of students with different abilities and talents. Tasks are created in a way that they cannot complete on own.  This final point is crucial and I find that this can sometimes be the failing part to a group.  I have found that sometimes a group is seen (by their peers) as the one that will be successful but because of personality and inability to adapt to different roles and characters, these groups don’t end up as the most successful.
3. Explicit Instruction – This would include structured learning, clear direction and specific processes. Modelling by teacher is frequent. I am a big fan of this method that I feel is often frowned upon.  We are teachers at the end of the day and modelling/explicit teaching does have its place in education. In part of the book, ‘Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools,’ (p. 69) I found it incredibly interesting to read: “Research supports insufficiently developed phonemic awareness as a characteristic of primary children with reading disabilities.  Phonemic awareness   includes the awareness that words can be segmented into component sounds, identifying sounds in various positions in words, and manipulating sounds in words Explicit, systematic instruction of phonemic awareness is necessary for most children and does no harm to those for whom it is redundant, and phonemic awareness interventions are effective in helping most children with LD to learn to read.”  Explicit learning definitely has its place!

One concern that I have is that although my cooperative learning description above lists working with children with different abilities (from the Learning for All document), I feel that there is definitely a place for having cooperative learning with groups of the same ability.   For the Science project of making a roller coaster (listed in my 1^st point), I decided to put four children (all with LDs that happened to be all boys) into the same group. I enlisted my TA’s help to sit with the group.  I asked that she simply observe and only intervene if need be.  She did this and noted that one boy, who I usually found to be extremely quiet, took charge immediately.  I feel that he wasn’t intimidated by others in the class and had so much to add.  It was incredible and very nice to see him shine with peers of the same ability!

Reflection on teaching children who have Down Syndrome

My personal reflection/suggestions after speaking with parents of a child with Down Syndrome

Picture source:https://www.seeandlearn.org/en-gb/language-and-reading/

• Parents of children with Down syndrome can be very well informed.  Use them to your advantage when planning and providing for their child. They have so much to offer.
• Ensure there is constant communication between the parents and teacher.  If a parent sees/reads/is told about a child’s learning, they may feel more at ease. I’ve just started using a messaging program called Seesaw with the class I have been teaching.  It is an AMAZING way to share pictures, messages and even videos with the class or even just specific children.  I urge anyone who hasn’t heard of it already to check it out ASAP!
• Put parents in touch with any other families with a child with Down syndrome.
• Parents want to see their child live a life like any other child.  Just like Cara is taking ski lessons, ensure that opportunities are equal and encouraged.
• Communication is key for children with Down syndrome so make this a priority in your IEP. Take careful notes from any visiting Speech and Language Pathologist and try your best to implement the actions he or she has suggested. Consider teaching the class a small bank of sign language.

Adapting my teaching style to meet the needs of a student who is hard of hearing

How would you adapt your teaching style in your own class to meet the needs of a student like Maria - a student who is hard of hearing? 

Photo credit: Gus Ruelas/University of Southern California

• I would start by making sure I approached the previous teacher. In this case study, when this didn’t happen, the Grade 5 teacher wasn’t as successful as the previous Grade 4 teacher, in making Maria’s learning at school positive. Once her teacher spoke to her previous teacher, he gained lots of insight into how to improve the situation.
• In the grade 4 class the successful element seemed to be a ‘carrel’ in a quiet corner of the classroom where she could take her work to help her concentrate.
• Pairing students with a buddy would also be beneficial so that children like Maria have a close network of friends within the class to always be there for her. Working in pairs, would be better than working in a larger group.
• Listing the agenda on the board, as well as writing homework on the board would be good visual reminder too.
• I would always take advice from a specialist.  If confused about a situation or still struggling, asking for help is imperative.
• Maria used speech reading to supplement her hearing, therefore, I would ensure that I speak clearly (without covering my face) and am facing a child who is hard of hearing.
• Keep notes (like a journal) to help you reflect on the change of practice.  Maybe some ideas won’t work out and maybe some will.  Reflecting is the only way to improve.

Who else might benefit from these adaptations?  These changes/adaptations may benefit more than just the child who is hard of hearing. Reading was a big issue and making improvements to your reading program will help the comprehension of not only children like Maria, but also help other children who are struggling with reading.  The case study went into further detail about what kind of changes were made to the reading program such as taking a small group before a text was read with the rest of the class to discuss trick words and make predictions. She also mentioned a strategy called ‘partially completed chapter maps to fill in – retelling a buddy what they had read afterwards. The idea of using a thumbs up/down strategy is one that I have used with my class for as long as I can remember.  It is a visual, silent signal that all children benefit from. The quiet working area, as well, is a very popular part of a classroom for children with ADHD, autism or just about anyone who just wants a quiet place to retreat to. Therefore, all of these adaptations make the classroom a better place for everyone!  

Rebecca

6 Strategies for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder