I have a student in a large glass (28 students). He told me that he was diagnosed with ADHD. Knowing very little about the topic (aside from what I've read through NYCTC and other coursework) I wasn't surprised. He's very energetic. He won't sharpen his pencil or use the bathroom without doing a dance somewhere along the way. He's very smart and consistently participates. While he sometimes demonstrates a lack of focus during more quiet activities (independent reading/writing), I often wondered if he was just a normal 12 year old with a lot of misplaced energy. Reading this, I wonder if his family or education officials sought multiple opinions from different people. I assume it’s not an easy process to coordinate. 

“Generally, determining whether a child has a biologically based mental illness, a behavioral problem or an emotional disorder is not as important to a family as determining what interventions are the most useful to help support their child.”   For me this quote clarifies the fact that (although it is in some cases a totally understandable coupling) when emotional and behavioral difference manifests in school children becomes an extra-educational ordeal, thus falling under the umbrella of medicine, it can distract with diagnosis, prognosis, etc, and not offer the most immediate support to kids and families.  

Based on the second text The Concomitance of Learning Disabilities and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Conceptual Model I want to challenge myself to be as patient as possible and as intentional as possible with students that I know are struggling the most.  At my training academy this can be a challenge because while working in ICT classrooms I have found the real time needs of gen ed students to be most apparent. 

I can connect to this by building a meaningful and positive relationship with the students that are consistently misbehaving in my coach’s classroom. Having a simple discussion with them & getting to know them, will allow me to understand the student. And see what approach works best for the student. 

'disorder' when his or her behaviors occur frequently and are severe. A diagnosis represents a 'best guess' based on a child’s behaviors that he or she has a specific mental health disorder...” 

     This relates to my classroom experience where sometimes I’ll be surprised to find out that a student hasn’t been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder, even though there is no discernible difference between their behavior and that of those who have been diagnosed. As “The Concomitance of Learning Disabilities and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Conceptual Model” mentions, “little attention has been paid to the subset of students who manifest symptoms of both disorders (LD/EBD)." And in my limited experience thus far, that has appeared to be the case.

I feel parents and teachers are quick to seek evaluations for children who suffer from developmental delays. These delays are medicalized and children are labeled to have emotional and behavioral disorders. Rather than seeking psychiatric diagnosis, parents should first request for services to help in developing their children skills, likewise teachers should adapt ways of teaching student with different learning styles.


I can connect with this excerpt in my self-contained class were all of the students have IEP’s and have been diagnosed with different types of emotional and behavioral disorders. From my observation most of the students in my class do not have behavior issues as they are mostly calm, however, they are able to learn through repetition and one and one interventions. I believe my students need to be presented with information differently from the general education classes, they require videos, pictures and some form of competition to get them going.  Every child is different, they grow and develop at a different rate. I believe this applies to learning as well. Not every behavior deserves a label.

treatment program for a child will stem from the professional’s

philosophy, parents should be sure they agree with “where

the professional is coming from,” as well as with the methods

used by the professional to help their child. Otherwise, their

cooperation in the treatment process may be compromised." Many of the students we serve may be going through inappropriate treatment because their doctor's beliefs. Two different types of treatment can result in two totally different versions of the same student.

The topic of inaccessible instruction for students with behavioral disorders was also discussed in the readings. One of the main skills that I want to master is being able to get through to the students referred to in this statement by utilizes my own mix of different methods. The readings helped me gain clarity about the different disorders my students have. I see many of the symptoms mentioned, on a daily basis.