Emotional disturbances, which is one of the 13 categories under IDEA, are generally

thought of only being anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, or psychotic disorders. Although this is

true there are other categories that fall under this umbrella term of emotional disturbances. There

is anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, eating disorder, obsessive compulsive

disorder, and psychotic disorder. There are many characteristics that students with emotional

disturbances have, and there are many challenges that they face. People with these disorders can

be covered under IDEA if they have an inability to learn not connected with any other factors, if

they are unable to maintain a relationship with peers or teachers, they exhibit inappropriate

behavior, a general persuasive of unhappiness or depression, if they show physical symptoms

because of fear, and it can also include schizophrenia.( Emotional Disturbance Tab)

“characteristic of irrational fear: generalized anxiety disorder.” ( Emotional Disturbance,

Fact Sheet 5) This disorder Is chronic and affects children and adults in their everyday lives

whether or not there is a reason for this worry. “"I'd have terrible sleeping problems. There were

times I'd wake up wired in the middle of the night. I had trouble concentrating, even reading the

newspaper or a novel. Sometimes I'd feel a little lightheaded. My heart would race or pound.

And that would make me worry more. I was always imagining things were worse than they

really were: when I got a stomachache, I'd think it was an ulcer.” (Generalized anxiety) Some

challenges people with anxiety face at school, work, and home are nervousness, rapid heartbeat,

anticipating the worst, insomnia, excessive worry and tension.

Bipolar disorder is, “Also known as manic-depressive illness, bipolar disorder is a serious

medical condition that causes dramatic mood swings from overly “high” and/or irritable to sad

and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe

changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood.” Troubles that people with
bipolar disorder face at home or school can be having to deal with family or friends that do not

understand their disorder, and this can also lead to them being anti-social. At work they can have

the same characteristics, and can also include not finishing work if they are in the depressive

state.

Conduct disorder can be a group of behavior problems, or emotional problems and they

have a hard time following rules, and behaving in an acceptable way. At home children with this

disorder can be aggressive towards animals. They have trouble with being deceitful or lying

which would create a problem in the work environment, because employers want employees who

are honest. They are known to destroy property, have truancies, or other violations which can

severely affect their school life if they are seen as the “bad child.”

The two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia is when a child or adult starves themselves and has severe weight loss. Bulimia is when

these people over indulge when eating and then throw it back up. Both of these disorders are

harmful to home, work, and school life because the person has to hide their disorder from people

and withdraw from social interaction, or not open up to people.

Obsessive compulsive disorder also known as OCD. A lot of people believe that people

with OCD have certain ticks that they have to do a certain number of times. This is true but it is

not for no reason it is in hopes of preventing something from happening. They might believe that

the only way they can get germs off of their hands is to keep washing their hands, and they may

think in order for them to be completely clean they have to do this a certain number of times.

“Psychotic disorders” is another umbrella term used to refer to severe mental disorders

that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions.” (emotional disturbance) The foremost symptoms

of psychotic disorder are hallucinations and delusions. This could cause a problem in their social
life because they could feel that everyone is out to get them, or make something bad happen to

them. They could also have a hard time getting a job, if they are having hallucinations, because

people might think that they are crazy.

The emotional disturbance category in IDEA includes anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder,

conduct disorder, eating disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and psychotic disorder. These

people face different challenges every day. Research needs to be done about the disorder and

how assistive technology can help with these problems. In doing this research we will create a

healthier, more educated environment for all of the students.

In the Home:

 5 senses grounding exercise

 Talk about it

 Reassurance

 Color

 Clean

 Cook

 Listen to music

 Video Games

In the Classroom:

 Talk about it

 Fidget toy

 Listen to music

 Take a break from school work for five minutes

  Play a game on the phone

In the Community:

 5 senses exercise

 Go outside for a breather

 Talk about something that makes you happy

 Stress Ball
 Work cited

“Emotional Disturbance.” Center for Parent Information and Resources. NICHCY, March 2015.

Web. 08 Dec. 2016.

http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/emotionaldisturbance/#conduct

"NASET.org Home Page." NASET News Alert RSS. NASET, 2006-2007. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

"SPED 310 Exceptional Students: Emotional Disturbance." David O'Mckay Library. Brigham

Young University-Idaho, n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2016.

Libguides.byui.edu/c.php?g=381933&p=2588094